Sweet House Opens Its Doors for America's 250th
One of Heritage Hill's best-preserved Gilded Age homes opened for guided public tours on Sunday, a rare look inside a Grand Rapids landmark tied to the country's 250th anniversary.
The Sweet House, a historic Heritage Hill home rarely seen by the public, hosted guided tours on Sunday in honor of America's 250th. It's a reminder that some of Grand Rapids' best history lives in houses you walk past every day. Watch the Heritage Hill Association for future tour dates.
Most Grand Rapids residents have driven past the Sweet House without ever seeing the inside. On Sunday, the Heritage Hill home finally opened up, hosting guided public tours as part of the country's 250th anniversary celebrations.
That matters here. Heritage Hill holds one of the largest concentrations of 19th- and early 20th-century homes in Michigan, and the lumber baron-era houses downtown is known for were mostly built for private families. They still mostly are. Getting into one, with a guide walking you through the rooms, doesn't happen often.
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The tour doubles as a preservation story. Homes like this one survive because somebody pays to keep them standing, and public tours are a big part of how that gets funded. Details on future open houses weren't included in the announcement — anyone who missed Sunday should check the Heritage Hill Association's channels, which is the best bet for the next time the doors swing open.
