It is the oldest surviving building in Ipswich that was designed as a commercial and retail space, and is still used for that purpose.

It was built in 1870 by Luther Caldwell, on the site of an old woolen mill that was destroyed by fire a few years earlier, and features Italianate styling.

The building has always housed retail stores on the ground floor and office space above.

It is notable as the location of the offices of writer John Updike between 1961 and 1974, when he wrote many of his works there.

This article about a National Register of Historic Places listing in Essex County, Massachusetts, is a stub.