The house at the crossroads was sold to the Jacob Allstadt family of Berks County, Pennsylvania in 1811.

[1] It was purchased by the American Battlefield Trust, which in 2019 donated it to the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park.

[3] The house's chief historic significance came in 1859, when John Brown launched his raid on Harpers Ferry.

Brown ordered a detachment of his forces under John Cook to go to Beall-Air and take hostage the owner, Colonel Lewis Washington, and free his slaves.

A one-story kitchen was originally a separate building, now attached by a connecting room, probably at the time the second floor was added.

[2] A separate two-story stone building was built c. 1830, with a two-tiered porch on the south side leading to two rooms on each level.