Making dreams a reality.

After a year of planning, a group of women in the Stanford Mother's Club organized a meeting in the old Presbyterian Church at the corner of Hamilton and Waverly to draft a membership constitution. On June 20, 1894, they formally incorporated as the Woman’s Club of Palo Alto with 24 members. Mary Grafton Campbell was elected president and served in that office through 1898. 

The club founders dreamt of having their own clubhouse. By 1906, they had raised $1,000 and purchased a lot on the corner of Homer Avenue and Cowper Street. At the time, they worried that this property was “too far out in the country”! It took 10 more years of continuous fundraising to collect $5,300 to begin construction of their Tudor Craftsman-style “home.”  Charles E. Hodges, a noted architect of the day, designed the building. As so often happens, there were cost overruns and final cost of construction was $10,590. In September 1916, 400 Palo Alto residents attended a gala celebration to mark the completion of this charming building.  View the full historical timeline →