The Women’s City Club purchased the former home of Martin Sweet in 1927 to use as their clubhouse. The members oversaw it's renovation and celebrated its completion in 1928 with a huge gala. They acquired furniture and artwork still in the house today. In 2005 the Women’s City Club created the Sweet House Foundation and donated all of its hard assets, the clubhouse, and all of its contents including fine art, furniture, and property to it. The Women’ City Club left the house in 2018 after ninety years. To learn more about this read our book, “Our First One Hundred Years,” coming out in March, 2024.

Carol Dodge, Women’s City Club historian, and Sweet House Foundation historian, recently spoke with WOODTV8 about the history of the Sweet House and Martin Sweet. Carol has written a book on the subject, “The Mayor, The Maestro, and The Mansion.”

You can read the article entitled, The Sweet House: An Inside Look at a Piece of Grand Rapids History here.