Bainbridge House serves as the Historical Society's headquarters, including spaces for temporary and permanent exhibitions, a small museum shop, a library and staff offices. The exhibition spaces and shop in Bainbridge House are open to the public Tuesday through Sunday from 12 to 4 PM. The library is open Tuesdays and Saturdays 1 to 4PM.

Bainbridge House is one of the oldest surviving buildings in Princeton still on its original foundation. It is also one of the area's best-preserved examples of mid-Georgian architecture. Located on Nassau Street, the town's busiest and most historic thoroughfare, Bainbridge House is situated directly across from Princeton University.

Job Stockton, a prosperous tanner, grandson of Richard Stockton (an early English settler in the area), and cousin of Richard Stockton (signer of the Declaration of Independence), built Bainbridge House in 1766. He purchased the land in a Somerset County Sheriff's sale (Sept. 4, 1765). A frame building with a structural brick façade, Bainbridge House was constructed by a team of craftsmen, including bricklayers, masons, house wrights, carpenters, joiners, shingle makers, clapboard makers, and a master builder.

Bainbridge House is named after William Bainbridge, born in the house on May 7, 1774, son of Absalom Bainbridge, to whom the house was leased earlier that year. William Bainbridge was a future Commodore in the U.S. Navy and commanded the U.S.S. Constitution ("Old Ironsides"). He emerged as a hero of the War of 1812.

During the course of its history, Bainbridge House served as accommodations for the Continental Congress in 1783 (after the loyalist Abasalom Bainbridge had fled Princeton for New York in 1777), a doctor's office, a boarding house for travelers to Princeton and students at Princeton University, the Princeton Public Library and now the Historical Society of Princeton. Bainbridge House is owned by Princeton University and is generously leased to the Historical Society for $1 per year.

The Historical Society restored the exterior of Bainbridge House in 1969 to its original 18th-century appearance. Nearly 70% of the original interior woodwork remains, including original paneled walls, staircase, and flooring. With the exception of circa 1814 alterations to the main parlor and a late 19th century addition at the rear of the house, almost all of the 1766 structure remains. From 1991-1992, Bainbridge House underwent a complete interior renovation, with the addition of new structural supports, climate controls, electrical work, and upgraded safety and security features. The interior trim was restored to original paint colors and the pine flooring was refinished. On the exterior, portions of the brick façade were replaced with 18th century brick and repointed and an exterior ramp was installed for access by wheelchairs.