Christopher Ayscough, the namesake of the house, tried operating a tavern on the site between 1768-1770. Other shopkeepers, including Catherine Rathell, Matthew Holt, and Jacob Bruce, briefly occupied the store and sold various goods to townspeople.

The structure survived from the eighteenth century, although it was hardly recognizable due to the enlargements and modifications made in the nineteenth century. Once restored to its eighteenth-century appearance, the building exhibited such features typical of a commercial establishment as a gable end entrance and large shop window.]]>

When Colonial Williamsburg first opened as a museum in the 1930s, Duke of Gloucester Street consisted of a combination of exhibition buildings and commercial establishments, and several grocers operated small food markets in restored or reconstructed structures. The A&P Food Market, shown here in Merchants Square on the southwestern corner of South Henry Street and Duke of Gloucester Street, offered a place for town residents and tourists to pick up refreshments.

Today Colonial Williamsburg's retail store, the Craft House, occupies the first floor of the building.
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Part of a series of cards produced by the Albertype Company to promote Williamsburg as a tourist destination in the 1930s, it shows the front façade prior to any major restoration efforts, such as the removal of the 19th-century central porch.]]>
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