Nestled in the very heart of Saratoga, across from the Federated Church, the clubhouse is a Saratoga treasure. Designed by architect Julia Morgan in 1915, the building is listed on the National Register of Historical Places.

This longtime women's club is not quite a service club, yet members have served the community in substantial ways—getting the first Saratoga library built, pulling together the material for the History Museum, preparing Christmas baskets for elderly.

It's not quite a society club, though one must be invited to join, and the monthly meetings with a speaker and tea are genteel affairs.

And the club is not quite a political organization, though its members have taken on political causes, rallying for city, state and national issues; they've even served on the city council.

Surviving almost 100 years means there is something lasting in the spirit of the club—something that has carried through world wars, booming and despairing economic times, a changing valley culture and changing roles for women, as well as the difficult job and expense of maintaining a very old building.

Member Betty Peck, a longtime club member and a Saratoga icon, says the reason the Foothill Club has been around so long is the solid foundation that was laid down at the club's beginnings.

The club's statement of purpose is: "To foster and encourage intellectual and civic activities within the club and in the community and to promote a spirit of friendliness among its members."

Marlene Duffin, the club's current president and a member for some 27 years, says the club preserves old traditions. "We have our speaker at the monthly meetings and then we have tea with fine china and a silver tea service," Duffin says. The tea is a tradition from another era, and the ladies also dress up for the meetings. "These traditions strengthen the community of the club," Duffin says.

And maintaining the building itself is one of the purposes of the club, says former president Gladys Armstrong, a member for almost 30 years.

But then the women drawn to the club may have something to do with its longevity. They are community-minded women like Armstrong, who is also a member of the League of Women Voters, Hakone Gardens and the Saratoga Sister City program.

The women have been community activists since the beginning. Most are active in several service groups: the American Association of University Women (AAUW), the Junior League, the Montalvo auxiliary and more. They cross paths while serving on different committees and projects, but at the Foothill Club they find a place that is their own.

Duffin, another member who's served on a number of service boards and contributed countless hours to Saratoga causes, says the Foothill Club began in an era when women's clubs were starting up. This was before women could vote. These stay-at-home moms wanted intellectual stimulation. "They met in each others' homes to study classical subjects and literature," Duffin says. She says women's clubhouses were being built all over.

At that time Saratoga was almost entirely orchards. The orchardists' wives tended to be an educated bunch. In 1907, some of these wives began gathering in small groups in each other's homes for the purpose of growing intellectually and culturally. They called themselves the Foothill Study Club. Club members studied books and invited speakers on such subjects as the history of California, Shakespeare, Italian literature and modern phases of home and community life. They discussed local, national and international issues, in which they sometimes got involved.

In fact, in 1909 the Foothill Club took up the local fight to remove billboards and posters along Los Gatos­Saratoga Road, and they won. "They kept Highway 9 from looking like a freeway," Peck says.

The club wrote a letter to President Theodore Roosevelt protesting the controversial proposal to dam up the Hetch Hetchy valley to create a source of water for San Francisco. Club members also involved themselves in the "Save the Redwoods" campaign of that time. Peggy Corr, who's been a club member since 1974 and has served on many service organization boards as well as served on Saratoga's city council for six years, says she believes women in the club marched in temperance parades.

Early members obtained their reference books by mail from the state library in Sacramento. When the state began the county library system, members of the club decided there should be a library in Saratoga. Some in the community discouraged them: "Too much money; the county doesn't need it; we'd have to train a librarian." But through the club's persistence, the county supervisors eventually voted to adopt the county system and put a library in Saratoga.

In 1915, when the number of members in the club grew to more than 60, it became difficult to hold meetings in homes. Club member Ann Richards proposed building a clubhouse. She had a close friend in Berkeley, a former college roommate—Julia Morgan—who would be happy to design a building. The Foothill women rallied around this idea and began planning their campaign to raise money. The community supported them, with Saratogans donating as much as $500 or as little as 15 cents. The land was donated, and the club took out one loan for $700.

The building cost some $5,057.90 to build in 1915 (including Morgan's architectural fee). It was designed in the Arts and Crafts style that was popular then and built of redwood.

This new building gave the club roots, a solid footing in the community, and an opportunity for more women to become members. The women changed their name to the Foothill Club, and their new place also gave Saratogans a place to congregate as a community.

In fact, the Foothill clubhouse was the only place in Saratoga at that time for town gatherings. Morgan had had the foresight to design a special nook for a projector, and for a few years the town showed movies there. Today, the club is used for weddings, memorials, concerts and other events, which is also how the club raises money to maintain the building.

On Jan. 1, 1916, the club held an open house in its new building all day and evening. Club members suited their new digs up that day with items from their own homes: rugs, tables, chairs, wall hangings, a piano, a candelabra, vases for flowers, a heater and dining tables for the refreshments. One early document states: "The women were happy that they had a clubhouse; the men happy for them and the young people and the youngsters were happy because everyone else was."

With no money to buy furnishings, club members loaned their own things for a while.

Keeping the building up has been a challenge. With the clubhouse situated at the bottom of a hill, rains have flooded the cellar many times over—so much so that the cellar has been referred to as "the pool." In the past, members have heard the sound of frogs croaking downstairs. The club has added numerous sump pumps over the years to keep their lower level dry. Gladys Armstrong is the current house and grounds vice president in charge of building maintenance. This year she's had to see that the place is painted and that some dry rot was taken care of.

The Saratoga Men's Club, which has many members who are husbands of the Foothill women, also meets at the Foothill clubhouse, and they help maintain the building.

Over the years, the Foothill Club has served many causes.

During World War I, club members rolled bandages at the clubhouse for the Red Cross. In World War II the clubhouse served as the 31st Field Artillery headquarters for three months. Since 1928 the club has been coordinating Saratoga's annual Memorial Day parade to honor American war veterans. Club members prepare large Christmas baskets to take to retired folks living on fixed incomes; this year the club distributed 150 baskets. The club also gives scholarships to high school graduates.

In keeping with the club's mission, club member Betty Peck reinstated the club's public lecture series in 1996. Since then the club has been hosting impressive speakers.

Club members also head outside of the clubhouse for fun. They take day trips to places like San Francisco or Filoli Gardens. They are planning a trip soon to Opera San José.

Working women have difficulty participating in the club's weekday programs. Some women, however, maintain their membership though they cannot attend meetings. Marlene Duffin went to work for a number of years while still keeping in touch with the club.

"Many of our new members join when they have retired," says Duffin. She says she was almost 40 when she and several other AAUW women joined the club. "They wanted an infusion of young people," she says. "Now they need to do it again." She says the club's membership is getting older. Seven members passed away this year. "We have six members who've been coming for 50 years," Duffin boasts.

There's a kindness in the club—a friendliness, which is also part of its statement of purpose. Members are not forgotten. Marty Clevenger, current membership secretary of the club, who was a city council member for many years and is past executive director for the Santa Clara County Cities Association, started up the Foothill Club's Sunshine Committee. Committee members gather up flowers or other trinkets and refreshments from the meetings and visit those too frail to attend.

"The Foothill Club is special," says Peggy Corr. "I look forward to the meetings. It's what keeps me going." She likes the genteel teas and the way the women dress up. "At Christmas," she says, "everyone looked lovely. The place was a sea of red."

One can imagine hearing the clink of fine china amidst the chatter of women discussing home and community and seeing the glint off a silver service set when someone pours another cup of tea. Except for the style of clothes, the scene might not have been so different from one of the Foothill Club so long ago.