{"nrhp_refnum":"75002014","name":"Ball-Sellers House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"5620 S. 3rd St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Arlington","county":"Arlington County","state":"VA","lat":38.863629858000024,"lon":-77.12499814399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-07-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small house at 5620 South Third Street in the Glencarlyn section of Arlington County, Virginia, made up of a one-story log section from the mid- to late 18th century and a two-story frame wing added in 1885.","why_significant":"The nomination points to the rare surviving clapboard roof in the loft, preserved under a later outer roof. It is probably the oldest house in Arlington County. It is also tied to the Ball and Carlin families and to the farm that became the Glencarlyn suburb.","narrative":"Set on an open lot in the Glencarlyn section of Arlington County, this modest house combines a one-story log section from the mid- to late eighteenth century with a two-story frame wing built in 1885. A frame lean-to was added soon after the log house went up. Its loft holds a rare clapboard roof of riven oak, about four feet long, protected by a later roof built around it. Whitewashed rafters, lathing and clay daubing also survive. The land was part of a 1742 grant to John Ball, who is believed to have built the original house. It later passed to William Carlin and his sons, and in 1887 the farm was developed as an early commuter suburb, named Glencarlyn in 1896. The house is probably the oldest in Arlington County. It was given to the Arlington Historical Society in 1975, which plans a residence in the newer wing and a museum in the log section.","period_of_significance":"18th and 19th centuries (specific date c. 1750)","architect_builder":"John Ball is believed to have built the original log section and lean-to","architectural_style":"Vernacular","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as good and altered, on its original site. Recently given to the Arlington Historical Society, which is renovating the later wing as a residence and plans to use the log section and lean-to as a museum.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.619448-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/84/6795/41679584/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/75002014.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75002014/281fed7c05-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75002014/281fed7c05-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Slowking4","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ball-sellers-house035.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Slowking4</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ball-sellers-house035.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"08000910","name":"Glencarlyn Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/glencarlyn-historic-district-08000910/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41679584","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball%E2%80%93Sellers_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4851170"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/arlington-county/ball-sellers-house-75002014/"}