The house was built in 1850 by architect Thomas Alexander Tefft in an Italian Villa style for Chief Justice Charles S. Bradley, a successful attorney who served on the Rhode Island Supreme Court.

It continued to be a dormitory, housing pre-ecclesiastical students, until 1962, when a new Guzman Hall was opened on land formerly included in the Good Shepherd property, which had been purchased by the college in 1955.

At that time, the house was remodeled to its original configuration and renamed for Saint Martin de Porres.

Philip A. Smith, O.P., had previously lived in St. Dominic House and did not want to move.)

After serving several years as a Dominican residence (like St. Dominic House had before), the house was used as the college's Office for Institutional Advancement, and is now home to the College's Mission and Ministry, as well as Information Technology.