Lending a sense of continuity and place to the courthouse town of Orange in Orange County, the Ballard-Marshall House demonstrates the pervasiveness of the Classical Revival tradition in the Virginia Piedmont. Distinguished by its pedimented roof, Classical trim, and systematic proportions, the house was built in 1832 for Garland Ballard, a local merchant. The builders are not known, but the use of finely crafted Flemish bond and informed detailing suggests a connection with local projects constructed by craftsmen formerly employed by Thomas Jefferson. During the mid-19th century the house was owned by the locally prominent Taylor family. In 1882 it became the home of Fielding Lewis Marshall, the local superintendent of public education and grandson of Chief Justice John Marshall. The property remained in Marshall family ownership until 1962. Rescued from a state of neglect in 1986, at the time of its listing in the registers the Ballard-Marshall House had been rehabilitated for apartments.