We present an ellipsometric study of the free surface of the isotropic phase of a liquid-crystal compound possessing an isotropic-smectic-A transition. Approaching the bulk transition from above, a series of at least eight layering transitions is observed, indicating the successive formation of smectic layers at the surface. Although the growth of the surface smectic-A phase can be described by a logarithmic divergence, the current data allows for a better, if not unambiguous, description in terms of a crossover from logarithmic to power law divergence.