We are excited to offer our Clubhouse as a place for your special event!
There is no shortage of history within these walls. With its century old charm and incomparable view of Island Park, the Fine Arts Clubhouse at 601 4th Street South in Fargo, offers exceptional accommodations.
Built in 1916, the Clubhouse rests upon beautifully landscaped grounds near downtown Fargo. Serving as the home of The Fine Arts Club since 1931, the big white house has a unique mix of the luxuries of the past and the functionality of the present.
It is available for meetings, banquets, private events, receptions, seminars, workshops or conferences. Two floors of meeting spaces offer diverse gathering space options.
You’ll find a historic setting and the right accommodations for a group of up to 49 people on each floor.
- A board room
- A stage with a grand piano
- Meeting room for classroom or theater seating
- Audio system and internet access
- A library
- A Steinway grand on the stage, and an upright piano downstairs
- A lovely dining room overlooking historic Island Park
In addition, you get a bottomless cup of coffee along with a personal welcome. Our friendly Resident Manager will help you plan something extraordinary!
Contact us to rent our home, (701) 235-6264
601 4th Street S, Fargo ND 58103
The Clubhouse was built in 1916, this article was written by member Lou Richardson for the Club’s 100th anniversary in 2011.
By Lou Richardson
It’s the House, right? It’s true Fine Arts Club is noted for a number of things:
- Its longevity… Fine Arts Club celebrates its 100th anniversary
- Its variety of interest groups… members able to choose sections that range from art through sports and games.
- Its long-term impact on the Fargo-Moorhead community…members have contributed to scholarships and participated in charitable activities, plays, concerts, public gardening activities, and on and on.
But mainly it’s the House. Fine Arts Club is the only club in North Dakota with its own house and the story of how it was acquired is a major part of our history.
During the first 20 years of our existence from 1911 to 1931, interest groups met in members’ homes or in various public buildings. Early on the Drama Section took the lead in determining that Fine Arts Club should have its own house and by the early ‘20s Drama and some of the other sections started fundraising toward the purchase of a house. There followed a series of dances, parties, rummage sales and concerts and by 1930 the Club had $5,000 set aside.
Enter Lizzie Watson. As was typical in those days, Mrs. Watson was known by her husband’s name, Mrs. John Watson, but she must have been a formidable woman in her own right. She had earlier donated the house at the corner of 4th Street and 6th Avenue South to Fargo College to use as a music building and performing hall. But Fargo College closed its doors, and in late 1930 she offered the house to the Fine Arts Club on condition that the group maintain the building in good shape.
Can we imagine how thrilled that group of women must have been? The tri-level building just south of Island Park was a jewel in the neighborhood.
A stage had already been added when it served as a music hall and the $5,000 the women had accumulated went a long way toward refurbishing and furnishing the house. The Music Section donated a $1,600 Steinway piano as one of the major gifts, and many of the other furnishings and decorations were also gifts from members.
A 1931 Forum story describes the house. The lower level contained a recreation room, kitchenette, bathroom and shower. The main floor had a lounge, tea room and kitchen and even then plans were being made to add an auditorium. The upper floor contained two club rooms, a dressing room and the caretakers’ apartment. Members started a library in 1935 in one of the upper-floor rooms with more than 200 books contributed by members.
From the beginning it was decided that live-in caretakers were necessary to keep the house and yard in order. An apartment was provided on the top floor and their salaries came out of dues, $3 a year at that time.
The Club took the stipulation that the house should be maintained in good shape very seriously, and some members must have wondered if they’d gotten a bargain or a burden. The Red River, only a block or so away, flooded more or less every spring, and repairs for flood damage to the yellow stucco exterior were frequently needed.
An auditorium was added in 1937 and major remodeling projects were approved from time to time, and continue as we watch a landscaping project nearing completion this fall.
The Club did such a commendable job of maintaining the house that by 1961, Lizzie Watson’s daughter, Constance Pollock, deeded the house free of any stipulations to the Fine Arts Club and thus it has remained.
Fine Arts Club of Fargo 