In the mid-1700s, yeoman farmer John Ball built a one-room cabin for his wife and five daughters. Subsequent owners included tailor William Carlin, who made clothes for George Washington and his family. Three generations of Carlins lived in the cabin for over 100 years. In the 1880s, the third generation added a two-story Victorian section and may have planted the giant wisteria vine that still blooms on the property today. In 1887, the Carins sold the property, which was later used as a school, a summer cottage, and a home. The house was donated to the Arlington Historical Society in 1975 by Marian Rhinehart Sellers, so it could be preserved and opened to the public. The cabin remains a rare example of the home of an ordinary farmer in the Colonial Era and is the oldest surviving structure in the county.

Open April through October.