ARLINGTON, Va. — There's a seemingly uphill battle on to save a piece of Civil War history in Arlington.
The property owner just got a demolition permit for the Febrey House near Seven Corners.
Neighbors and amateur historians are organizing a big protest Saturday, urging the Arlington County Board of Supervisors to protect the home at the corner of Wilson Boulevard and N McKinley Road. Historians say it served as a field hospital for both Union and Confederate troops.
Febrey House sits at the summit of Upton's Hill. More than a century and a half ago, the high point traded back and forth between warring armies.
"From this spot, both Union and Confederate troops could observe the capital and Fairfax city, which is located to the west," said local historian Peter Vaselopulos, pointing out at the expansive views.
Old drawings show thousands of troops training here.
"You would have seen hundreds and hundreds of Union soldiers camping... This is right at the root of where... the Union Army defeated the Confederates. And it started right here at Upton's Hill," Vaselopulos said.
It all happened in the shadow of the Febrey House, which -- after a turn of the last century expansion -- still stands, but perhaps not for long.
"This is irreplaceable," said John Reedy, who has been organizing the protest, and has helped collect more than 1,400 signatures to save the house.
On Monday, Thomas Colucci, a lawyer for the Rouse family trust, which now owns the home, tacked up a county-issued demolition permit next to the driveway, but declined to talk about the property owner's plans.
Reedy said there's nothing stopping the trust from destroying the house on Tuesday.
Next month, the Arlington County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing to decide whether to designate the house and the 9.5 acres around it as a historic site.
But next month could easily be too late. "It's at risk of destruction," Vaselopulos said. "This is an abuse of the process," Reedy said.
The land around the house is one of the last privately held large parcels in Arlington, and the county estimates it could be worth more than $30 million.
Protesters will gather in front of the house on Saturday at 10 a.m. in what may be a last bid to save history from being plowed up for another batch of as many as 50 luxury homes.