'The Cliff' was the design and creation of architect, Charles Thomas Colyer. Mr. Colyer moved from Statesville to Asheville in the late 1880s and constructed this house on the side of Sunset Mountain. Colyer is noted for his design of Asheville's Riverside Cemetery. He was also a poet, writer, painter and naturalist. His daughter Amy was a friend of Rose M. Byrne of Sunset Terrace.