Cleridge

Cleridge is a farm property about eight miles northeast of Winchester, Virginia, spread across both sides of Opequon Creek in Frederick and Clarke Counties. Its main building is a five-bay, two-and-one-half-story Federal-style brick house built around 1790, set on a limestone foundation and facing the creek. The front wall is laid in Flemish bond, and the interior keeps fine paneling, a turned stair, mantels with Chippendale and Federal motifs, and rare early-nineteenth-century stenciling in the master bedchamber. A rear addition from 1882-83 added bathrooms and a kitchen wing while leaving the original block largely intact. Other contributing resources include a brick well, an icehouse and blacksmith shop, a carriage house, a poultry house, a farm manager's house, and the cultivated and wooded land. The property is recognized for its architecture and for its agricultural history. In 1879 the Clevenger family's farm produced a higher value of goods than nearly any other in Frederick County. The period of significance runs from about 1790 to 1960.