In 1779, during the second Middlebrook encampment of the American Revolutionary War, it served as the headquarters for Prussian-American General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben.

The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 4, 2002, and noted as representing "one of the finest remaining buildings from the second phase of Dutch immigration and settlement in the Raritan Valley".

[5] Von Steuben, who had been appointed Inspector General of the Continental Army by Congress on May 5, 1778, arrived at the Staats House on March 26, 1779, during the second Middlebrook encampment.

[3] During the Valley Forge encampment, he had begun work on the Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States, which was approved by Congress on March 29.

Led by General William Smallwood, four battalions performed precise military formations to demonstrate their mastery of von Steuben's training.