This building housed both Brethren's and Sisters' work, rare throughout Shaker history due to their belief in gender separation. Machines and equipment in the building ran on a state-of-the-art waterpower system powered by an overshot wheel developed in the Village's earliest years. In 1858, always willing and eager to upgrade to the most modern technologies available, the Shakers installed a more advanced water turbine, greatly increasing the efficiency and productivity of the woodworking and laundry activities.

This building illustrates not only the separate nature of work carried out by the Brethren and the Sisters, but also the Shaker philosophy of "Hands to Work and Hearts to God." This saying, attributed to the Shaker founder Mother Ann Lee, stood as a reminder to all Believers that, according to Shaker principles, work and worship, the practical and the spiritual, were inseparable.