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University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
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The iconic Millard Sheets designed Scottish Rite Masonic Temple of Los Angeles, California: reuse of a mid-century modern fraternal building
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The iconic Millard Sheets designed Scottish Rite Masonic Temple of Los Angeles, California: reuse of a mid-century modern fraternal building
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Content
THE ICONIC MILLARD SHEETS DESIGNED
SCOTTISH RITE MASONIC TEMPLE
OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA:
REUSE OF A MID-CENTURY MODERN
FRATERNAL BUILDING
by
Laura Jane MacDonald
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In partial fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION
December 2017
Copyright 2017 Laura Jane MacDonald
i
Acknowledgements
I want to give thanks first and foremost to my thesis advisors Trudi Sandmeier, Adam
Arenson and John Lesak. I also want to thank all the people who took time to share their
knowledge with me. I want to thank Alan Wofsy of Alan Wofsy Fine Arts in San
Francisco, California, who generously allowed me access to his Millard Sheets
renderings of the Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic Temple. I also want to thank Steve
Underwood, Brian Worley, Marcello Vavala at the Los Angeles Conservancy and David
Shearer at Claremont Heritage. Thanks to Joan Kleinknecht, librarian for the Supreme
Council, 33° and A. & A. Scottish Rite, S.J., U.S.A., who found information about the
Temple building in their archive. I also want to thank my friends Neha Jain and Christina
Gaddis, who have much more experience than I do writing about historic properties, and
helped steer me in the right direction.
ii
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements i
Table of Contents ii
List of Tables v
List of Figures vi
Abstract xiv
Introduction 1
Chapter 1: Millard Sheets 4
Designated Millard Sheets Designed Historic Resources 24
Ahmanson Bank & Trust – 9145 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills,
California 24
Millard Sheets Artwork Installation – 450 N. Rexford Drive, Beverly
Hills, California 25
Non-Designated Millard Sheets Designed Historic Resources of Noted
Significance 26
Home Savings and Loan – 9245 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills,
California 27
Home Savings and Loan – 1500 Vine Street, Los Angeles, California 28
Chapter 2: The Architecture of Freemasonry in America 29
Freemasonry and Its Origins in America 29
Masonic Lodge 35
King Solomon’s Temple: The Template for the Masonic Lodge Room 37
Operative Masons and Speculative Masons 40
Character Defining Features of Masonic Lodge Buildings 40
Lodge Room 41
Masonic Lodge Building 51
Masonic Symbols 57
Masonic Rites 64
The Scottish Rite 67
Character Defining Architectural Features Associated with the Scottish
Rite 74
Lodge Room, to Auditorium, to Theater 74
Scottish Rite “Cathedrals” 78
Scottish Rite Symbols 84
York Rite 85
The York Rite’s Architecturally Character Defining Features 87
iii
Asylums and Armories 87
The Shrine 89
Character Defining Features Associated with Shrine Buildings 92
Architecture of the Shrine: Mosque as Fraternal Hall 92
Summary of Character Defining Features Associated With Masonic Lodge
Buildings 98
Chapter 3: A History of the Millard Sheets Designed Scottish Rite Masonic
Temple 101
A New Scottish Rite Building for Los Angeles 101
The Design Process Seen Through Architectural Renderings 105
Construction of the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple 126
A Building Without an Architect? 134
Chapter 4: A Description of the Millard Sheets Designed Scottish Rite Masonic
Temple 136
Narrative Description of the Former Scottish Rite Masonic Temple 137
Setting 138
South Façade 139
West Façade 141
North Façade 143
East Façade 144
Roof 145
Interior 146
Character Defining Features 153
List of the Character Defining Features of the Historic Scottish Rite Masonic
Temple of Los Angeles 154
Historic Photographs of the Temple Interior 154
Chapter 5: A Historically Significant Building 160
National Register of Historic Places Evaluation 160
Historic Context 161
Themes 163
Period of Significance 164
Criteria for Evaluation 165
Integrity 166
Criteria for Considerations 174
California Register of Historical Resources Evaluation 175
Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument Evaluation 177
Conclusion 179
Lessons Learned 180
Future Research Topics 181
Bibliography 183
iv
Appendix A: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts Figures 193
Appendix B: Tables of Persons, Companies, and Dates Associated with the Los
Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic Temple 209
Construction Professionals Associated with Building the Los Angeles Scottish
Rite Masonic Temple 209
Contributing Artists to Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, Los Angeles 210
Timeline of Building Department Documents for the Los Angeles Scottish Rite
Masonic Temple 211
v
List of Tables
Table 2.1: The first complete these first three foundational degrees of
Freemasonry. 64
Table 2.2: The Scottish Rite levels of membership. 68
Table 2.3: The York Rite levels of membership. 87
Table 2.4: Character defining architectural features associated with Masonic
Lodge buildings. 99
Table 2.5: Character defining architectural features associated with
Freemasonry’s three main sub-groups; the Scottish Rite, York Rite
and the Shrine. 100
Table B.1: Construction professionals associated with building the Los
Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic Temple. 209
Table B.2: Contributing artists to the Millard Sheets designed Los Angeles
Scottish Rite Masonic Temple. 210
Table B.3: Timeline of permitted construction events at Scottish Rite Masonic
Temple, Los Angeles. 212
vi
List of Figures
Figure 0.1: The south façade of the Millard Sheets designed Scottish Rite
Masonic Temple. 1
Figure 1.1: Millard Owen Sheets (1907-1989) as a young 22-years-old artist. 4
Figure 1.2: Vannes, France is one of the many architectural drawings Millard
Sheets made while traveling through Europe in 1929. 7
Figure 1.3: One of the earliest buildings Millard Sheets’ designed: the Los
Angeles County Fairground Fine Arts Building (built 1937) in
Pomona, California, now called the Millard Sheets Center for the
Arts at Fairplex. 10
Figure 1.4: Millard Sheets design for the Cal Aero Academy flight training
school, Oxnard, California (1939). 11
Figure 1.5: The Millard Sheets designed Home Savings and Loan building at
9245 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, California (built 1954-
1956). 13
Figure 1.6: Exterior of the San Francisco Scottish Rite Masonic Center
designed by Millard Sheets. 16
Figure 1.7: Lounge of the San Francisco Scottish Rite Masonic Center
designed by Millard Sheets. 17
Figure 1.8: Banquet Hall of the San Francisco Scottish Rite Masonic Center
designed by Millard Sheets. 18
Figure 1.9: Auditorium of the San Francisco Scottish Rite Masonic Center
designed by Millard Sheets. 19
Figure 1.10: Auditorium seating of the San Francisco Scottish Rite Masonic
Center designed by Millard Sheets. 20
Figure 1.11: Close up of exterior sculpture and mosaic on the Millard Sheets
designed Home Savings and Loan building at 9245 Wilshire
Boulevard, Beverly Hills (built 1954-1956). 27
Figure 2.1: The Three Grand Masters of Freemasonry atop the style of column
they are associated with. 32
vii
Figure 2.2: The legend of King Solomon’s Temple informed Masonic ideals of
spatial organization and architecture for their Lodge rooms and
Lodge buildings. 33
Figure 2.3: Biblical legend tells that King Solomon’s Temple was located at
what is known today as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Israel,
one of the most holy sites in the Jewish, Christian and Islamic
religions. 34
Figure 2.4: In this fifteenth-century French painting showing an abbey under
construction a stone masons’ lodge is shown as the timber structure
on the right. 37
Figure 2.5: This layout of King Solomon’s Temple is a procession of rooms
that become increasingly sacred as person progresses from the
Porch, to the Holy Place, and finally the Holy of Holies. 39
Figure 2.6: Diagram of an ideal Lodge Room with the arrangement of officers
seats, the altar, and lights. 39
Figure 2.7: The Renaissance Room is one of many richly decorated Lodge
Rooms in the Masonic Temple of New York City. 42
Figure 2.8: The western side of the Renaissance Room in the Masonic Temple
of New York City. 43
Figure 2.9: The eastern end of a Lodge Room in the Masonic Temple of
Mendocino, California, circa 1933. 44
Figure 2.10: The western end of a Lodge Room in the Masonic Temple of
Mendocino, California, circa 1933. 45
Figure 2.11: A towering Master’s chair in a Lodge Room at the Homesteaders
Life Insurance building at 845 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles,
California. 47
Figure 2.12: The Second Floor Plan of an ideal Masonic Lodge building (never
built) with an model Lodge Room and its surrounding accessory
rooms. 55
Figure 2.13: Common Masonic symbols include the letter “G” for God, the
square and compass, and the All-Seeing Eye of God. 58
Figure 2.14: A Masonic imagining of King Solomon’s Temple executed in
alabaster stone. 59
viii
Figure 2.15 Masons walking the crooked staircase from the porch into the
temple, flanked by the twin pillars Jachin and Boaz. 61
Figure 2.16: The Hollywood Masonic Temple (built 1922) designed in the
Greek Revival style by Architects Austin, Field & Fry. 63
Figure 2.17: The various organizations and positions in Freemasonry, including
allied organizations, are visually organized in an image from Life
magazine. 66
Figure 2.18: The Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite covers most of the
United States of America, including California. 70
Figure 2.19: The Scottish Rite Hall in the Masonic Temple of San Francisco,
California (built 1870), photo circa 1896. 75
Figure 2.20: The Grand Auditorium of the Oakland Scottish Rite Center, built
1926-1927. 76
Figure 2.21: Auditorium of the San Francisco Scottish Rite Masonic Center
designed by Millard Sheets, built 1964. 78
Figure 2.22: Scottish Rite Cathedral (built 1905-1906, demolished) at 929
South Hope Street was Los Angeles’ first Masonic building
dedicated solely to the Scottish Rite. 80
Figure 2.23: House of the Temple in Washington D.C., headquarters for the
Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, USA, (built
1910 -1915) by architect John Russel Pope. 81
Figure 2.24: Exterior view of the Scottish Rite Cathedral at 145 N Madison
Avenue, Pasadena, California (built 1925), photo taken in 1927. 82
Figure 2.25: The Temple Room in the House of the Temple in Washington
D.C., headquarters for the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern
Jurisdiction, USA, built 1910 to 1915 by architect John Russel
Pope. 84
Figure 2.26: The double-headed eagle is the principal symbol used by the
Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. 85
Figure 2.27: Knight Templars in their military style uniforms arranged in front
of the Hollywood Masonic Temple (built 1921), located at 6840
Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, California. 88
ix
Figure 2.28: The Lu Lu Temple in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (built 1904,
burned 1945) was the first purpose built Shrine building. 93
Figure 2.29: The Shrine Auditorium (1925-1926) is a massive Moorish Revival
style fraternal and civic auditorium. 96
Figure 2.30: The Shrine Auditorium interior. 97
Figure 3.1: From left to right: Millard Sheets (building designer), David
Underwood (architect that often worked with Sheets), Hazel Meyer
and Ellsworth Meyer (Scottish Rite Venerable Master) as they
depart for Rome in 1961 to inspect the statues carved by A. Rossi,
and the travertine to clad the Temple. 102
Figure 3.2: Study of the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, by Millard Sheets. 106
Figure 3.3: Rendering of the east and south façades of the Scottish Rite
Masonic Temple, by Millard Sheets Designs, Inc. 107
Figure 3.4: South elevation rendering of the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, by
Millard Sheets Designs, Inc. 108
Figure 3.5: West elevation rendering of the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, by
Millard Sheets Designs, Inc. 108
Figure 3.6: South elevation rendering of the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, by
Millard Sheets Designs, Inc. 109
Figure 3.7: Western elevation of Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic Temple,
by Millard Sheets Designs, Inc. 110
Figure 3.8: East elevation rendering of the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, by
Millard Sheets Designs, Inc. 111
Figure 3.9: South elevation rendering of the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, by
Millard Sheets Designs, Inc. (1958). 112
Figure 3.10: West elevation rendering of the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, by
Millard Sheets Designs, Inc. 112
Figure 3.11: East elevation rendering of the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, by
Millard Sheets Designs, Inc. 113
Figure 3.12: “The designer portrays our new temple. A view from Wilshire
Boulevard by Millard Sheets.” 115
x
Figure 3.13: “A View of our new temple from the east.” 115
Figure 3.14: “A View of our new temple from the West.” 116
Figure 3.15: Study of the mosaics and brass lettering over the south façade
entryway. 117
Figure 3.16: Decorative mosaic panels and brass lettered inscriptions above the
southern/Wilshire Boulevard entrance. 118
Figure 3.17: Study of the mosaics and brass lettering over the west façade
entryway. 119
Figure 3.18: Decorative mosaic panels and brass lettered inscriptions above the
western/Lucerne Boulevard entrance. 120
Figure 3.19: Lobby rendering of the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, by Millard
Sheets Designs, Inc. 121
Figure 3.20: The interior lobby of the Temple, looking north, from above the
Wilshire Boulevard entrance. 122
Figure 3.21: A second view of the Temple lobby from the Wilshire Boulevard
entrance. 123
Figure 3.22: Study of the “California History” mural for the north wall of the
lobby in the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, by Millard Sheets
Designs, Inc. and possibly by Millard Sheets. 124
Figure 3.23: Rendering of figures executed in mosaic on the north wall of the
Temple Auditorium, by Millard Sheets Designs, Inc. 125
Figure 3.24: The Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic Temple under
construction. 126
Figure 3.25: Freemasons ceremonially place the cornerstone of the new Scottish
Rite Masonic Temple on April 9, 1961. 129
Figure 3.26: Forty-five degree angle northern satellite view of the Scottish Rite
Masonic Temple, showing primary southern facing façade along
Wilshire Boulevard. 133
Figure 4.1: The Millard Sheets designed Scottish Rite Masonic Temple (built
1960-1961) of Los Angeles, before its alteration into the Marciano
Art Foundation. 136
xi
Figure 4.2: The southern (left) and eastern (right) façades of the Millard Sheets
designed Scottish Rite Masonic Temple of Los Angeles (built
1960-1961), before its transformation into the Marciano Art
Foundation. 137
Figure 4.3: The west façade (left) and primary south façade (right) of the
Marciano Art Foundation museum (formerly the Scottish Rite
Masonic Temple). 140
Figure 4.4: Western façade of the Marciano Art Foundation with
contemporary sculpture in the courtyard. 142
Figure 4.5: Northern façade of the Marciano Art Foundation with two story
parking deck. 143
Figure 4.6: East façade of the Marciano Art Foundation (formerly the Scottish
Rite Masonic Temple). 145
Figure 4.7: The southwest corner of the former Scottish Rite Masonic Temple,
with spire and roofline. 146
Figure 4.8: Lobby of the Marciano Art Foundation, located on the first floor,
looking north. 147
Figure 4.9: Lobby of the Marciano Art Foundation, looking south, with
original 1961 terrazzo, marble and tile cladding on the lower level,
and original chandelier above. 148
Figure 4.10: Southern side of lobby with doorways leading out to Wilshire
Boulevard. 149
Figure 4.11: The Marciano Art Foundation Relic Room, formerly the Scottish
Rite Masonic Temple library. 150
Figure 4.12: Layers of artwork; contemporary artwork hung on a wall created
during the Marciano restoration, and the Millard Sheets designed
mosaic that is original to the building. 151
Figure 4.13: Steel beam trusses supporting the ceiling of the former Auditorium
area. 152
Figure 4.14: Fourth floor gallery space with semi-exposed steel beams that
support the building roof. 152
Figure 4.15: The cover of the Los Angeles Scottish Rite Bulletin featuring a
picture of the Millard Sheets designed Temple. 155
xii
Figure 4.16: The Board of Directors Room with furniture donated by a Scottish
Rite Mason’s widow. 156
Figure 4.17: Fourth floor lounge in between the elevators and the dining room,
that also serves as a waiting room the Blue Lodge on that floor. 156
Figure 4.18: Billiard Room on the third floor of the Temple. 157
Figure 4.19: The kitchen at the east end of the fourth floor serves the dining
room that is also on the fourth floor. 158
Figure 4.20: The fourth floor elevator hallway. 159
Figure 4.21: The Temple Lobby’s western wall with the names of major donors
to the Temples’ building fund affixed to the marble walls. 159
Figure 5.1: The Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic Temple in 1962, just a
year after it was built and during its period of significance, with a
view of the west and southern facades. 168
Figure 5.2: Then and Now, 1962 vs. 2017. 168
Figure 5.3: Forty-five degree angle view of the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple
looking west, showing the original red tile roof being replaced with
a similar red tile roof during the 2014-2017 Marciano Art
Foundation renovation. 170
Figure 5.4: Millard Sheets “signature” in the Temple’s eastern façade mosaic,
with the white travertine that clads much of the building exterior. 172
Figure A.1: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # 03-0097. 193
Figure A.2: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # 03-0067 194
Figure A.3: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # 03-0111 on left and Catalog #
03-0103 on right. 195
Figure A.4: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # Unknown. 196
Figure A.5: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # 03-0101. 197
Figure A.6: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # Unknown. 198
Figure A.7: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # Unknown. 199
Figure A.8: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # Unknown. 200
xiii
Figure A.9: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # Unknown. 201
Figure A.10: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # 03-0100. 202
Figure A.11: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # Unknown. 203
Figure A.12: Doodle of the Temple on the back of Figure A.11. 204
Figure A.13: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # Unknown. 205
Figure A.14: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # 03-0114. 206
Figure A.15: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # Unknown. 207
Figure A.16: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # Unknown. 208
xiv
Abstract
The former Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic Temple (built 1960-1961), currently the
Maurice and Paul Marciano Art Foundation, is the work of a master: building designer
Millard Sheets (1907-1989). Significant architecturally, this building is eligible for listing
on the National Register of Historic Places, the California Register of Historical
Resources, and as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, even considering
extensive interior alterations that changed the fraternal building into an art museum.
1
Introduction
Figure 0.1: The south façade of the Millard Sheets designed Scottish Rite Masonic Temple. Photo by
author, 2013.
The monumental Millard Sheets designed Scottish Rite Masonic Temple (built
1960-1961), located at 4357 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, is an excellent
example of a Mid-Century Modern building that also incorporates a rich artistic program
into the fabric of the architecture. After several decades of use, the Los Angeles Scottish
Rite moved their headquarters further west to Santa Monica in 1994. The Los Angeles
Scottish Rite Masonic Temple (which I refer to in short as “the Temple”) sat unused for
years, eventually being put up for sale. The Temple’s years of vacancy had many of its
admirers concerned that after its sale it could be demolished or stripped of its most
beloved features. As a Millard Sheets enthusiast who fell in love with his Home Savings
and Loan buildings, I personally wanted the Temple to have a happy new life.
2
The Temple building was purchased in 2013 by brothers Maurice and Paul
Marciano, founders of Guess brand jeans, to house their contemporary art collection as a
private museum. After a renovation designed by wHY Architecture the former Los
Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic Temple reopened as the Marciano Art Foundation in
2017. As a Millard Sheets fan, I was happy to see the old Temple building find a new life
as a museum, but I was concerned that renovations undertaken by the Scottish Rite and
the Marcianos may have compromised the integrity of the Millard Sheets design. A
Millard Sheets designed former Home Savings and Loan building in Beverly Hills had
been found to be eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under
criteria associated with architecture and a master architect and was listed on the Beverly
Hills Local Register of Historic Properties. Is the former Los Angeles Scottish Rite
Masonic Temple in its current state as the Marciano Art Foundation also eligible for
listing on the National Register of Historic Places, or other state and local listings? As a
listed property, the Temple building would be eligible for incentives designed to
encourage the preservation of historic buildings.
This thesis’s goal is to evaluate the former Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic
Temple building within the context of Millard Sheets artistic career and Freemasonry in
America. To do this I will focus on Millard Sheets work as an architectural designer. This
research is needed because most of the writings about Millard Sheets address his works
as a painter. There is very little scholarly research that reviews Millard Sheets
architectural achievements. This research is especially necessary now that most of Sheets
buildings have past the fifty year age requirement threshold set by the National Register
of Historic Places for properties to be listed on the National Register.
This thesis will look at the architectural legacy of Freemasonry in the United
States of America, and define the physical features that unite Masonic Lodges as building
type. An understanding of the Masonic Lodge as building type is valuable as many
Masonic meeting halls built during the height of Masonic membership have been vacated
as Masons decrease in numbers and migrate to different neighborhoods. As old Masonic
Lodges find new uses, an understanding of the character defining features that
3
distinguishes Masonic buildings from other structures can inform changes made to the
building with an eye on preserving the buildings historic identity.
An exploration of the history former Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic Temple
will lead to a physical description of the current Marciano Art Foundation building. The
former Scottish Rite Masonic Temple will be evaluated within the criteria of the National
Register of Historic Places, the California Register of Historical Resources, and as a City
of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument.
4
Chapter 1: Millard Sheets
Figure 1.1: Millard Owen Sheets (1907-1989) as a young 22-years-old artist. This portrait was used
in an article in The American Architect that highlighted Sheets’ mural and fresco paintings. From
The American Architect, May 1930, 39.
Millard Owen Sheets (1907-1989) was a man with an impressive combination of
talents: watercolor painter, muralist, educator, architectural designer, and entrepreneur.
(See Figure 1.1 and Figure 3.1) Born in the small farming community of Pomona,
California, the death of his mother shortly after his birth resulted in Millard being raised
by his maternal grandparents and two aunts at their Pomona ranch. There he developed
5
his lifelong passion for art and horses, learning to draw alongside one of his young aunts
and riding horses at the ranch.
1
At just sixteen years old, Sheets had a painting accepted by a professional jury at
the Laguna Beach Art Gallery, where he met Clarence Hinkle, a man who became his
artistic mentor. Hinkle was on the faculty of Chouinard School of Art, just thirty miles
west of Pomona in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles. After graduating from
high school Sheets attended Chouinard School of Art from 1925 to 1929.
2
There he
became an early practitioner of watercolor painting after a teacher recommended it as an
alternative to oil paint and canvas, which required heavier equipment to be carried out
into the field for landscape painting.
3
Sheets become a seminal influence on what became
known as the California Watercolor School. It was known for its bold colorful washes
and light airy brightness that captured the California sun.
4
As a student at Chouinard Sheets was asked to teach watercolor painting and give
etching classes to artists and architects.
5
Sheets became interested in studying architecture
with his students and hosted meetings at his studio several nights a week. Sheets made
close lasting friendships with these young architects. Connections with them would
sustain his interest in architecture beyond his years at Chouinard.
Teaching his students, Sheets discovered that he could look at their architectural
blueprints and technical drawings, and then paint architectural renderings (also called
delineations) of what the building would look like after it was built. Architectural
renderings show the attributes of a proposed architectural design, often with people, trees
and surrounding buildings to put the proposed building into context. The renderings are
1
Cristeen G. Martinez, "Foreword," In A Tapestry of Life: The World of Millard Sheets, edited by Tony
Sheets, (Pomona: Fineline Creative Services, 2007), 7-31.
2
Millard Sheets reported that that the Chouinard School of Art was an early source of artistice talent for the
new Walt Disney Studio, because Chouinard taught figure drawing with nude models, something Sheets
had never seen before. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution , Oral History Interview With
Millard Sheets, Tape 4, Side A. Janice Lovoos and Edmund F. Penney, Millard Sheets: One-Man
Renaissance, (Flagstaff: Northland Press, 1984), 147.
3
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution , Oral History Interview With Millard Sheets, Tape 1,
Side B.
4
Lovoos and Penney, Millard Sheets: One-Man Renaissance, 31.
5
Etching is the process of making a pictre on a metal or glass plated with corrosive acid, then making a
prints onto paper from the etched plate.
6
often colorful, splashy, and easy to understand images used to attract interest to a
proposed structure. Architects use architectural renderings during proposals to
prospective clients to help communicate and ‘sell’ their ideas. Painting architectural
renderings became a means of making money for Sheets and introduced him to a wider
circle of architects beyond his students. Sheets architectural connections also gained him
commissions to decorate buildings with murals and frescos.
6
During this time of artistic and architectural collaboration Sheets discovered that
not only could he turn blueprints into renderings, but that his architect friends could take
his conceptual drawings and turn them into architectural blueprints. With his background
knowledge of architecture Sheets could design buildings that were rooted in the real-
world practicalities of the building industry. Sheets’ ability to have his paintings
transformed into functional architectural blueprints initiated his career as an architectural
designer.
After graduating from Chouinard in the summer of 1929, Sheets set off to tour
Europe.
7
Before sailing for Europe he had a layover in New York City and met with Cass
Gilbert, an architect who had designed the recently completed Woolworth Building.
Gilbert challenged Sheets to make detailed drawings of the buildings he saw during his
European trip. Dutifully Sheets made seventy-five detailed pencil drawings of “Gothic
churches and a lot of other things” during his tour. Upon Sheets return to America, he
showed his drawings to Gilbert, who in turn showed them to his connections at Pencil
Points and The American Architect magazine. Both journals subsequently published
articles on Sheets. (See Figure 1.2) Sheets said these “two big tremendous magazine
articles came out” and “it was like an introduction to the architects of the United States.”
8
6
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution , Oral History Interview With Millard Sheets, Tape 8,
Side A. Lovoos and Penney, Millard Sheets: One-Man Renaissance, 24.
7
Sheets paid for his Eurpopean trip with $1,750 he had won from the Edward B. Davis completion at the
Witte Museum in San Antonio, Texas, with his second place entry entitled The Goat Ranch. Lovoos and
Penney, Millard Sheets: One-Man Renaissance, 27, 147.
8
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution , Oral History Interview With Millard Sheets, Tape 8,
Side A. Lovoos and Penney, Millard Sheets: One-Man Renaissance, 27, 147. Millard Sheets,"Murals...The
Handmaiden of Architecture," The American Architect CXXXVII, no. 2583 (May 1930): 38-40.W. J.
Veale, "A Few Words About California as Represented by the Youthful Millard Sheets," Pencil Points,
March 1930, 155-64. Pencil Points was billed as “An illustrated monthly journal for the drafting room.”
7
Figure 1.2: Vannes, France is one of the many architectural drawings Millard Sheets made while
traveling through Europe in 1929. From Pencil Points, March 1930, 155.
Returning to California, Sheets found more work doing architectural renderings
and design work for architects. Architects approached Sheets to design whole or parts of
8
a building. He designed interiors, exteriors, in whole or part for homes and commercial
buildings.
9
Sheets’ national standing as an artist was significantly elevated in 1930 when he
submitted his painting Women of Cartagena to the Carnegie International Watercolor
Exhibition in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His painting was one of twenty-five selected by
the jury out of over 19,000 submissions, and the only painting selected from an artist
west of the Mississippi River.
10
In 1932 Sheets began a life-long career at Scripps College in Claremont,
California when he was hired to teach as the Head of the Art Department. Sheets stayed
continually connected to Scripps College even while pursuing other professional
interests. He was the Director of the Art Department at Scripps from 1936 to 1955. After
Sheets stopped teaching regularly at Scripps he was awarded a Balch Lectureship from
1955 to 1972, an position apparently specially made for Sheets alone that entailed
occasional lectures. He also served as a member of the Scripps Board of Trustees from
1965 to 1970. Millard Sheets continued to be listed in the Scripps College annual
Academic Catalog as a Professor of Art and Balch Lecturer, Emeritus (retired) from 1972
until after his death in 1989.
11
Initially lacking a place to live in Claremont, Sheets built a house for himself and
his new family atop the foothills overlooking the Pomona Valley. Sheets married Mary
Baskerville in 1930 and together they had four children; Millard Owen Sheets, Jr (born
9
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution , Oral History Interview With Millard Sheets, Tape 8,
Side A.
10
Lovoos and Penney, Millard Sheets: One-Man Renaissance, 32. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian
Institution , Oral History Interview With Millard Sheets, Tape 3, Side A.
11
Lovoos and Penney, Millard Sheets: One-Man Renaissance, 147. Judy Sahak, email message to author,
February 23, 2016. In email correspondence Judy Sahak, the director of the Ella Strong Denison Library at
Scripps College, related that she found no documentation in the libraries’ archives of anyone eles besides
Millard Sheets holding the title of Balch Lecturer. There was no documentation of what a Balch Lecturship
entailed, but Sahak speculated that it was a mutually benifical arangement. Scripps could proudly benifict
from Sheets’ reputation and Sheets could contiue to have a “home” in academia.
9
1931), Carolyn Sheets (born 1935), David Baskerville Sheets (born 1939), and John
Anthony “Tony” Sheets (born 1942).
12
Early in his career at Scripps Sheets met Hartley Burr Alexander, a philosophy
professor at Scripps, who was good friends with architect Bertram Goodhue. Alexander
used his knowledge of classical Egyptian, Greek, and Roman art and architecture as a
frame of reference to recommend to Goodhue how to place art in his buildings.
Alexander collaborated with Goodhue to design artistic and symbolic themes for notable
structures that included Rockefeller Center in New York, the Nebraska State Capitol, the
Oregon State Capitol, and the Los Angeles Public Library. Alexander became an
architectural and artistic mentor to Sheets, and Sheets said he would show his building
designs to Alexander first for critique.
13
As the Great Depression wore on Sheets became involved with the Public Works
of Art Project (PWAP), a New Deal program that employed artists to decorate public
buildings. Sheets was selected in 1934 to be one of the directors of the PWAP’s southern
California branch.
14
Sheets architectural development was influenced by his involvement with the
Works Progress Administration (WPA), another New Deal agency, when he was
commissioned by the WPA to design the Fine Arts Building (built 1937) at the Los
Angeles County Fairgrounds in Pomona. (See Figure 1.3) Architecture critic Alan Hess
observed that Sheets life-long body of architectural work translated the WPA Moderne
12
Carolyn Sheets Owen-Towle. Damngorgeous: A Daughter's Memoir of Millard Owen Sheets, edited by
Laura Brown Cardiff (California: Oceanside Museum of Art, 2008), 57, 68-69.
13
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Oral History Interview With Millard Sheets, Tape 2,
Side B. Roxanne Smith, Nebraska State Capitol - The Philosopher: Hartley Burr Alexander,
http://capitol.nebraska.gov/building/history/team/hartley-alexander/.
14
During his involvemet with the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) Sheets donated several hundred
color lithographs of his artwork, and what he called “one of my best paintings.” Tenement Flats (1934) is a
large “very architectural” oil painting of urban Los Angeles with a view of laundry hung from the porches
of boxy wooden apartment buildings while women and children converse, rest and roam in the sunlight. It
was selected by Eleanor Roosevelt to hang in the reciption hall of the White House “for about fifteen
years.” Today Tenement Flats belongs to the Smithsonian Institutions’ National Museum of Art. Archives
of American Art, Smithsonian Institution , Oral History Interview With Millard Sheets, Tape 5, Side A.
Lovoos and Penney, Millard Sheets: One-Man Renaissance, 32-35. Janet Blake, "Millard Sheets: A
Tapestry of Life," in A Tapestry of Life: The World of Millard Sheets, (Pomona, California: Millard Sheets
Center for the Arts, 2007), 9-31.
10
spirit of realist and populist civic art into the new age by integrating murals, sculpture,
and stained glass.
15
Figure 1.3: One of the earliest buildings Millard Sheets’ designed: the Los Angeles County
Fairground Fine Arts Building (built 1937) in Pomona, California, now called the Millard Sheets
Center for the Arts at Fairplex. Sheets hallmark architectural features can already been seen; white
stone cladding, sculpture near the entrance, and a main entrance “framed” with artwork. Courtesy
Los Angeles County Fair.
Sheets first large-scale architectural design commission, a flight training school,
came in 1939, on the brink of World War II. (See Figure 1.4) Major Corliss C. Moseley,
a friend of Sheets, asked him to recommend a contractor to build a flight training school
to train airplane pilots. Lacking architectural plans for the school and needing the school
completed and ready for students in only three months Moseley then asked Sheets to
design the school buildings. Quickly two Cal-Aero Academies were completed in 1940 in
Oxnard and Ontario, California. These first two schools were so well received that Sheets
would go on to design fifteen more schools for pilots.
16
15
Alan Hess, and photographs by Alan Weintraub, Forgotten Modern: California Houses 1940-1970, (Salt
Lake City: Gibbs Smith, 2007), 256-257.
16
Lovoos and Penney, Millard Sheets: One-Man Renaissance, 66. Millard Sheets, C.T. Stover and W.P.
Stover, West Coast Air Corps Training Schools, (Claremont, California: Stover and Younger, Inc., 1941).
11
Figure 1.4: Millard Sheets design for the Cal Aero Academy flight training school, Oxnard,
California (1939). From Sheet, Stover and Stover, West Coast Air Corps Training Schools, 6.
Sheets recounted his experience designing the first flight training school;
I had no staff, I had no engineers, I had nothing. […] I had done
two or three pretty darn interesting homes for people, but just friends of
mine. […] I started the plans, put together an organization, got a couple of
engineers, and I hired two architects and about four draftsmen. And I did
all the designing of every inch of that thing, from stem to stern. […] Well,
the next thing that happed was that the chief of the air force […] Hap
Arnold – flew out to the opening of this school. And he said, ‘My god, this
isn’t an ordinary school! This is a […] country club.’ […] The next thing I
knew, I started getting calls from Florida and from all over the country
saying, ‘We understand you know more about an air school that anybody
in the country’ (chuckles). […] And I did seventeen of them. I never
solicited one of them.
17
Sheets explained in his oral history interview with the Archives of American Art
at the Smithsonian that he never had to solicit architectural work. New clients came to
17
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution , Oral History Interview With Millard Sheets, Tape 2,
Side B.
12
him after seeing buildings he had previously designed. Then after he successfully
designed building for these new clients, they became repeat customers that would
endorse Sheets’ skills to other people.
18
Sheets most well-known architectural works, which perhaps garnered the interest
of the Scottish Rite Masons, are his designs for the Home Savings and Loan buildings.
(See Figure 1.5 and Figure 1.11) In a tale often retold by both men, the story of Sheets’
involvement with financier Howard Ahmanson starts with Ahmanson writing to Sheets;
“Have traveled Wilshire Boulevard for twenty-five years. Know name of architect and
year every building was built. Bored.” Ahmanson had two properties on Wilshire
Boulevard and he wanted Sheets to design buildings that would be “exciting seventy-five
years from now.” Ahmanson was emphatic that the first building for the National
American Fire Insurance Company be designed as if Sheets was designing it for himself,
with no input from Ahmanson. Ahmanson told Sheets not even to talk to him until the
building was finished. The total lack of guidelines scared Sheets and he had no idea how
Ahmanson would react after the building was finished. Sheets designed the entire
National American Fire Insurance Company building, its artwork, and furniture, with
architects, engineers, and artists carrying out the work based on his drawings.
19
18
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution , Oral History Interview With Millard Sheets.
19
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution , Oral History Interview With Millard Sheets, Tape 8,
Side A.
13
Figure 1.5: The Millard Sheets designed Home Savings and Loan building at 9245 Wilshire
Boulevard, Beverly Hills, California (built 1954-1956). This is the first of forty Home Savings and
Loan branch buildings designed by Sheets. Today Chase Bank operates this building and many of
the other Sheets designed Home Savings and Loan buildings. Photo by author, 2011.
When the wooden guardian walls came down to reveal the completed National
American Fire Insurance building in 1954, Sheets nervously gave a tour of the building to
a silent Howard Ahmanson. After touring the garden, business offices, boardrooms, and
executive offices decorated with mosaics, granite, and functioning models of fire engines,
Sheets remembers Ahmanson broke out into laughter, “We got the best goddamned
business sitting here in the world.” Ahmanson said the building would bring a
tremendous increase in business and that Sheets should start the next day on designing
the second Wilshire Boulevard property for Ahmanson, a branch of Home Savings and
Loan.
20
20
The National American Fire Insurance building was located at 3731 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles. It
was demolished to make way for the Ahmanson Center (today called the Colonnade), built in 1967 by
architect Edward Durell Stone, located at 3701 Wilshire Boulevard.
14
Between 1954 and 1975, Sheets designed forty Home Savings and Loan branch
buildings, primarily located in southern California.
21
These buildings were often clad in
white travertine or marble, with monumentally framed customer entrances, and were
decorated inside and out with mosaics, murals, sculpture, stained glass and custom made
furniture. The one-of-a-kind artworks at each Home Savings and Loan branch often
depicted local historical or natural scenes with simple forms, making each of these chain
locations seem like a tribute celebrating the surrounding towns and neighborhoods. The
buildings were a comforting mix grandiosity and folksiness that implied stability, wealth,
and interest in the needs of the local people.
Aside from the some forty Home Savings and Loan branch buildings designed by
Millard Sheets, Millard Sheets Design, Inc. was involved with the design and decoration
of some eighty more Ahmanson owned buildings, even after Howard F. Ahmanson died
of a heart attack in 1968.
22
Architectural critic Alan Hess described the Sheets Home Savings and Loan
buildings as:
[…] arguably Modern but like little else on the scene. Instead of
highlighting the structure, he created large, blank-walled, symmetrical
volumes clad in tan marble. […] The dazzling architecture evoked the
impressive, glittering temples of Byzantium or Assyria. If this was a form
of Modernism, it was far removed from the openness, the expressive
structure, or the weightless glass boxes of typical Modernism […] Millard
Adam Arenson, "National American Fire Insurance 3731 Wilshire: The First Sheets-Ahmanson
Collaboration," http://adamarenson.com/2013/03/national-american-fire-insurance-3731-wilshire-the-first-
sheets-ahmanson-collaboration/. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution , Oral History
Interview With Millard Sheets, Tape 8, Side A.
21
For more informatation about the Home Savings and Loan buildings Millard Sheets and Sheets Studio
artists designed, please read Adam Arenson’s extensive blog “The Art of Home Savings” and look out for
his upcoming book on the subject. http://adamarenson.com /homesavingsbankart. On a personal note, I first
fell in love with the Millard Sheets design aesthetic when I was a regular customer at his former Home
Savings and Loan building in the West Portal neighborhood of San Francisco when it was a Washington
Mutual bank. Concepcion Rodriguez and Wendy Sherman, "Millard Sheets Studio: The Art of Home
Savings and Loan," (Santa Ana: CSUF Grand Central Art Center, 2012), 3. Mary Davis MacNaughton,
"Art at Scripps: The Early Years," (Claremont, California: Lang Art Gallery, Scripps College, 1988), 39.
22
Jan Ostashay, "City Landmark Assessment & Evaluation Report: Ahmanson Bank & Trust [Currently
First Bank]," (City of Beverly Hills, 2014), 8.
15
Sheets’ Modern architecture presents a fully realized alternative to
orthodox Modern architecture.
23
In addition to his home, aviation school, and financial building type designs
Millard Sheets also designed two fraternal clubhouses for the Scottish Rite order of
Freemasonry; the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple (built 1960-1961) in Los Angeles, and
the Scottish Rite Temple (built 1965) in San Francisco.
24
As the focus of this thesis, the
Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic Temple is discussed at length in Chapter 3, Chapter 4,
and Chapter 5.
Following the successful completion of the Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic
Temple Sheets was asked to design the San Francisco Scottish Rite Temple, with
architect and Freemason Albert Frederick Roller (1891-1981).
25
Today the building is
known as the San Francisco Scottish Rite Masonic Center, located at 2850 19
th
Avenue,
San Francisco, California. Though smaller and simpler than the Los Angeles facility, the
San Francisco Scottish Rite Temple symbolically portrayed the meaning and activates of
the Masons through its decorative elements. The primary exterior façade facing 19
th
Avenue (west) is dominated by a striking white grill studded with colorful mosaics of
Masonic symbols and human figures of famous builders important to Masonic lore.
26
(See Figure 1.6)
23
Hess, Forgotten Modern: California Houses 1940-1970, 257-258.
24
Sheets, A Tapestry of Life: The World of Millard Sheets, 72.
25
Mary Brown, "San Francisco Modern Architecture and Landscape Design 1935-1970, Historic Context
Statement, Final Draft." edited by San Francisco Planning Department, (San Francisco, 2011),
http://commissions.sfplanning.org/hpcpackets/2011.0059U.pdf, 261-262. Tina Tam, "Historic Resource
Evaluation Response," edited by San Francisco Planning Department, (San Francisco, 2014),
http://sfmea.sfplanning.org/2013.0973E_CPE_Checklist.pdf, 8.
26
Lovoos and Penney, Millard Sheets: One-Man Renaissance, 72. Oral History Program: University of
California Los Angeles, Los Angeles Art Community: Group Portrait: Millard Sheets, Interviewed by
George M. Goodwin, 2 volumes, (Los Angeles: Regents of the University of California, 1977),
496-497.
16
Figure 1.6: Exterior of the San Francisco Scottish Rite Masonic Center designed by Millard Sheets.
From Eric Sahlin Photography, The San Francisco Scottish Rite Masonic Center,
http://www.sfscottishrite.com/.
Millard Sheets later recounted designing the Scottish Rite Temple in a 1977 oral
history interview:
Then I did another Scottish Rite Temple in San Francisco. I worked with
an architect who was an oldtime Mason and who had done the large
temple for Masonry in San Francisco. […] I designed the building, and his
office in San Francisco carried out the plans. That is similar to the Los
Angeles temple, though perhaps simpler in some ways. We had a
tremendous amount of decoration on the inside and a certain amount on
the outside. There is a tremendous grill that had the great temple builders
designed right into it, and we used insets of mosaics in the figures, which
gives the grill a very exciting effect. The grills are probably 150 feet long,
divided into two, with a space in between. It makes a very interesting
approach to the building. You pass through this grill, then right into the
actual building. But inside it's loaded again with a tremendous amount of
17
decoration, all symbolical. It again has most of the same facilities that we
have in Southern California.
27
The former San Francisco Scottish Rite Temple is one of the few large and
artistically rich buildings designed by Millard Sheets that has had a single owner over the
life of the building. This stability has given the building a high degree of integrity,
regarding both the retention of building’s physical materials and the associative feel of
the building as fraternal event space. With its rich decorative interior, charming exterior
and loads of integrity, the Scottish Rite Temple is one of the most significant Millard
Sheets designed buildings and is likely eligible for listing on a national, state or local
register of historic resources. (See Figure 1.6, Figure 1.7, Figure 1.8, Figure 1.9, and
Figure 1.10)
Figure 1.7: Lounge of the San Francisco Scottish Rite Masonic Center designed by Millard Sheets.
From Eric Sahlin Photography, The San Francisco Scottish Rite Masonic Center,
http://www.sfscottishrite.com/otherfeatures.html.
27
Oral History Program: University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles Art Community: Group
Portrait: Millard Sheets, Interviewed by George M. Goodwin, 496-497.
18
Figure 1.8: Banquet Hall of the San Francisco Scottish Rite Masonic Center designed by Millard
Sheets. From Eric Sahlin Photography, The San Francisco Scottish Rite Masonic Center,
http://www.sfscottishrite.com/dining.html.
19
Figure 1.9: Auditorium of the San Francisco Scottish Rite Masonic Center designed by Millard
Sheets. From Eric Sahlin Photography, The San Francisco Scottish Rite Masonic Center,
http://www.sfscottishrite.com/auditorium.html.
20
Figure 1.10: Auditorium seating of the San Francisco Scottish Rite Masonic Center designed by
Millard Sheets. From Eric Sahlin Photography, The San Francisco Scottish Rite Masonic Center,
http://www.sfscottishrite.com/auditorium.html.
Lacking an architectural license Millard Sheets was removed from the mainstream
of American architects. This allowed Sheets to be artistically adventurous with his
building designs, but it also marginalized the significance of Sheets’ buildings among the
architectural elite.
28
Alan Hess explained Sheets overlooked architectural legacy in his
book Forgotten Modern: California Houses 1940-1970. “Millard Sheets—artist,
muralist, teacher—brought the ancient human impulse to decorate living spaces with
color, image, and gold into the twentieth century, creating static, formal, but delightful
modern spaces that owed nothing to the conventional forms of Modernism—a truly
original concept that could not be easily identified by historians, and so was neglected.”
Sheets building style defy easy categorization and description within the wider
overview of architectural history. Observers have labeled his buildings Modern,
28
Hess, Forgotten Modern: California Houses 1940-1970, 9, 256. Hess wrote that Sheets “was neither
trained in nor beholden to the manifestoes of the mainstream architecture profession.”
21
Postmodern, Mid-Century Modern, Late Modern, New Formalist or a mixture thereof.
His buildings have the simple facades and right angles of the Modern and International
style used by his contemporaries. However, Sheets use of stone cladding and decoration
diverge from the Modernist motifs of exposed structural elements, industrially produced
materials, and the avoidance of unnecessary detail. Sheets architectural style could be
seen as an early forerunner of the Postmodern movement because of his use of symbolic
artwork. However yet again, Postmodernism is not an exact fit for Sheets since his
buildings do not incorporate that style’s hallmark features of unorthodox angles, color,
and the reuse of past architectural ornaments and forms.
As an artistic entrepreneur, Sheets founded Millard Sheets Designs, Inc. around
1960 to create art and architecture that would be both decorative and functional.
29
Artists,
architects, engineers, and draftsmen labored at the Millard Sheets Studio (built 1956-
1959), also designed by Sheets, in Claremont, California.
Janice Lovoos and Edmund F. Penney wrote in their biography of Sheets, Millard
Sheets: One Man Renaissance, that “the success of this venture was fueled by a renewed
interest in the marriage of art and architecture that developed in America following the
end of World War II.” Sheets designed unique combinations of architecture, murals,
mosaic, sculpture, stained glass, landscaping, furniture, tapestries, carpet and whatever
else was required to create an all-in-one aesthetic package of realistically achievable art
and architecture.
30
Among his many employees, a former student, Susan “Sue” (née Lautmann)
Hertel, became an indispensable member of the company. Like Sheets, she possessed
artistic and managerial talents that enabled her to oversee the studio while Sheets painted,
taught, and traveled. On the artistic front Hertel was responsible for most of the studio’s
stained glass production; choosing the color, painting the glass and supervising its
installation. She also chose the colors for mosaics and murals. Sue Hertel was Sheets’
29
Millard Sheets Designs, Inc. was created in or before 1960. Financial records in the Archives of
American Art: Millard Sheets Papers indicate that the incorporation was paying taxes in 1960, but Millard
Sheets Designs, Inc. could have existed before then. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution,
"Millard Sheets Papers, 1907-1990," (Smithsonian Institution, 1999).
30
Lovoos and Penney, Millard Sheets: One-Man Renaissance, 63, 66.
22
assistant for thirty-three years, and upon his retirement, she became president of Millard
Sheets Designs, Inc.
31
Because Sheets did not have an architectural license, he would collaborate on the
buildings he designed with an architect who would comply with government regulations
and make the working blueprints for contractors to follow. Architect Sidney David
Underwood (1917-2002) first worked with Sheets in 1954 when Underwood
commissioned Sheets to help with the interior design of a Bob’s Big Boy restaurant in
Phoenix, Arizona. (See Figure 3.1) Underwood had designed several Bob’s Big Boy
restaurants and had just opened his own architectural office in La Cañada, California that
year. The success of this first project led Sheets and Underwood to collaborate
frequently.
32
For over a decade S. David Underwood would enjoy a successful partnership with
Sheets and became the principal architect for Sheets Studio. Underwood and Sheets
would collaborate on the construction of Sheets Studio building in Claremont, the design
or remodel of sixteen Home Savings and Loan buildings in southern California, and three
Guaranty Savings and Loan locations in the San Francisco Bay area. Underwood left the
Sheets Studio in 1962 to focus on his own architectural practice designing homes, banks
and restaurants in southern California, but he would occasionally still collaborate with
31
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution , Oral History Interview With Millard Sheets, Tape 3,
Side B. Sue Hertel is misspelled “Hirtell” in the interview transcript. Lovoos and Penney, Millard Sheets:
One-Man Renaissance, 64.
32
Claremont Heritage, Underwood + Underwood: The Art + Architecture of Martha & S. David
Underwood, (Claremont: Claremont Heritage Inc., 2014), 1. Lovoos and Penney, Millard Sheets: One-Man
Renaissance, 63. Sidney David Underwood, or S. David Underwood on his California Architects Board
Licence (#C1353), had an office at 107 Spring Street, Claremont, California. Alan Michelson, "Pacific
Coast Architecture Database," (University of Washington, c 2005-2015),
https://digital.lib.washington.edu/architect/. California Architects Board, Licensee Name: Underwood S
David, State of California Department of Consumer Affairs, http://www2.dca.ca.gov. Determining exactly
which buildings Sheets and Underwood colaborated on can be difficult because their names may not be on
construction paperwork submitted to local governments, a valuable source of information for architectural
historians. For instance the records the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety have on the
Scottish Rite Masonic Temple on Wilshire Boulevard includes an “Application to Construct New
Building,” but the entry for an architect is left blank.
23
Millard Sheets. S. David Underwood retired in 1990 and passed away in 2002 at the age
of 85.
33
Millard Sheets left behind an architectural legacy of hundreds of constructed
buildings, interior spaces and artistic installations. Some of his buildings have been
demolished and many of them have undergone remodeling that has changed the nature of
his design. Recognition and protection for Sheets’ buildings has only recently begun in
earnest, since the criteria for the National Register of Historic Places usually requires that
a building be over fifty years old before it is eligible for nomination to the National
Register. Some form of the “fifty year rule” is also used in many state, city, and local
architectural landmark registries.
When Sheets buildings are discussed in the context of preservation or landmark
status there are three recurring comments. First, the buildings are noted as significant
structures that are not yet protected by historic designation. Second, Sheets buildings may
be endangered due to the lack of wide-spread appreciation for mid-century architecture.
And third, it is often said that Sheets buildings should be better maintained by their
owners. On the positive side, when Millard Sheets designed buildings are inspected
during surveys for historic resources they are often found to be eligible for national, state,
or local registers.
Currently only one Millard Sheets designed building, the Ahmanson Bank &
Trust building (built 1959) in Beverly Hills, California, and an artistic installation have
received a listing on a historic landmark registry.
34
Following listing, Millard Sheets was
included on the city of Beverly Hills Cultural Heritage Commission’s List of Local
Master Architects. The Beverly Hills Municipal Code defines a Master Architect as “an
33
Underwood proposed over the phone to fellow Sheets Studio artist Martha Menke, while he was on a trip
to Rome in 1961 with Millard Sheets to locate travertine and inspect the statues commissioned for the
Scottish Rite Masonic Temple in Los Angeles. Claremont Heritage, Underwood + Underwood: The Art +
Architecture of Martha & S. David Underwood, 1.
34
Although none of Millard Sheets buildings are included in the National Register of Historic Places, one
of his artistic installations is part of a National Register listed building. “The Negro’s Contribution in the
Social and Cultural Development of America” mural, is noted in the National Register nomination for the
New Interior Building in Washington, D.C. (built 1936). Kay D. Weeks, Weeks, "National Register of
Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form," edited by United States Department of the Interior -
National Park Service, (1986), Item #7 5-6, Item #8 5.
24
architect of widely recognized greatness in the field of architecture whose individual
genius influenced his or her age.”
35
Designated Millard Sheets Designed Historic Resources
Properties designed by Millard Sheets that have been officially recognized in
historic registries at the national, state, or local level are important because listed
properties are granted benefits and extra protection through government agencies.
Official listing also raises awareness and public interest for the designated property and
other properties like it. Official designation brings extra attention at care to a property as
changes to the resources itself and the surrounding landscape are considered.
Ahmanson Bank & Trust – 9145 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, California
The Ahmanson Bank & Trust building (built 1959) at 9145 Wilshire Boulevard,
Beverly Hills, California was designated the twenty-sixth Local Landmark on the Beverly
Hills Local Register of Historic Properties on August 19, 2014. A City Landmark
Assessment and Evaluation Report found that the building appears to satisfy four of
Beverly Hills’ criteria for designation. The Ahmanson Bank & Trust building is
‘significant’ to local history and/or important events. It is associated with significant
persons (Howard F. Ahmanson and Millard Sheets). The Ahmanson Bank & Trust is a
notable work of Millard Sheets, a person included on the City of Beverly Hills List of
Master Architects. The building is especially eligible for designation because of its
distinctive architectural style, and because its site-specific artwork possesses high artistic
and aesthetic value. Further contributing to the Ahmanson Bank & Trust buildings
significance is its integrity form its period of significance, and “historic value.”
The Ahmanson Bank & Trust building is a Modern style structure with
neoclassical Greek influences designed by Millard Sheets with architect S. David
Underwood. Clad in white Italian Lasa Bianco marble and topped with a cornice of
35
City of Beverly Hills, City of Beverly Hills: Local Master Architects,
http://www.beverlyhills.org/citygovernment/departments/communitydevelopment/planning/historicpreserv
ation/resources/listofmasterarchitects/?PSMODE=minimal&PSSET=Y.
25
ceramic gold tiles, the front façade is adorned with two large mosaics depicting a father
and son fishing, alongside girls and birds sitting in a tree. Site-specific artworks also
include two “Tree of Life” themed exterior concrete screens, an interior multi-colored
inlaid marble “Tree of Life,” and two large multi-colored stained glass windows
depicting “Day” and “Night” animals. The current building owner, First Bank, has
demonstrated good stewardship by restoring broken elements with in-kind materials, and
removing paint added in the 1970s from the marble and ceramic façade.
36
As an officially landmarked property this building qualifies for incentives under
the Mills Act. The City of Beverly Hills’ Mills Act Program provides the owners of
locally designated historic properties with financial incentive in the form of property tax
relief in exchange for “the long-term maintenance and preservation of the property’s
historic features and character.”
37
Millard Sheets Artwork Installation – 450 N. Rexford Drive, Beverly Hills, California
A Millard Sheets designed mosaic (built 1971) was fifteenth Landmark on the city
of Beverly Hills Local Register of Historic Properties list in 2013. The mosaic, designed
by Millard Sheets and executed by the Millard Design Studio, depicts a scene from an
idealized Spanish past. Two women and a girl greet with open arms two riders
approaching on horseback. The welcoming women wear simple yet romantic “Spanish
Senorita” garb.
Originally, the mosaic artwork was located at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel from
1971 to 1974 to great guests as they exited cars in the hotel motor court. The mosaic was
part of a redesign initiated by the hotels owner, Hernando Courtwright, to theme the
private rear entrance after the “El Camino Real” (the Royal Road). The installation is
36
City of Beverly Hills, Local Register of Historic Properties,
http://www.beverlyhills.org/citygovernment/departments/communitydevelopment/planning/historicpreserv
ation/localhistoriclandmarks/. Jan Ostashay, City Landmark Assessment & Evaluation Report: Ahmanson
Bank & Trust [currently First Bank].
37
City of Beverly Hills, Mills Act Program,
http://www.beverlyhills.org/citygovernment/departments/communitydevelopment/planning/historicpreserv
ation/incentives/millsactprogram/.
26
now located on the exterior of the Civic Center Parking Garage at 450 N. Rexford Drive,
Beverly Hills.
The Beverly Hills Cultural Heritage Commission resolution to landmark the art
installation found it to be ‘significant’ for many the same reason mentioned above for the
Ahmanson Bank & Trust building. The mosaic is associated with important local events
and significant people. The careful assemblage of small hand cut textured glass tiles is a
meticulous method of construction that only a master of the mosaic technique could
attain. The mosaics high artistic and aesthetic value and Millard Sheets listing on the City
of Beverly Hills List of Master Architects further contribute to the artwork’s significance.
The mosaic’s integrity from its period of significance (1971-1974) has been affected by
its removal from its original location at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, but the Commission
felt the mosaic still retains its integrity of design, materials, workmanship, feeling,
association and setting after it moved from a motor court to a parking lot.
38
Non-Designated Millard Sheets Designed Historic Resources of Noted Significance
This section highlights the architectural works of Millard Sheets that have been
considered by government officials or historic preservation professionals as good
candidates for official designation on federal, state, or local historic registries but have
not achieved that status. This is by no means a complete list of Sheets works that are
eligible for official historical listing. Millard Sheets designed hundreds of buildings and
artistic architectural installations that were built across the country over a decades long
career. A complete survey of Sheets built works and an evaluation of the significance of
each one would be a tremendous amount of work beyond the scope of this thesis.
Historian Adam Arenson’s upcoming book Banking on Beauty: Millard Sheets
and Midcentury Commercial Architecture in Los Angeles will have an in-depth study of
the Home Savings and Loan buildings Sheets designed for Howard Ahmanson.
39
38
William Crouch, "Resolution No. Chc 27," edited by Cultural Heritage Commission of the City of
Beverly Hills, (2013), 2-7.
39
Banking on Beauty: Millard Sheets and Midcentury Commercial Architecture in Los Angeles will be
published in February 2018. Adam Arenson, email message to author, 15 August 15, 2017.
27
Home Savings and Loan – 9245 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, California
A Home Savings and Loan branch building (built 1954-1956) at 9245 Wilshire
Boulevard, Beverly Hills, California (currently a Chase Bank) was also nominated for
Local Landmark status in the city of Beverly Hills at the same time the Ahmanson Bank
& Trust and the Millard Sheets Artwork Installation were nominated. (See Figure 1.5 and
Figure 1.11) The Beverly Hills Cultural Heritage Commission postponed the designation
proceedings for the former Home Savings and Loan at the request of the current property
owner in 2015, with an uncertain date of continuance. Upcoming changes to Beverly
Hills’ Historic Preservation Ordinance were mentioned as reason for postponement.
Figure 1.11: Close up of exterior sculpture and mosaic on the Millard Sheets designed Home Savings
and Loan building at 9245 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills (built 1954-1956). Photo by author,
2011.
This building was identified as eligible for local landmark status in a 2014 report
by Jan Ostashay of Ostashay & Associates Consulting. A 2006 historic resources survey
report by Jones & Stokes identified the building as eligible for listing on the National
Register of Historic Places under the criteria associated with architecture and a master
28
architect. Among Millard Sheets’ architectural legacy, this building is especially
noteworthy because it is the first Home Savings and Loan structure that Millard Sheets
designed, and it is one of the oldest remaining intact examples of a Home Savings and
Loan building.
40
The two-story Home Savings and Loan building at 9245 Wilshire Boulevard has a
Modern exterior with Neoclassical Greek elements. The building is clad in Roman
travertine, Italian marble molding, Italian glass tesserae mosaics, and gilded ceramic tiles.
Two eight-foot tall sculptures by Renzo Fenci that depicting a family motif flank the
primary façade entrance. The focal point of the circular designed interior are large stained
glass and etched glass windows depicting historic scenes of banking and bartering. The
second story executive suites feature a lion mosaic by jean Ames and a hunter executed
in enamel on copper by Arthur Ames. With a construction time of seventeen months and
a cost of $2,000,000, property owner Howard Ahmanson called the gleaming white
building his Taj Mahal.
41
Home Savings and Loan – 1500 Vine Street, Los Angeles, California
A historic resources survey in Hollywood identified the Home Savings and Loan
building (built 1967) as appearing to be individually eligible for listing in the National
Register, eligible for listing in the California Register, and eligible for designation as a
Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument. The Home Savings and Loan building’s
significance was due to its “unique and distinctive architectural design associated with
the context of Mid-Century Modern architecture.”
42
40
Jones & Stokes, "City of Beverly Hills Historic Resources Survey Report - Survey Area 5: Commercial
Properties," Prepared for the City of Beverly Hills Planning and Community Development Department,
(2007).
41
Jan Ostashay, Landmark Assessment & Evaluation Report: Home Savings & Loan [currently Chase
Bank]. William Crouch, "Cultural Heritage Commission Report, Landmark Nomination for Inclusion onto
Local Register of Historic Resources of ‘Home Savings and Loan Building’, at 9245 Wilshire Boulevard,
Beverly Hills," edited by Planning Division (Beverly Hills: City of Beverly Hills, 2014),
http://beverlyhills.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=36&clip_id=4254.
42
Chattel Architecture, Planning & Preservation, Inc, "Historic Resources Survey - Hollywood
Redevelopment Project Area," (Los Angeles: Community Redevelopment Agency, 2010)
http://preservation.lacity.org/files/Hollywood_CRA_Survey_Report_0.pdf, 127-128.
29
Chapter 2: The Architecture of Freemasonry in America
Freemasonry grew up in the United States of America from its European roots
into a flourishing social organization that supported many popular sub-groups. To house
their social gatherings Masons developed upon existing types of meeting spaces to suit
their needs and desires and created a distinct building type: the Masonic Lodge building.
What is a Masonic Lodge building and what are its architecturally character defining
features? How is a Masonic Lodge building that services the core members of the
fraternity different than a building that houses one of Freemasonry’s popular sub-groups
such as the Scottish Rite, the York Rite, and the Shrine? This chapter’s overview of
Freemasonry will provide historical context in which to place the Millard Sheets designed
Scottish Rite Masonic Temple of Los Angeles, which will be discussed in-depth in
Chapter 3, Chapter 4, and Chapter 5.
Freemasonry and Its Origins in America
Freemasonry is a fraternal organization with members the world over, but
particularly in Europe and North America. Individual members of the fraternity, called
Freemasons or Masons interchangeably, are organized at the local level into groups
called “Lodges.” Lodges are governed at the state, province, or national level by a Grand
Lodge or Grand Orient, but beyond that there is no international body that governs
Freemasonry globally. Freemasonry is a secret society asks its members not to reveal
aspects of their ritual and lore to non-members. In service of this secrecy, Masonic rituals
30
are conducted behind closed doors where members of the general public cannot witness
them.
43
Freemasonry gives men (and women in more current times) a chance to socialize
and organize beyond their usual work, neighborhood, or religious groups. It provides its
members with a variety of positive masculine archetype to emulate through its traditions,
ceremonies, and ethical teachings of its core body and various associated organizations.
Freemasonry is composed of numerous “Rites” and “Degrees” where a new member
graduates to a higher number of degrees as they learn more about the stories and values
taught by the Masons. Each of the degrees advancements, particularly in the Scottish
Rite, culminate in a symbolic ceremony that enacts some of the initiate member’s new
teachings and also serves to reinforce the lesson with advanced members who also
participate in the ceremony.
The first three degrees of Masonry form the foundation for Freemasonry and are
prerequisites for participating in additional fraternal organizations, the most popular of
which are the Scottish Rite, the York Rite, and the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the
Mystic Shrine.
44
Since this thesis is about the Millard Sheets designed Scottish Rite
Masonic Temple of Los Angeles I will give detailed attention to the Scottish Rite.
The first three foundational degrees of Freemasonry, known consecutively as the
rituals of the “Entered Apprentice,” “Fellow Craft,” and “Master Mason,” expanded on
the Biblical story of the construction of King Solomon’s Temple. Masonic historian
William D. Moore wrote that King Solomon’s Temple was erected to:
…house the Ark of the Covenant. Built following decades of hardship and
turmoil for the Jews, this historically important religious structure
supposedly housed the tablets upon which Jehovah had inscribed his ten
43
Because Freemasonry is a secret society there are only a few sources that give a comprehensive view of
the Masonry’s organization, rituals, dogma, symbology and material culture. William D. Moore’s Masonic
Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes and S. Brent Morris’s The
Complete Idiot's Guide to Freemasonry and are the best contemporary sources I have found for looking at
Freemasonry as a whole. Unless otherwise noted, these books were the source of the majority of the
information in this chapter.
44
William D. Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes,
(Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2006), 1. Scholar William D. Moore’s engaging and accessible
book is an excellent introduction for those who are unfamiliar with Freemasonry and it’s architecture in
America.
31
commandments. The tablets, brought down from Mount Sinai by Moses,
were the physical manifestation of the pact between the Lord and the
people of Israel. The temple housing them, then, served not only to glorify
God but also to commemorate the ancient Israelites’ status as Jehovah’s
chosen people. In professing responsibility for erecting this building,
Freemasons thus claimed a pivotal role in cementing the bond between
God and his myrmidons [(a person who obeys his master’s commands
without question)] in the material world.
45
Assisting King Solomon was King Hiram of Tyre, whom provided cedar and fir
lumber for the Temple’s construction, and another Hiram only briefly mentioned in the
Bible as “a worker in brass,” but for whom the Masonic fraternity has extrapolated an
entire narrative. Masons give him the name Hiram Abiff and describe him as a gifted
architect in the court of King Hiram of Tyre. Together these three men were known as the
three historic or legendary grand masters.
46
Freemasons regarded Solomon as the
embodiment of wisdom, King Hiram of Tyre symbolized strength, and Hiram Abiff
represented beauty. These three men, and the positive qualities they embodied, were
honorable examples of masculinity for the Masons to emulate. They were told that their
own undertakings within and outside of Masonry should demonstrate “wisdom to
contrive, strength to support, and beauty to adorn.”
47
(See Figure 2.1)
45
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 2.
46
Albert G. Mackey. A Lexicon of Freemasonry, New and Improved Edition (Philadelphia: Moss, Brother
& Co, 1859), 443-445.
47
Thomas Smith Webb, The Freemason's Monitor, (Cincinnati: Applegate & Company, 1858), 41.
32
Figure 2.1: The Three Grand Masters of Freemasonry atop the style of column they are associated
with. The letters at the base of each column stand for Wisdom, Strength and Beauty. The Ionic
column represents Wisdom and King Solomon. The Doric column represents Strength and King
Hiram of Tyre. The Corinthian column represents Beauty and Hiram Abiff, the architect. From
Mackey, A Manual of the Lodge; or Monitorial Instructions, 109.
These three characters populated the Masonic ‘genesis’ story, set during the
construction of King Solomon’s Temple (See Figure 2.2 and Figure 2.3). Every day at
noon Hiram Abiff would take a crooked staircase to the sanctum sanctorum or Holy of
Holies of the unfinished temple. There he would pray and work on the temple’s design.
One day he was approached in the sanctum sanctorum by three Fellow Craft Masons:
Jubela, Jubelum, and Jubelo. They wished to know the secrets of Master Masons so that
they could have higher pay. Hiram Abiff did not look kindly upon the ‘ruffians’ threats
and judged them unworthy of the secrets of Master Masonry. Hiram Abiff refused their
33
request three times until Jubelo struck him dead with a setting maul. The ruffians buried
his body on a hillside with a sprig of acacia to mark the site.
48
Figure 2.2: The legend of King Solomon’s Temple informed Masonic ideals of spatial organization
and architecture for their Lodge rooms and Lodge buildings. This recreated imagining of the
Temple was published in 1907. From Bennett, The Origin of Freemasonry and Knights Templar, 41.
48
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 9.
34
Figure 2.3: Biblical legend tells that King Solomon’s Temple was located at what is known today as
the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Israel, one of the most holy sites in the Jewish, Christian and
Islamic religions. Although Solomon’s Temple building was destroyed the ruins, foundations, and
later construction at this site have informed Masonic images of Solomon’s Temple along with the
written description in the Bible. From Godot13, File:Temple Mount (Aerial view, 2007) 02.jpg,
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Temple_Mount_(Aerial_view,_2007)_02.jpg.
King Solomon noticed Hiram Abiff and the ruffians were missing the next day.
The king organized the temple workmen into a search party to find the missing men. The
architect’s body was located and the ruffians were captured fifteen days later. King
Solomon and King Hiram of Tyre traveled to the shallow grave to retrieve the body and
transported it to the temple for a respectful interment as close to the sanctum sanctorum
as custom would allow. The fraternity of workmen building the temple then erected a
monument to Hiram Abiff located upon his final burial site.
49
The Masonic fraternal traditions built upon the biblical story of King Solomon’s
Temple to create a social club for men with its own unique system of beliefs and rituals.
Masonic historian William D. Moore states that Freemasonry and its most popular sub-
groups offered a series of masculine archetypes for its members to participate in; the
heroic artisan in Freemasonry, the righteous warrior in the York Rite, the wise man of the
49
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 9.
35
Scottish Rite, and the jester or fool in the Shrine.
50
The group identity and spatial needs
of Freemasons would inform the buildings they constructed for their use. And each of the
afore mentioned sub-groups within Freemasonry would develop its own tradition of
architectural expression.
Masonic Lodge
Freemasons gather locally in groups called Lodges to conduct their meetings and
rituals in a Lodge Room, often located in a Masonic Lodge building. The term “lodge” is
imbued with multiple meanings in the Masonic lexicon. It can refers to the Lodge Room
where Freemasons meet, the Lodge building that houses the Lodge Room, and to a single
person or group of Freemasons acting on a Masonic purpose.
51
In Masonic architecture, the Lodge Room is the sacred heart of a Masonic Lodge
building. The Lodge Room, and what Freemasons do there, can deeply inform the design
of a Masonic building: from the layout of the floor plan, to the decorative style of the
facade.
Functionally the Lodge Room serves as a ritualistic theater space where Masons
perform the first three degrees of Freemasonry (See Table 2.1) and other rituals together
with their fellow Masons in a form of community theater. In the sheltered space of the
Lodge Room men can comfortably don elaborate costumes and theatrical makeup. Using
memorized dialog and standardized movements in their performance they re-enact the
story of Hiram Abiff’s murder in the open space at the center of the Lodge Room
surrounding the altar. Traditionally the master of the Lodge assemble plays King
50
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes,, xiii.
51
Albert G. Mackey, Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences edited by William J.
Hunghan and Edward L. Hawkins, (Chicago: The Masonic History Company, 1925), 449-451. The word
“Lodge” has a third meaning to Masons. Beyond referring a people or a place, it can also be a thing.
Biblically a Lodge is a piece of furniture constructed by Betzalel at the instruction of God to house the Ark
of the Covenant and was kept in the Holy of Holies of the Temple. During certain rare Masonic ceremonies
this furniture-type of Lodge is used; such as at the constitution and consecration of new Masonic buildings.
Instead of containing the Ark of the Covenant the furniture-type Lodge would contain written Masonic
laws: the Book of Constitutions and the Warrant of Constitution granted by the Grand Lodge.
36
Solomon, the senior warden plays King Hiram of Tyre, and so on in order of Lodge
hierarchy and role significance.
52
Masonic historian William D. Moore elaborates:
Each participating officer was required to memorize the portions of the
ritual that he was responsible for presenting. As a member progressed
through the officers, he committed to memory increasingly larger
proportions of the text. During his year as junior warden, he performed the
dialogue of Jubela, the first ruffian. The next year, while he served as
senior warden, he learned the lines of Jubelo. By the time he served as
master of his lodge and had played the role of Solomon, he would have
been participating in the performance of the ritual for at least five years
and have memorized the entire text.
53
By practicing these masculine roles in the secrecy and safety of the Lodge Room,
men could prepare to incorporate what they had learned into their everyday lives at home
and in the workplace.
54
Freemasons use of the word “lodge” is derived from the thirteenth-century French
mason’s word for a workshop. A temporary workshop or lodge was built near the
construction site of a Gothic church or other structure that required a lot of stone-work.
At the temporary lodge structure stone masons could cut stone, store tools, hold meetings,
and relax after work.
55
(See Figure 2.4) Freemasons revered the medieval cathedral
builders for their magnificent architecture, workmanship, and piety. Thus, Freemasons
used the symbols and lore from medieval stone-masons to enrich their traditions.
52
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 35, 39.
53
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 35.
54
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 39.
55
James Stevens Curl, The Art and Architecture of Freemasonry, (New York: The Overlook Press, 1991),
22-24.
37
Figure 2.4: In this fifteenth-century French painting showing an abbey under construction a stone
masons’ lodge is shown as the timber structure on the right. The lodge is where stone is prepared
before it is placed in the abbey. Items that were used by stone masons became symbols used in
Freemasonry (such as white aprons, trowels, and a hammer). Copyright Bibliothéque Royale Albert
1er, Bruxelles, MS 6 fol. 554 verso.
King Solomon’s Temple: The Template for the Masonic Lodge Room
King Solomon’s Temple, as the backdrop for the Masonic origin myth, is the
archetype for Lodge Rooms and Masonic buildings. Solomon’s Temple is believed to
have been built at great expense between the years 1012 B.C. and 1004 B.C. on Mount
Moriah in modern day Israel. Surrounded by successive layers of white marble walls and
courtyards the Temple building itself was approximately 30 feet wide, and 90 feet long,
with a 15 foot deep columned porch on the front. (See Figure 2.2)
The Temple was divided into three parts: Porch, the Sanctuary or Holy Place, and
the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant was kept.
56
At the entrance to the
porch was a gate made of Corinthian brass, “the most precious metal known to the
ancients.” Beside the gate were two pillars constructed by Hiram Abiff, named Jachin
56
Mackey, Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences, 767-768.
38
and Boaz. From the porch you entered the Holy Place/Sanctuary through a portal layered
in veils of many colors that mystically symbolized the universe. In the Holy Place the
various utensils used for everyday worship were kept, such as the altar, incense,
candlesticks, and sacrificial offerings. The innermost room, the Holy of Holies, was
separated from the Sanctuary by a richly carved olive wood door inlaid with gold and
covered with blue, purple, and scarlet veils. The Holy of Holies contained the Ark of the
Covenant and only priests could enter this most sacred of spaces.
57
Freemasons used accounts of King Solomon’s Temple as a template to inform the
layout of their Lodge Room. Look at the similarities in the simplified layout of King
Solomon’s Temple based on biblical accounts, and an ideal Lodge Room, both published
in Mackey’s Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences. (See Figure 2.5
and Figure 2.6) A person enters from the west and goes through a barrier space
(Porch/Tiler’s Room), before entering the room with an altar (Holy Space/Lodge Room).
The procession culminates in the east with the Holy of Holies or raised platform where
the highest-ranking Freemasons sit.
57
Mackey, Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences, 768-769.
39
Figure 2.5: This layout of King Solomon’s
Temple is a procession of rooms that
become increasingly sacred as person
progresses from the Porch, to the Holy
Place, and finally the Holy of Holies.
Masonic architecture uses this procession of
rooms to separating the profane public
spaces from the sacred Lodge Room. From
Mackey, Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and
Its Kindred Sciences, 768.
Figure 2.6: Diagram of an ideal Lodge Room with
the arrangement of officers seats, the altar, and
lights. Like in King Solomon’s Temple note how
the rooms progress from west to east, from public
to hallowed grounds. From Mackey,
Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred
Sciences, 452.
40
Operative Masons and Speculative Masons
In the context of Freemasonry, the word “mason” has multiple meetings, similar
to how the word “lodge” can refer to several different concepts. Freemasonry is built
around the story of a murdered architect, and the Masonic fraternity created a lexicon of
architectural allusions and symbols. Stonemasons and craftsmen, like those who were
involved with the creation of Solomon’s Temple or the building of Gothic cathedrals, are
called “Operative Masons” in the Masonic tradition. “Speculative Masons” are members
of the fraternal organization of Freemasons. Freemasons participate in abstract “temple
building” where individual members represented rough stones (also called ashlars) that
needed to be refined before member/stone can be placed in a metaphorical temple that
represents human society or the universe. “Operative Masonry erected structures out of
stone; Speculative Masonry employed symbols and concepts related to architecture to
build character among the fraternity’s membership.”
58
In this manner, within
Freemasonry the word “temple” could refer to an actual building, an individual’s
character, the Masonic organization, or the whole of human society.
The Operative Masonry used by ancient stonemasons to transform a rude
unpolished block of marble into a sculpted life-like statue is the “foundation on which has
been built the speculative science of Freemasonry.”
59
In their quest to build a better
society through their brotherhood an individual Mason represented an ashlar, or living
stone, created by the Great Architect Himself; God. Speculative Masonry, which is just
another name for Freemasonry, uses the principles, language, implements and materials
of Operative Masonry “to the vernation of God, the purification of the heart, and the
inculcation of the dogmas of a religious philosophy.”
60
Character Defining Features of Masonic Lodge Buildings
Architectural characteristics unique to a specific type or period of building are
called “character-defining features” in heritage conservation and historic preservation
58
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 4.
59
Mackey, Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences, 704, 532.
60
Mackey, Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences, 704.
41
parlance. These physical features convey the historic identity of a structure, and aid in
defining why and when a property is significant. If character defining features are
removed from a structure to the point that the type and period of significance of a
building can no longer be identified, then the building loses its integrity.
61
As a building type, the character defining features commonly seen in Masonic
Lodge Buildings include a Lodge Room, Masonic symbols incorporated into the
decorative plan of the building, a historic revival architectural style, and a symmetrical
primary façade that is often grand enough to be an eye catching local landmark. The
following pages explore the character defining features associated with the architecture of
Masonic Lodge buildings in depth. Establishing a baseline template for Masonic Lodge
Rooms and Masonic Lodge buildings will inform later discussion in this chapter of the
unique architectural features used by the sub-groups within Freemasonry. In turn, this
understanding of Masonic Lodge buildings as a type will inform the discussion in
following chapters of the former Scottish Rite Masonic Temple (built 1960-1961) of Los
Angeles.
While discussing the Masonic Lodge buildings’ character defining features in
depth I made an effort to discuss the “what” and the “why.” Why do Freemasons use
these specific architectural elements in Lodge Rooms and Masonic Lodge buildings? I
find that knowing even a little bit of the Masonic dogma behind architectural traditions
greatly informs my understanding of the architecture.
At the end of this chapter are tables that summarize the character defining features
associated with Masonic architecture and its most popular sub-groups; the Scottish Rite,
York Rite and the Shrine. (See Table 2.4 and Table 2.5)
Lodge Room
The Lodge Room is the centerpiece and key architectural feature of most Masonic
buildings. (See Figure 2.7, Figure 2.8, Figure 2.9, and Figure 2.10) As the locale for
61
U.S. Department of the Interior - National Park Service, "National Register Bulletin (#15) - How to
Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation," (Washington D.C: U.S. Government Printing Office,
1990, revised 2005), http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/publications/bulletins/nrb15/. California Office of
Historic Preservation, Welcome!, http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/.
42
Freemasonry’s most important functions the Lodge Room is organized and embellished
to specific standards. Recognizing the architectural and spatial patterns used in Lodge
Rooms is an important tool for identifying Masonic buildings. Architectural features may
mean nothing individually, but when they are united, a pattern can be seen that indicates
a specific use, identity, and meaning of a building.
Figure 2.7: The Renaissance Room is one of many richly decorated Lodge Rooms in the Masonic
Temple of New York City. Note the altar in the center of the room, Master’s dais along the eastern
wall, and audience seating along the edge of the north and south walls. Photo taken circa 2015 after a
restoration. Photo by Jason P. Sheridan.
43
Figure 2.8: The western side of the Renaissance Room in the Masonic Temple of New York City.
Note the altar, rug with a Blazing Star symbolizing the sun, and the twin columns Jachin and Boaz.
Photo circa 1909, taken shortly after the building’s construction. From Library of Congress, LC-
USZ62-119990.
44
Figure 2.9: The eastern end of a Lodge Room in the Masonic Temple of Mendocino, California, circa
1933. Notice the altar with Bible, and three candlesticks in the center of the room. The Master’s
chairs are on a raised platform in the east with a “G” for God on the wall. Ionic, Doric and
Corinthian columns are used in this one room. From Library of Congress, HABS CAL,23-
MENCI,20—6.
45
Figure 2.10: The western end of a Lodge Room in the Masonic Temple of Mendocino, California,
circa 1933. The smaller platform seats the Senior Warden. Note the globed columns Jachin and Boaz
flanking the door on the left. From Library of Congress, HABS CAL,23-MENCI,20—7.
The first important written source to give guidelines regarding Masonic
architecture is The Book of The Lodge, or Officer’s Manual, written in England in 1849
by D. D. G. Oliver. The Book of the Lodge consolidated existing customs and rituals that
many Masons have since adhered to when building, furnishing, and decorating a Lodge
Room or Masonic building. Oliver’s writings are recommendations rather than rules.
Each Lodge has the freedom to do what they would like within their budget and local
custom. Over time, some of his recommendations have been nearly forgotten while other
have become ingrained traditions. I will focus on the most prominent and commonly used
elements that Oliver relates.
Oliver instructs that the ideal Lodge Room should be a rectangular room aligned
west to east, with the entrance doorway on the west side of the room, and the Master
seated on the east side of the room. As a Mason enters the Lodge Room they walk
46
towards the east; “a place of Light both physical and moral” and a “symbol of mental
illumination.”
62
On the eastern side of the room, the Master sits with the past Masters on
an elevated dais in a chair with exaggerated proportions (sometimes called the Oriental
Chair of Solomon). Often the letter “G” is on the wall above the Masters head and two
pillars flank his chair. The Masters chair is called the Oriental Chair of Solomon because
it orients towards the east and because the Master symbolically fills the role of King
Solomon.
63
Masonic officials usually sit in grand chairs to distinguish themselves from
the rest of the audience. (See Figure 2.11) The audience of Masons sit along the longer
sidewalls on the south and north sides of the Lodge Room. All seating arrangements in
the Lodge Room have the Masons facing the Bible, an homage to God, as it sits upon an
altar.
64
62
D. D. G. Oliver, The Book of the Lodge, or Officer's Manual, (London: R. Spencer, 1849), 47.
63
Oliver, The Book of the Lodge, or Officer's Manual, 47, 72. Mackey, Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and
Its Kindred Sciences, 537, 786. In England the Oriental Chair of Solomon is called aThrone instead. Moore,
Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 20.
64
Oliver, The Book of the Lodge, or Officer's Manual, 34.
47
Figure 2.11: A towering Master’s chair in a Lodge Room at the Homesteaders Life Insurance
building at 845 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, California. Photo taken in 1940. From USC
Digital Libraries, Volume1107/DW-1940-01-27-197.
The altar is the most important piece of furniture in the Lodge Room. Mackey
explains that the altar is not merely a table to hold the Bible, but a sacred utensil used by
Masons for worship, sacrifice, and prayer. The altar should be about three feet high, in
the form of a cube or double cube, and be made of shittim or acacia wood. Following the
Civil War, Masonic altars in America tended to be wooden furnishings with upholstered
leather or velvet tops, and ornately decorated sides. They measured approximately two
feet wide, by three feet long, and two-and-a-half feet high.
65
The Bible is held open by a square and compass to passages relevant to whichever
Masonic ritual is being taught. Three tall brass candlesticks near the altar provide light in
65
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 22.
48
the east, west, and south.
66
A Blazing Star, representing the Sun, may also be placed in
the center of the Lodge Room.
67
(See Figure 2.8) Preferably, two doors are symmetrically
placed on the shorter east/west walls.
68
The western side of the Lodge Room is
sometimes furnished with an organ for ritual and festive occasions.
69
The Lodge Room should ideally be on an upper story and away from surrounding
buildings so that outside persons cannot watch Masonic rituals. To that same end, if there
are any windows in the Lodge Room, they should have curtains or another sort of
covering to keep the Masonic proceedings secret. The rectangular Lodge Room may be
of any size, large or small, to accommodate the population of the local Masons.
70
The ceiling should be lofty to lend dignity to the room, and so it will not become
stuffy when it is packed with people.
71
It should be beautiful, as God’s universe is, and
decorated with Masonic symbols that will aid in the educations of members in the craft of
Freemsonry.
72
The floor can be a black and white checker board pattern to symbolize how
quickly pleasure and pain alternate in life. “The white squares representing virture and
happiness, and the black ones only vice and misery.”
73
However the unwanted noise of
moving chairs can interupt the gravity of a ritual. Carpet can prevent this disturbance.
74
Temporary floor-cloths or tracing boards may be placed on the floor with the emblems of
a particular degree to assist in it’s teaching.
75
This laundry list of desirable traits in a Lodge Room was executed to various
degrees by Lodges depending on the resources at their disposal and the fashion of the
66
Oliver, The Book of the Lodge, or Officer's Manual, 72-75, 130. Oliver notes that, “In the Unites State,
according to the instructions contained in Cross’s Chart, the Bible is opened in the first degree at Psalm
cxxxiii; in the second at Amos vii; and in the third at Ecclesiastes xii.” Mackey, Encyclopædia of
Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences, 50-51.
67
Oliver, The Book of the Lodge, or Officer's Manual, 34.
68
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 20.
69
Oliver, The Book of the Lodge, or Officer's Manual, 74.
70
Oliver, The Book of the Lodge, or Officer's Manual, 45.
71
Mackey, Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences, 451-452.
72
Oliver, The Book of the Lodge, or Officer's Manual, 27.
73
Oliver, The Book of the Lodge, or Officer's Manual, 32.
74
Oliver, The Book of the Lodge, or Officer's Manual, 76-77.
75
Mackey, Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences, 267.
49
time. Compare two Lodge Rooms built in the early twentieth century: one in Mendocino,
California and one in New York City, New York. (See Figure 2.7, Figure 2.8, Figure 2.9,
and Figure 2.10) Both the small town and large city Lodge Rooms have the basic
necessary layout elements (a doorway on the shorter wall, the altar, master’s platform,
officer and audience seating) but other features differ. The small town Lodge in
Mendocino has invested in a Classical decorative style counterpointed by the latest
technology, a neon G above the master’s chair. The larger and wealthier New York
Lodge has splurged on an organ and Renaissance style decorative scheme that includes
murals, faux marble, and crystal chandlers.
Historian William D. Moore, who has written extensively on New England area
Freemasonry, cataloged the finer points of Masonic architecture that developed in
America in his book Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine
Archetypes. He postulates that the Lodge Room is a didactic tool used to educate its
fraternal membership. “Complex constellations of visual cues and spatial relationships
were employed within these spaces to train American men to assume the characteristics
of the masculine archetype of the heroic artisan […]. The rooms were shaped physically
by members of the fraternity, but these spaces, in turn, molded the men who used
them.”
76
The Lodge Rooms, united by their matching layout and rituals repeated over
generations, gave Masonic ceremonies a timeless feel that transcended location. Moore
states “the lodge room symbolized Solomon’s temple, but it also simultaneously
represented every space used by Freemasons throughout history. Just as the ritual
occurred within a timeless ceremonial reality, the lodge room served as a space
disconnected from chronological time.”
77
“The ritually dictated standard floor plan […]
ensured that all lodge rooms were cognitively interchangeable sites for the inclusion of
Masonic teachings.”
78
76
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 16.
77
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 18.
78
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 39.
50
Moore observes that the archetypal Lodge Room is organized around a pair of
axes. “The primary axis runs down the center length of the room. Starting at the letter G
on the wall – a symbol simultaneously denoting both God and geometry – the axis runs
through the Master […] and ends with the Senior Warden.” The second axis is
perpendicular to the primary one, and runs from the Junior Warden on the right-hand side
of the room, through the altar. Every person’s or object’s location relative to these two
axes reflected their ritual significance.
79
Seating for the senior-most officials was sometimes combined into a towering
three-seated officers’ chair.
80
(See Figure 2.11) Non-officers “occupied interchangeable
seats of identical status. These seats were usually long upholstered settees designed to
accommodate three, four, five, or more individuals.”
81
By lining the walls with seats that
faced the center of the room Freemasons could see every individual present, and in turn
they were observed by the collected fraternity. “This act of mutual observation provided
the membership with a concrete image of the brotherhood, reinforced the corporate
identity of the fraternity, and tightened the mystic tie that supposedly bound them
together.”
82
All seats faced the Bible on the altar, signified that each person was
responsible for their own relationship with God.
83
As a sacred space, the Lodge Room was often decorated with the same
furnishings as a church, particularly from 1870 to 1930. Moore found advertisements for
seating that was made to accommodate churches and Lodge Rooms. The S.C. Small &
Co. offered the exact same set of chairs in their “Illustrated Catalogue of Lodge
Furniture” and in their “Illustrated Catalogue of Church Furniture.” Lodges also
purchased previously used furniture from a church.
84
The same chair could be used on a
church pulpit or a Lodge Room platform.
79
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 20.
80
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 23-25.
81
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 24.
82
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 24.
83
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 25.
84
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 30-34.
S. C. Small & Co., “Illustrated Catalogue of Lodge Furniture,” (Boston, 1886). S. C. Small & Co.,
“Illustrated Catalogue of Church Furniture,” (Boston, n.d.).
51
Lodges the were economically prosperous would often decorate their Lodge
Rooms with items specifically designed for Masonic use. Stained glass windows served a
double function of displaying Masonic symbols and preventing outside observers from
seeing inside the Lodge Room. Murals or paintings depicting Masonic symbols and
famous past Masons adorned walls, and carpet with interlocking patterns of Masonic
symbols could be found in wealthy Lodges.
85
Lodge Rooms were often decorated in historic motifs harkening back to earlier
“Temple Builders,” such as the Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Medieval, Renaissance, or
American Colonial periods. Large Masonic Halls with many Lodge Rooms would often
decorate each room in a different historical architectural style. New York City’s Masonic
Hall has descriptively named Lodge Rooms that include; The Renaissance Room (See
Figure 2.7 and Figure 2.8), The Egyptian Room, The Ionic Room, The Corinthian Room,
The Doric Room, The Jacobean Room (decorated in an English Gothic style), The Gothic
Room (decorated in a French Gothic style), The French Ionic Room, The Colonial Room,
and The American Room.
86
Masonic Lodge Building
Early in the history of Freemasonry meetings were held in taverns or private
homes, but as the fraternity grew in popularity Masons were able to use members’ dues,
donations, and loans to build new structures to house their fraternity. A Masonic Lodge
building is erected by a Masonic Lodge to hold their Lodge Rooms. These Masonic
Lodge buildings offered more convenience, respectability, and security than temporary
locations could provide.
Albert Mackey, a Masonic leader whose writings established much of
Freemasonry’s lore in America, defined a “true” Masonic Lodge building (what he called
85
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 27-28.
86
Ken JP Stuczynski, "Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of the State of New York: Masonic Hall
Photo Gallery," (Grand Lodge of the State of New York), http://nymasons.org/2015/masonic-hall-photo-
gallery/.
52
a Masonic Hall) as a building that had been purpose built for Masonic use only.
87
According to Mackey’s research, the first true Masonic Hall in America was built in
Boston in 1832 and was named the “Masonic Temple.” Afterwards many Masonic
buildings in large cities took the name “Masonic Temple” too.
88
The name became so
popular that colloquially any building holding a Masonic Lodge Room was
interchangeably called a Masonic Hall or Masonic Temple.
89
Despite Mackey’s narrow definition that a true Masonic Lodge building should
only be used by Masons, Masonic buildings in cities would often have retail space to rent
out on the ground floor (which would help pay for the cost of the building) with Lodge
Rooms for the Masons in the floors above. Some Masons took issue with this
arrangement, viewing commerce within a Masonic Hall as sullying the sacred nature of
the space.
90
The aspiration to create a “purely Masonic” building that would “buttress the
organization’s doctrines of intellectual and behavioral conduct” inspired some Masons.
91
Financial resources would often be the deciding factor on what form a Masonic Lodge
building would ultimately take. Instead of spending large sums on a new structure, some
Masonic Lodge groups would buy existing buildings that could accommodate a large
audience, such a theaters, churches, schools or residences.
The construction of a Masonic Lodge building is not governed by any specific
rules in America. As a result American Masonic Lodge buildings range from those
designed by architects who are Freemasons who deeply imbue the building with Masonic
meaning, to Halls designed by architects unfamiliar with Freemasonry that give little
reference to the ritual requirements of the Masons.
92
87
In Mackey’s time “Masonic Hall” referred to a building that housed Lodge Room, however today a
“Masonic Hall” usually refers to the banquet rooms in Masonic buildings. I have chosen to use the term
“Masonic Lodge building” because it simplifies and embraces a variety Masonic building names (Hall,
Temple, Shrine, Cathedral, etc.), and references the inclusion of a Lodge Room and Lodge members as an
integral part of the Masonic Lodge building.
88
Mackey, Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences, 314.
89
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 121.
90
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 129.
91
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 120.
92
Mackey, Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences, 314.
53
Beyond architectural influences of previous ancient “temple builders,” Oliver’s
The Book of The Lodge, or Officer’s Manual gives recommendations for building,
furnishing, and decorating a Masonic Lodge building and Lodge Room. In Oliver’s
opinion, the first and foremost step is to have a talented architect experienced in
Freemasonry plan the building.
If possible, a Masonic Lodge building should be isolated, in a courtyard, behind
high walls that will ensure the privacy during meetings of this secret society. In large
cities where space is at a premium the Lodge Rooms should be on the upper story of a
building with windows in the roof or very high off the floor to thwart unwanted
observers.
93
The approach to the Lodge Room must be angular, akin to the crooked staircase
Hiram Abiff walked every day to work and pray in the unfinished Holy of Holies in King
Solomon’s Temple. In practice, many Lodge Rooms on upper floors are reached from the
ground floor via a staircase with a landing, and ninety-degree or one-hundred-and-eighty-
degree turns. If the Lodge Room is on the ground floor the angular path can be achieved
by placing the doorways from the street, visitor’s room, Tiler’s Room, and the Lodge
Room at ninety-degree angles from each other so a Mason cannot walk in a straight line
from the street to the Lodge Room. There should be a visitor’s room, lobby, reception
room or foyer for the accommodation of visitors connects the external world to the inner
workings of the Lodge, similar to the progression from profane to holy spaces in King
Solomon’s Temple.
94
Guarding the entrance to the Lodge Room is the Tiler’s Room. The Tiler is a
Masonic officer that sits on watch in the Tiler’s Room while the Lodge is in session to
warn off unwanted listeners and only allow true Masons to enter the Lodge. The door
between the Tiler’s and Lodge rooms can be covered by a thick cloth to muffle sound to
93
Oliver, The Book of the Lodge, or Officer's Manual, 44-45.
94
Oliver, The Book of the Lodge, or Officer's Manual, 47.
54
ensure that possible intruders in the Tiler’s Room will not hear any of the Lodge
proceedings.
95
Studded throughout a Masonic Lodge building the architect should place secret
and obvious closets for the practical storage of Mason’s equipment and regalia. There
should also be a larger room for the storage of the Lodge’s communal ornaments,
furniture, costumes and other ritual objects. This costume, prop and equipment storage
space has been called a Vestry, Treasury, or Tiler’s Conclave.
96
Oliver also recommends the inclusion of a Chapel room hung in black with one
small light placed high up and a Chapel for the Dead with a lamp and symbols of
mortality placed on a table. He also recommended a Master’s Conclave decorated in blue
where the Lodge’s records, the Warrant imbuing the Grand Master with authority, and
the Lodge’s Ark of the Covenant are safely kept. Finally Oliver recommends a Masonic
Lodge building should have a trap door seven feet long, three to four feet wide, and three
feet deep to be used for secret Masonic purposes.
97
(See Figure 2.12)
95
Oliver, The Book of the Lodge, or Officer's Manual, 31, 47-48.
96
Oliver, The Book of the Lodge, or Officer's Manual, 48.
97
Oliver, The Book of the Lodge, or Officer's Manual, 29, 48-49.
55
Figure 2.12: The Second Floor Plan of an ideal Masonic Lodge building (never built) with an model
Lodge Room and its surrounding accessory rooms. Note the layout and features often used in
Masonic Lodge buildings; the angled staircase, a “profane” reception room, a Tilers Room, a Lodge
Room with symmetrically placed doors on the narrower walls, seating on platforms, and an altar in
the center. From The Architectural Record, July 1931, 53.
56
Social spaces are also an integral part of a Masonic Hall. Outside of Lodge
ceremonies Masons can build bonds of friendship and entertain non-Masons in Lounges,
Billiard Rooms, Banquet Halls, Ballrooms and Auditoriums. Oliver counseled that as the
sun rises, shines, and sets a man also has a daily cycle of labor, refreshment, and rest. In
his view socialization and moderate alcohol consumption is not just pleasurable but an
important component of a well-rounded man’s ability to enjoy the bounty of God’s
creation.
98
“Freemasonry is an institution of ceremonies,”
99
and expectantly, the building of a
Masonic structure, where Operative and Speculative Masons are united in purpose, is
studded with Masonic ceremonies. Oliver dedicates entire chapters to the ceremonies for
the placement of the cornerstone and the consecration of the finished building.
100
The
deliberative task a Master has of naming his new building also receives a chapter.
101
A cornerstone is a stone the lies at the corner of two walls and forms the corner of
the foundation of a structure. Mackey notes that, “as the foundation on which the entire
structure is supposed to rest it is considered by Operative Masons as the most important
stone in the edifice,” and is imbued with much symbolism by Speculative Masons.
Freemasons usually place the cornerstone at the northeast corner of Masonic Lodge
buildings. North is the place of darkness, while light is in the east. The cornerstone’s
placement denotes the Masonic progress from darkness into light, and from ignorance to
knowledge. The cornerstone should be of solid contents and perfectly square on all sides;
square to symbolize morality and a cube to symbolize truth. The cornerstone is made of
solid material to so that it will last long after the building it supports has fallen into ruin.
This represents the spiritual immortality of Masons. After a Mason has passed away he
has “a sure foundation of eternal life.”
102
(See Figure 3.25)
98
Oliver, The Book of the Lodge, or Officer's Manual, 143-154. Oliver quotes Bible verses that regard
vineyards and wine as gifts of God.
99
Oliver, The Book of the Lodge, or Officer's Manual, 40.
100
Oliver, The Book of the Lodge, or Officer's Manual, 50-69, 87-94.
101
Oliver, The Book of the Lodge, or Officer's Manual, 78-86.
102
Mackey, Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences, 178-179.
57
Oliver’s list of desirable architectural features in a Lodge building was
implemented to varying degrees, usually based the financial standing of the Lodge. By
the final decade of the nineteenth century, Lodges in large cities had a numerous enough
membership to finance the erection of new buildings designed specifically for Masonic
use, without including non-fraternal commercial spaces to provide income.
103
Masonic
building construction was also paid for with bonds sold to members, inheritances left to
Lodges, bank mortgages, and fundraising fairs or bazaars.
104
Masonic Symbols
Masonic Lodge buildings can often be identified by looking for the symbols
commonly used by Freemasons. The two most important and common Masonic symbols
to adorn Masonic creations, from building facades to pamphlets, include the
stonemasons’ square and drawing compass show together, and the letter “G”. The
architectural square is a measuring device with a perfect ninety-degree angle used by
stonemasons to test how accurately a stone has been cut. The stonemasons’ square is a
symbol of morality, representing the rectitude by which a rough stone, or a man, is made
perfect. “As, by the application of the square, the stone is tried and proved, so, by the
application of the principles of morality, each action of human life is judged.”
105
The
compass is used in Operative Masonry to measure the architect’s plans, “to enable him to
give those just proportions which will ensure beauty as well as stability to his work.”
106
Speculative Masons use the compass as a symbol of virtue, encircling the limits of
acceptable behavior. The square and compass are often pictured together “to square our
actions and to keep them within due bounds.”
107
(See Figure 2.13)
The letter “G” is used in Masonry as the initial of God, the Grand Architect of the
Universe, or the Grand Geometrician of the Universe. In Masonic Lodges the “G”
103
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 132.
104
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 141.
105
Mackey, A Lexicon of Freemasonry, New and Improved Edition, 451.
106
Mackey, Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences, 173.
107
Mackey, Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences, 708.
58
symbol is seen in the east, painted or sculpted, suspended over the Master’s chair.
108
(See
Figure 2.9, and Figure 2.13) A single eye is the All-Seeing Eye of God, a symbol of
watchfulness. It is a symbol of the Omnipresent Deity and his watchfulness and care of
the universe.
109
Figure 2.13: Common Masonic symbols include the letter “G” for God, the square and compass, and
the All-Seeing Eye of God. These symbols are mosaic panels adorning the western exterior façade of
the Millard Sheets designed Scottish Rite Masonic Temple (1960-1961), Los Angeles, California.
Photo by author, 2012.
Another Masonic symbol, the gavel is a hammer is use by Operative Masons to
break off pieces of the ashlar (a rough stone fresh from the quarry) to better fit it for the
builders use. In Speculative Masonry the gavel is a symbol of divesting one’s self of the
vices and impurities of life. “The gavel of the Master is also called a ‘Hiram,’ because,
like that architect, it governs the Craft and keeps order in the Lodge, as he did in the
Temple.”
110
King Solomon’s Temple is the ultimate architectural symbol in Freemasonry. It
symbolizes what has been lost, and ‘that mighty edifice’ serves as an inspiration for what
can be built.
111
Renaissance scholars believed Solomon’s Temple was designed by God,
and therefore perfect. From this divinely inspired temple, the Classical Orders of
architecture and the early forms of the Christian churches were derived.
112
However, it is
more the Mason’s imagined image of Solomon’s Temple, rather than its factual features,
108
Mackey, Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences, 287-289.
109
Mackey, Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences, 47-48.
110
Mackey, Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences, 290.
111
James Stevens Curl, The Art and Architecture of Freemasonry, (New York: The Overlook Press, 1991),
80. Alex Horne, King Solomon's Temple in the Masonic Tradition, (Northhamptonshire, England:
Woolnough Bookbinding Limited, 1988).
112
Curl, The Art and Architecture of Freemasonry, 88.
59
that inspires the architecture of Masonic Lodge buildings. No accurate image of
Solomon’s Temple survives today, and the written biblical accounts describing the
Temple have differences.
113
(See Figure 2.14 and the left-hand side of Error! Reference
source not found.) To compensate for the vague historical details of King Solomon’s
Temple the Freemasons speculatively embellished the Temples physical form and its
legendary “history.” The Freemasons created a fictionalized physical image of Solomon’s
Temple to emulate in their own real-world architecture.
114
Figure 2.14: A Masonic imagining of King Solomon’s Temple executed in alabaster stone. From
Horne, King Solomon and His Temple in Masonic and Popular Legend, 218.
113
Curl, The Art and Architecture of Freemasonry, 82.
114
Alex Horne, "King Solomon and His Temple in Masonic and Popular Legend," Transactions, 1958,
206-24.
60
References to Solomon’s Temple is a noteworthy architectural feature that
differentiates Masonic Lodge buildings from other structures, even if the Lodge lacked
the financial means to execute their ideas grandly. In practice, Masonic Lodge buildings
reference Solomon’s Temple through symmetrical monumental rectangular massing that
features an entryway porch flanked by pillars or columns, with stairs to enter the building
itself. (See Figure 2.16, Figure 2.22 and Figure 2.23)
Jachin and Boaz, twin free-standing pillars topped by globes of the Earth and
stars, are symbols ubiquitous to Freemasonry. The Jachin and Boaz pillars often flank
one ritually significant Masonic Lodge Room doorway, usually on the west end of the
room, to forma a portal through which candidates passed upon admission.
115
(See Figure
2.15 and Figure 2.8) Biblical scripture states that two hollow brass pillars called Jachin
and Boaz were erected on the porch of Solomon’s Temple, but historical descriptions
beyond that are contradictory. On the right side was Jachin, which means, “God will
establish” in Hebrew. On the left was Boaz, which means “in strength.” By passing
through the pillars to enter the Temple the Jews were reminded daily of Gods promises of
protection and kindness to his chosen people.
116
Masonic lore embellished the pillars “history” and physical form. Freemasons tell
that Hiram Abiff himself made the original biblical pillars from brass. Masons added
terrestrial and celestial globes to the top of the pillars, representing Earth and the
Universe. (See Figure 2.15) To Masons the pillars represent the strength and stability of
the institutions of man, and of man’s dependence on God, the ultimate source of that
strength and stability.
117
The “Pillars of the Porch,” besides being used as furniture for the
Lodge Room, often appear in Masonic jewelry, artwork, and prints.
115
Horne, “King Solomon and His Temple in Masonic and Popular Legend,” 219. John D. Hamilton,
Material Culture of the American Freemasons, (Lexington, Massachusetts: Scottish Rite Masonic Museum
and Library, Inc., 1994), 53-54.
116
Mackey, Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences, 110, 359, 566.
117
Mackey, Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences, 568-569.
61
Figure 2.15 Masons walking the crooked staircase from the porch into the temple, flanked by the
twin pillars Jachin and Boaz. From Macoy, General History, Cyclopedia and Dictionary of
Freemasonry, 697.
Masons wear decorative aprons during important ceremonial events that allude to
aprons ancient Operative Masons wore as a distinctive badge of their profession. The
Masonic apron is a symbol of the Masons “metaphoric identity as stonemasons and their
62
allegiance to artisanal values.”
118
These Masonic aprons were white, symbolizing purity,
and made of lambskin, the lamb being a symbol of innocence. In the First Degree ritual
initiates are taught that “by the lambskin, the Mason is reminded of that purity of life and
rectitude of conduct which is so essentially necessary to his gaining admission into the
Celestial Lodge above, where the Supreme Architect of the Universe forever presides.”
119
(See Figure 3.25)
Masonic buildings can be identified in the American landscape by looking for any
combination of the architectural features and Masonic symbols mentioned above. A
century long surge in popularity after the Civil War has left the American landscape
studded with Masonic temples. Look at the Hollywood Masonic Temple (built 1921),
designed by 32° Scottish Rite Mason and architect John C. Austin (See Figure 2.16), who
also collaborated on the design of the Shrine Auditorium.
120
(See Figure 2.29 and Figure
2.30) The Hollywood Masonic Temple has many of the elements often used by
Freemasons; columns, steps to enter the building, windows on the upper story that are
covered by an obfuscating latticework, a covered porch, a symmetrical monumental
exterior, exterior cladding that is or mimics stone, and two light posts have round globe
lights reminiscent of the globes atop Jachin and Boaz. Most notably the building is
outright labeled as a Masonic building in an engraving along the roofline: “Freemasonry
Builds Its Temples Among the Nations and in the Hearts of Men.”
118
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 5.
119
Mackey, Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences, 72-73. The Encyclopædia elaborates
on the shift in apron fashion; “All extraneous ornaments and devices are in bad taste, and detract from the
symbolic character of the investiture. But the silk or satin aprons, bespangled and painted and embroidered,
which have been gradually creeping into our Lodges, have no sort of connection with Ancient Craft
Masonry. They are an innovation of our French bretheren, who are never pleased with simplicity, and have,
by their love of tinsel in their various newly invented ceremonies, effaced many of the most beautiful and
impressive symbols of our Institution.”
120
Pauline O'Connor, "7 of La's Most Magnificent Examples of Masonic Architecture,"
https://la.curbed.com/2014/10/24/10032882/7-of-las-most-magnificent-examples-of-masonic-architecture.
63
Figure 2.16: The Hollywood Masonic Temple (built 1922) designed in the Greek Revival style by
Architects Austin, Field & Fry. Note architectural elements often used by Freemasons; columns,
steps to enter the building, a covered porch, a symmetrical monumental exterior, exterior cladding
that is or mimics stone, and two light posts have round globe lights reminiscent of the globes atop
Jachin and Boaz. From the Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection, 00046266 .
However, it should be noted that not every building that displays one of the
hundreds of symbols cataloged in Masonic encyclopedias is necessarily a Masonic Lodge
building.
121
Many symbols of strength, beauty and power are widespread across western
culture. Luckily, despite being a secret society, Freemasons proudly advertised their
buildings as Masonic structures, often explicitly inscribing their buildings in writ-large
lettering. (See Figure 2.16 and Figure 2.24)
121
There are not only many Masonic encyclopedias, but also many Masonic encyclopedias dedicated just to
symbology.
64
Masonic Rites
Freemasonry is composed of an immeasurable number of rites, a method of
conferring Masonic knowledge, that brings order to the Masonic system. Some rites were
created by a single Masonic author then fade into obscurity, while others gain wide and
lasting popularity becoming cornerstones of the Masonic tradition. Masonic rites are
often composed of some number of degrees, or individual steps by which a Mason
ascends from a lower to a higher condition of knowledge and ranking. Masons have
equated Degrees to a single step along a well-worn path (the Rite) that other Masons have
traveled before.
122
The foundation of Masonic knowledge is built upon the first three Degrees, often
called collectively the “Craft”, “Symbolic” or “Blue Lodge Degrees.” (See Table 2.1)
The Third Degree ritual tells the story of Hiram Abiff and marks the end of an individual
candidate’s existence as a profane member of society and his resurrection as a full
member of the Masonic fraternity.
123
Freemasonry
Symbolic / Blue / Craft Lodge Degrees
1° Entered Apprentice
2° Fellow Craft
3° Master Mason
Table 2.1: The first complete these first three foundational degrees of Freemasonry.
After accumulating the first three degrees of Freemasonry there are several
optional paths forward among the associated Masonic organizations that a man could
choose from. The most popular of these “concordant bodies” in America are the Scottish
Rite, the York Rite, and the Shrine. (See Error! Reference source not found.) These
groups, however large, are still just a smaller part of Freemasonry as a whole. Many
Masons are satisfied with their membership within the craft lodge and their symbolic
identity as a heroic artisan or stoneworker. It is a minority of Masons who choose to
peruse higher degrees and explore a wider range of masculine architypes; the wise man of
122
Mackey, Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences, 203, 627.
123
Mackey, A Manual of the Lodge; or Monitorial Instructions, 110. Moore, Masonic Temples:
Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 8-9.
65
the Scottish Rite, the knight of the York Rite, and the fool of the Shrine.
124
Because this
thesis focuses on the Millard Sheets designed Scottish Rite Masonic Temple of Los
Angeles I will describe the Scottish Rite at length, and then describe the York Rite and
the Shrine for context.
124
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 42.
66
Figure 2.17: The various organizations and positions in Freemasonry, including allied organizations, are visually organized in an image from
Life magazine. Note the thirty steps/degrees to reach the pinnacle of the Scottish Rite on the left, above the three foundation steps of the three
craft degrees. On the left are is the York Rite, with the Shrine under the arch. An idealized depiction of Solomon’s Temple, a Bible held open
by a square and compass, and the all seeing eye of God are in the background. From Life, October 8, 1956, 106-107.
67
The Scottish Rite
The Scottish Rite of Freemasonry builds upon the traditions of the Masonry’s first
three degrees with an additional thirty degrees culminating in the 33° position of
Inspector General. Degrees are grouped into bodies that confer a contiguous series of
degrees. The name of the degrees and bodies has changed over time and geographic
region. Table 2.2 lists the various degree names with the modern usage of the Southern
Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite listed first. The 33° is a rare honor awarded for
exceptional service to the Scottish Rite or humanity, and most Scottish Rite Masons
ascend to the 32° of Master of the Royal Secret. As the pinnacle of the Scottish Rite, 33°
and 32° are often used as symbols of the Rite. Local Scottish Rite groups are called
“Valleys,” or “Bodies.” Valleys formed the basic organizational unit of the Scottish Rite.
68
Scottish Rite’s 4° to 33°
Lodge of Perfection
4° Secret Master
5° Perfect Master
6° Intimate Secretary
7° Provost and Judge
8° Intendant of the Building
9° Elu of the Nine / Elected Knight of the Nine
10° Elu of the Fifteen / Illustrious Elect of the Fifteen
11° Elu of the Twelve Sublime Knight Elect of the Twelve
12° Master Architect
13° Royal Arch of Solomon / Knight of the Ninth Arch
14° Perfect Elu / Grand Elect, Perfect and Sublime Mason
Chapter of Rose Croix
15° Knight of the East / Knight of the Sword
16° Prince of Jerusalem
17° King of the East and West
18° Prince of the Rose Croix
Council of Kadosh
19° Grand Pontiff
20° Master of the Symbolic Lodge
21° Noachite Knight / Prussian Knight
22° Knight of the Royal Axe / Prince of Libanus
23° Chief of the Tabernacle
24° Prince of the Tabernacle
25° Knight of the Brazen Serpent
26° Prince of Mercy / Scottish Trinitarian
27° Knight Commander of the Temple
28° Knight of the Sun / Prince Adept
29° Grand Scottish Knight of Saint Andrew
30° Knight of Kadosh / Knight of the White and Black Eagle
The Consistory /
Consistory of Sublime
Principles
31° Inspector Inquisitor / Inspector Inquisitor Commander
32° Master of the Royal Secret / Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret
Consistory of Sublime
Principles
33° Sovereign Grand Inspector-General
Table 2.2: The Scottish Rite levels of membership.
69
The Scottish Rite is the intellectual and mystical branch of Freemasonry, where a
man assumes the masculine archetypal role of the wise man or wizard. It draws upon
biblical narratives, Neoplatonic symbolism, Rosicrucianism, Zoroastrianism, cabalistic
numerology, alchemy, Hermetic thought, and other mystical traditions to give its
members a thorough education in world history, philosophy, and religion.
125
In the 1956 edition of the Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, written just a few years
before the construction of the Millard Sheets designed the Wilshire Boulevard Scottish
Rite Temple, the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite is highlighted as the most popular
and widespread of the Masonic Orders.
126
The Scottish Rite was established in 1801 in Charleston, South Carolina after a
Supreme Council was appointed. The Scottish Rite was built upon the earlier Masonic
traditions of the Rite of Perfection, initially created in 1758 by the Paris based Council of
Emperors of the East and West, which had been introduced to the United States in 1783
with the establishment of a Lodge in Charleston. This Rite of Perfection had twenty-five
degrees, but after the 1801 creation of the Supreme Council in Charleston, the thirty-three
degrees first appear in the historic record.
127
There is not one, but two, Supreme Councils in America: the Scottish Rite
Southern Jurisdiction and the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction. Most other Masonic bodies
are organized with one national governmental counsel, but early on in the history of the
Scottish Rite, two Supreme Councils were established in the United States: one in
Charleston and one in New York City. The was some talk of unifying the Rite nationally
but in 1827 it was agreed that Northern Supreme Council had jurisdiction over the 15
states north of Ohio and east of the Mississippi River, while the Southern Supreme
Council had jurisdiction of all other states and territories that then belonged to the United
States or would join in the future.
128
To this day the boundaries have held, constricting
the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction to its original 15 northeastern states and allowing the
125
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 68, 90.
126
Mackey, Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences, 671.
127
Mackey, Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences, 671.
128
Bob Powell, "Scottish Rite California," Orient of California, http://www.scottishritecalifornia.org/.
70
Scottish Rite Southern Jurisdiction to expand as America itself expanded. The Southern
Jurisdiction today contains the rest of the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, as
well as the United States’ unincorporated territories, such as Puerto Rico, Guam, and the
Philippines. (See Figure 2.18)
Figure 2.18: The Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite covers most of the United States of
America, including California. From Fox, Lodge of the Double-Headed Eagle, 87.
Over the Scottish Rite’s history of growth their architectural needs evolved from
standard Lodge Rooms that could hold a few dozen people, to much larger buildings with
auditoriums that could seat thousands. During the first few decades of the Scottish Rite
ceremonies were conducted in Masonic Lodge Rooms similar to those used by the parent
Masonic organization to confer the first three degrees. All that was needed was a room
longer than it was wide organized along a center axis, with an officer seated in an
elevated position on the far wall, an altar near the center of an open floor, and with seats
lining the sidewalls. Often degrees were taught by being “communicated” to a candidate
through verbal lecture. To confer a degree upon a candidate a Scottish Rite Mason would
explain orally to the candidate what the regalia, symbols, handshake and passwords were
71
associated with that degree. Very few if any ritual objects were used, nor was the ritual
acted out.
129
Following the Civil War the cultural knowledge passed down in the Scottish Rites
began to give rise to increasingly elaborate ritual performances. “Draperies of various
colors and patterns were required, as were columns, candlesticks altars of many shapes,
and thrones of differing designs. While the lodge room represented Solomon’s temple in
the first three degrees, the Scottish Rite membership used ceremonial props and
furnishings to transform the ritual space into various romantic locations including a
cavern, a secret vault beneath Solomon’s temple, a bridge, the throne room of a Persian
king, the road to Jerusalem, the summit of a mountain, and military encampments in the
desert, and the court of Saladin.”
130
The incorporation of dramatic props, like backdrop scenery paintings and lighting,
for each degree’s ceremony gave rise to performance of the lesson rather than just a
reading from texts. Performing gave rise to the use of ritual costumes for each
participating member of the Rite. Proponents of this theatrical method saw it a more
memorable way to teach candidates. It also had the added benefit of reinforcing ritual
learning with established members of a degree by requiring them to memorize a degree’s
text to preform it for the candidates. Scottish Rite Lodge Rooms increasingly became
equipped with a stage on the eastern wall to hang backdrop paintings, theater lighting
equipment, musical organs, and seating balconies to expand viewership.
131
At this time, the Scottish Rite schedule of meetings also changed from monthly or
bi-monthly meeting schedule used by Masonic lodges, to “reunions” for each valley that
happened once or twice a year where degrees were conferred. This allowed candidates
more time to learn the complex lessons surrounding degrees and gave senior members
more time to prepare elaborate plays. By the end of the nineteenth century, reunions were
the standard meeting model for the Scottish Rite. Reunions could last for several days
129
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 69-72.
130
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 73.
131
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 74-75, 80-85.
72
and would include not only the conference of multiple degrees, but also banquets,
presentations, and group photographs in ceremonial regalia.
This change in meeting schedule changed Scottish Rite valleys from local city
groups to regional bodies that encompassed wider areas. A farmer in the hinterlands may
not be motivated to attend a monthly evening meeting, but a fraternal celebration that
happened only once or twice a year that stretched over multiple days requiring an
overnight stay in the city was much more palatable. Transportation was becoming more
convenient and economic with the expansion of railroads, streetcars and personal
automobiles. The schedule change transformed the identity of Scottish Rite valleys from
local to regional institutions.
132
As a result of this shift to fewer meeting times and a wider geographic range
Scottish Rite bodies were housed in fewer locations relative to Masonic lodges or York
Rite asylums, but the Scottish Rite had a larger potential member base. These factors
significantly affected architectural projects undertaken by the Scottish Rite. Large groups
of new members could enrich a valley’s treasury, enabling Scottish Rite valleys to build
larger facilities, which could then in turn accommodate an even larger number of dues
paying initiates.
133
It was a cycle of growth that spurred on the construction of ever larger
Scottish Rite buildings as older structures became unable to hold the increasing
membership after only a decade or two of use.
By the 1930s the slow creep of these many incremental changes within the
Scottish Rite had transformed the fraternity from a small organization that taught their
members individually in lecture-like rituals, to huge theatrical productions were large
numbers of initiates passively watched the proceedings.
After World War II and into the 1960s Scottish Rite membership in America
began another spurt of immense growth. America’s outlook of positive thinking and
background of religious learning provided fertile ground for Masonic and Scottish Rite
dogma to grow upon. Also bolstering membership at that time were reduced membership
132
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 75-77.
133
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 76.
73
rates that had been established during the Great Depression. The reduced membership
rates persisted into the 1950’s as incomes and standards of living rose, making
membership an option to increasing numbers of American men.
134
The rise in
membership overwhelmed existing Scottish Rite Temple structures, while the increased
in the intake of dues allowed Masons to spend much larger sums of money on the
construction of new Temples. These forces resulted in a building campaign of new larger
Scottish Rite Temples.
The age of growth and expansion for the Scottish Rite during the mid-century was
not to last forever. The Scottish Rite tarnished its reputation with a few embarrassing
embezzlement scandals and its de facto exclusion of African American men.
135
The rise
of the “Me-Generation” and Vietnam era social turmoil left young men disenchanted with
traditional public institutions, and turned prospective members away from supporting
fraternal organizations.
136
The Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite was able to
continue to attract new members during the 1970s, but in 1980 membership reached a
high point of 659,468. Over the next decades the Southern Jurisdiction would lose
thousands of members each year in a slow decline. Scottish Rite historian William L. Fox
wrote in his history of the Southern Jurisdiction, “Lodge of the Double-Headed Eagle:
Two Centuries of Scottish Rite Freemasonry in America's Southern Jurisdiction,” that
after the high mark of membership in 1980, membership decreased to 480,230 in 1994, a
134
William L Fox. 1997. Lodge of the Double-Headed Eagle: Two Centuries of Scottish Rite Freemasonry
in America's Southern Jurisdiction: University of Arkansas Press, 272. Transactions (1952 and 1953), 220.
135
As the Civil Rights era dawned, the Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite was helmed from 1955 to
1968 by Sovereign Grand Commander Luther A. Smith, a man born in Georgia in 1883. Smith was an
older man who was “a product of his time, of the deep south at the height of segregation.” Although
Masons professed ideals of freedom, equality, and justice there was also an “American Masonic tradition
prohibit[ing] the fraternity from being a political agent of change.”
African-American men had formed
what the Southern Jurisdiction termed “irregular” Lodges for almost as long as there had been Freemasonry
in America, calling themselves Prince Hall Masons. Scottish Rite bylaws did not prohibit black Masons
from joining the fraternity, as some other Masonic Lodges had, but the Southern Jurisdiction would only
admit a few black men as Masons in “regular” Lodges by the 1990s. Fox, Lodge of the Double-Headed
Eagle: Two Centuries of Scottish Rite Freemasonry in America's Southern Jurisdiction, 313.
136
Fox, Lodge of the Double-Headed Eagle: Two Centuries of Scottish Rite Freemasonry in America's
Southern Jurisdiction, 335-337.
74
25 percent loss.
137
The most recently available statistics from 2010 report that Southern
Jurisdiction had 223,196 members, one-third of the membership from their 1980
pinnacle.
138
Character Defining Architectural Features Associated with the Scottish Rite
Double-headed eagle
Large Auditorium/Theater with elements of a Lodge Room
o Large open floor area in front of the stage
o Seating facing open floor area instead of the stage
o Steps spanning the width of the stage
Lodge Rooms with altar closer to the Master’s Chair in the east
Reference to the Wise Men of Freemasonry, especially King Solomon
Doric columns
Reference to the 4
th
to 33
rd
degrees
Twin Sphinxes
Tomb of King Mausolus at Halicarnassus reference, especially the stepped
roofline
Lodge Room, to Auditorium, to Theater
The Scottish Rite initially operated in Lodge Rooms much like the rest of the
Masonic fraternity (See Figure 2.19), but after the American Civil War the Scottish Rite
began a path of development that would lead them to build large auditoriums that had
architectural echoes of the Lodge Rooms they were originally derived from. In the 1870’s
Scottish Rite ceremonies were performed in Lodge Rooms, where individual candidates
were initiated in largely verbal ceremonies. By the 1930’s Scottish Rite ceremonies had
move to Auditoriums where huge gatherings of thousands of people in elaborate theater
spaces, where hundreds of initiates could be inducted simultaneously by passively
137
William L. Fox, Lodge of the Double-Headed Eagle: Two Centuries of Scottish Rite Freemasonry in
America's Southern Jurisdiction, (University of Arkansas Press, 1997), 337-338
138
S. Brent Morriss, 33°, Personal e-mail correspondence, August 15, 2013.
75
watching their brethren perform plays that expressed Scottish Rite knowledge.
139
(See
Figure 2.20)
Figure 2.19: The Scottish Rite Hall in the Masonic Temple of San Francisco, California (built 1870),
photo circa 1896. Early Scottish Rite meeting rooms looked much like traditional Masonic Lodge
Rooms, with the addition of some ritual furniture and equipment, and were located in Masonic
Lodge buildings instead of in buildings dedicated solely to the Scottish Rite. From Andersen and
Whitsell, California’s First Century of Scottish Rite Masonry, 27.
139
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 67.
76
Figure 2.20: The Grand Auditorium of the Oakland Scottish Rite Center, built 1926-1927. Note how
the seating wraps around an open floor space, similar to a traditional Lodge Room. The stage is
easily accessible to the audience by stairs that have taken the place of the master’s platform. From
the Oakland Scottish Rite Center website.
These ceremonial Scottish Rite spaces were called “Auditoriums,” as in a place
for public gatherings were people could hear lectures, as opposed to a theater, where
dramatic entertainment is seen. By calling their primary interior spaces “Auditoriums”
that Scottish Rite were accreting that they were a dedicated to educating their members in
a social and communal atmosphere, instead of merely entertaining them.
Compare the newer type of theater space, as seen in the Oakland Scottish Rite
Center’s Grand Auditorium built in 1926 (see Figure 2.20) to older traditional Lodge
Rooms from the 1900’s and 1930’s (see Figure 2.7, Figure 2.8, Figure 2.9, and Figure
2.10), and despite the enormous change in scale there are still many similarities. Instead
of facing the stage as a normal theater would, seating in a Scottish Rite Auditorium is
oriented towards a large open area in front of the stage, similar to the open area around
the altar of a traditional Lodge Room. Stairs that spread the width of the stage are similar
to the platform that holds the Master’s chair. The stairs allow for easy interaction
between the performing Scottish Rite Masons and their gathered brethren in the audience.
77
There are symmetrically placed doors on either side of the stage to allow ritualistic
movement through doorways. Like in previous Lodge Rooms, a historical decorative
scheme is used mentally transport its members through time. The Oakland Grand
Auditorium’s decorative plan is Classical, with then modern Art Deco elements, and
prominently features a colonnade of Ionic columns, the architectural symbol the most
closely associated with King Solomon, the ultimate wise man.
By the mid-twentieth century Scottish Rite auditoriums had further conformed to
the standards of a theater built for entertainment purposes. (See Figure 2.21) These
changes can be seen in the Auditorium designed by Millard Sheets and architect Albert F.
Roller for the San Francisco Scottish Rite Temple (1964-1965).
140
In this Auditorium the
seats all face the stage, and there is no longer a large open area akin to the space around
the altar in a Lodge Room. Only the stairs that span the width of the stage and doors
symmetrically placed on either side of the stage remain as features of a traditional Lodge
Room.
140
John King, Cityscape: Even Concrete Screens Can Cast A Glamorous Glow, SF Gate January 17, 2015,
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Cityscape-Even-concrete-screens-can-cast-a-6021724.php#photo-
7398678.
78
Figure 2.21: Auditorium of the San Francisco Scottish Rite Masonic Center designed by Millard
Sheets, built 1964. Note how this later theater stage is also easily assessable to the audience via stairs,
but there is no large empty area in front of the stage and seating is all facing directly towards the
stage. From Eric Sahlin Photography, The San Francisco Scottish Rite Masonic Center,
http://www.sfscottishrite.com/auditorium.html.
William D. Moore argues that the transition in architectural layout from Lodge
Room, to Auditorium, to Theater space fundamentally changed the Scottish Rite’s
identity. The separation between those performing the ritual and those observing it grew
ever wider. As seating moved to face the stage rather than their fellow peers in the
audience a Scottish Rite Mason’s role was changed from “participant to isolated, passive
observer.”
141
Scottish Rite “Cathedrals”
141
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 87-88.
79
After the Civil War, as Scottish Rite Valley membership began to outgrow their
rooms in Masonic Lodge buildings they often purchased existing churches to use
exclusively as Scottish Rite meeting places. Churches were ideal spaces for Masonic use
since they only required that the chairs and altar be moved to achieve a Lodge Room
layout.
142
While purchasing churches as a large meeting place was pragmatic it was also
idealistically desirable. The Gothic design of churches confirmed a spiritual reverence
that was in line with Scottish Rite dogma. The tradition of buying churches began in the
1880’s, and by the 1920’s it was so widespread that Scottish Rite buildings were
commonly called Scottish Rite Cathedrals. The name “Cathedral” stuck to Scottish Rite
buildings after they began building their own structures without Gothic detailing.
143
Purchasing churches for Scottish Rite use was a bitter learning experience for
some Valleys, as some became financial burdens in the long term.
144
Making sure that the
fraternity was making financially sound real estate decisions became an important task. A
Board of Directors or Board of Trustees was responsible for the sometimes decades long
task of researching, financing, constructing, and repaying the debt on a Masonic building.
Freemasons proudly celebrated repaying all bank debt incurred by constructing a
Masonic building with mortgage burning ceremonies.
145
When Scottish Rite valleys did construct edifices solely for their use they built
formidable structures to hold their increasingly large and elaborate Auditoriums. Some
structures had relatively simple exteriors, preferring to allocate their funds for theatrical
equipment and to decorate the interior spaces, but many had stately decorative facades.
146
(See Figure 2.22, Figure 2.23, and Figure 2.24) Classical and Egyptian style facades were
particularly desirable as they were the closest in time and location to King Solomon’s
142
The location of the altar in Lodge Rooms varies slightly within Freemasonry’s bodies. Blue Lodges
altars are in the center of the room. Scottish Rite altars are in front of the Master on the eastern side of the
room. York Rite altars are either in the center of the room or a little to the east of center. Los Angeles
Scottish Rite Bulletin, "The Altar in Masonry by Felix J. Jonas, 33°." L, no. 4 (1967), 46.
143
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 77.
144
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 79-80.
145
Los Angeles Scottish Rite Bulletin, "Mortgage Burning Ceremony by Richard R. F. Lehmann, 32°
Kcch." XLIX, no. 12 (1966), 141.
146
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 86-88.
80
Temple. Many purpose-built Scottish Rite Cathedrals had massing reminiscent of the
Masonic symbols of the perfect ashlar (a perfect cube of stone), or the altar (often a
double cube). Like their parent Masonic Halls, Scottish Rite Cathedrals often utilized the
bi-lateral symmetry, real or faux stonework, and stairs leading to the primary entrance.
Figure 2.22: Scottish Rite Cathedral (built 1905-1906, demolished) at 929 South Hope Street was Los
Angeles’ first Masonic building dedicated solely to the Scottish Rite. Note the porch, twin columns,
and monumental stone carved façade referencing King Solomon’s Temple. The ionic order of the
columns further referenced King Solomon’s wisdom. The double-headed eagle, symbol of the
Scottish Rite itself, is over the door. From the personal collection of the author.
81
Figure 2.23: House of the Temple in Washington D.C., headquarters for the Scottish Rite of
Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, USA, (built 1910 -1915) by architect John Russel Pope. From
the Library of Congress, LC-DIG-highsm-09633.
82
Figure 2.24: Exterior view of the Scottish Rite Cathedral at 145 N Madison Avenue, Pasadena,
California (built 1925), photo taken in 1927. From the Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection,
00035048.
The Scottish Rite Cathedral at 929 South Hope Street, Los Angeles (built 1905-
1906) was Los Angeles’s first purpose-built Scottish Rite building. (See Figure 2.22)
This structure has a Classical style façade with real and faux stonework cladding its bi-
lateral symmetrical façade. The massing is similar to the double cube of a Masonic altar.
There is a columned porch over the door, and steps to the front entrance reminiscent of
King Solomon’s Temple. Those features could be on any Masonic Lodge or bank
building, but this structure becomes notably Scottish Rite with the inclusion of a double
headed eagle, the emblem of the Scottish Rite, above the door. Doric columns on
supporting the porch reference King Solomon, the pinnacle of wisdom. The engraved
words “Scottish Rite Cathedral” above the door at the roofline is the strongest identifying
architectural element.
83
The House of the Temple (built 1910-1915) was designed by famed architect John
Russell Pope as the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry,
Southern Jurisdiction. The building’s Greek-Egyptian style exterior design is based on
the Tomb of King Mausolus at Halicarnassus, evident in the distinctive stepped roofline.
The House of the Temple is also an artifact of its time, as it was part of a larger wave of
popular interest in Classical Revival architecture in America.
147
The House of the Temple’s exterior is blanketed in Masonic symbols. Double-
headed eagle sculptures, the primary symbol of the Scottish Rite, sit on the four corners
of the roofline. Thirty-three columns surround the upper portion of the Temple, each
thirty-three feet high, representing the 33° of the Scottish Rite. The granite stairs rising to
the main entrances are in groups of three, five, seven, and nine, “which reflect the sacred
numbers of Pythagoras and have symbolic meaning to the Masons.”
148
Massive twin limestone sphinxes, that represent the pillars Jachin and Boaz from
the porch of Solomon’s Temple, flank the entrance of the House of the Temple. On the
north side sits The Sphinx of Power, Boaz, meaning “in strength,” with her eyes open. On
the south sides sits The Sphinx of Wisdom, Jachin, meaning “to establish,” with her eyes
closed.
149
The interior of the House of the Temple is just as grandly appointed as the
exterior. The “Temple Room” is richly decorated but still shares the basic fundamental
layout of all Lodge Rooms. (See Figure 2.25)
147
The Supreme Council, 33°, Scottish Rite of Freemasonry Southern Jurisdiction, U.S.A., "The
Architectural Significance of the House of the Temple," https://scottishrite.org/about/media-
publications/journal/article/the-architectural-significance-of-the-house-of-the-temple/.
148
The Supreme Council, 33°, Scottish Rite of Freemasonry Southern Jurisdiction, U.S.A., "The
Architectural Significance of the House of the Temple," https://scottishrite.org/about/media-
publications/journal/article/the-architectural-significance-of-the-house-of-the-temple/.
149
The Supreme Council, 33°, Scottish Rite of Freemasonry Southern Jurisdiction, U.S.A., "The Sphinxes
Flanking the Entrance to the House of the Temple Represent the Columns Jachin and Boaz,"
https://scottishrite.org/scottish-rite-myths-and-facts/sphinx-symbolism/.
84
Figure 2.25: The Temple Room in the House of the Temple in Washington D.C., headquarters for the
Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, USA, built 1910 to 1915 by architect John
Russel Pope. As a national seat of authority for Freemasonry this lodge room is executed in a grand
scale but shares the same layout as the most humble of backcountry lodge rooms. From the Library
of Congress, LC-HS503-1313.
As a national pinnacle of the Scottish Rite, The House of the Temple greatly
influenced the Scottish Rite buildings that came after its completion in 1915. For
instance, we can see at the Scottish Rite Cathedral in Pasadena, California (built 1925),
that twin sphinx also flank that buildings primary façade’s entryway stairs. (See Figure
2.24)
Scottish Rite Symbols
The symbol most prevalent in Scottish Rite Masonry is the double-headed eagle.
(See Figure 2.26) Mackey’s Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences
85
explains that the eagle, which had been a symbol of Roman imperial power, was made
double-headed to overlook the double empire: Rome in the west and Byzantium in the
East. The double-headed eagle was probably first introduced as a symbol into Masonry in
the year 1758 to reference the double jurisdiction the Paris-based Council of Emperors of
the East and West.
150
Figure 2.26: The double-headed eagle is the principal symbol used by the Scottish Rite of
Freemasonry. From Mackey, Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences, 225.
Mackey elaborates on the symbolic meaning of the double-headed eagle:
The jewel of the Thirty-third Degree, or Sovereign Grand
Inspector-General of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, is a double-
headed eagle (which was originally black, but is now generally silver), a
golden crown resting on both heads, wings displayed, beak and claws of
gold, his talons grasping a wavy sword, the emblem of cherubic fire, the
hilt held by one talon, the blade by the other. The banner of the Order is
also a doubled-headed eagle crowned.
151
York Rite
Like its parent Masonic body, The York Rite incorporates the history and myth
surrounding King Solomon’s Temple into its own origin story. York Rite lore identifies
150
Mackey, Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences, 225-226.
151
Mackey, Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences, 226.
86
themselves with the Templars; an order of medieval warrior priests that after their
founding in 1118 rose to great prominence and wealth in the Christian world, only to be
stamped out by the Catholic Church by 1315. Initially, the medieval Templars were
responsible for protecting Christian pilgrims in the parts of Jerusalem and the Holy Lands
that had been seized in the Crusades. The Templars official title was the Poor Fellow-
Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, but they were also known as the Order of
the Temple or the Knights Templar. The official title refers to the location of their
headquarters on Mount Moriah in structures believed to be the remains of the Biblical
Solomon’s Temple.
152
“York” Rite refers to the city of York in England, where Masonic lore has it that
in 926 the first Grand Lodge of England was formed and where the “constitutions that
governed the English Craft for eight hundred years” were framed. The York Rite is
composed of ten “degrees” or “orders” that a member rises through, the pinnacle of
which is the Order of Knights Templar (See Table 2.3 and Error! Reference source not
found.). Unlike other Masonic orders where an initiate must agree that there is a God or
Great Creator, a Knight Templar initiate must profess a specific belief in the Christian
religion.
153
Membership in this organization allowed American men to inhabit what
Masonic historian William D. Moore calls the “archetypal masculine role of the righteous
religious warrior.”
154
With its military and Christian focus the York Rite symbols heavily utilizes
swords and the crucifix. The red cross on a white background, originally associated with
the medieval Knights Templar, is also a heavily used in York Rite symbol.
Like other Masonic organizations in America, the York Rite initially focused on
conferring degrees and performing rituals. The York Rite has ten Degrees a new member
would proceed through, from Mark Master to Order of Knights Templar. (See Table 2.3)
152
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 43.
153
John R. Bennett, The Origin of Freemasonry and Knights Templar, (Cincinnati: Johnson & Hardin,
1907), 64. Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 45.
The Grand Encampment of Knights Templar, FAQ/Information,
http://www.knightstemplar.org/faq.html#member. Grand York Rite of California, Welcome! Further Light
in Masonry, http://www.yorkriteofcalifornia.org/images/calif_light_in_the_york_rite.pdf.
154
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 65.
87
With the influence of the American Civil War (1861-1865) military maneuvers and
drilling became increasingly important activities among the Masonic Templars. Veterans
who enjoyed the comradery and discipline of the military could socialize with other
veterans within the fraternity.
155
York Rite Degrees
Royal Arch Degrees / Four Capital Degrees
Mark Master
Past Master (Virtual)
Most Excellent Master
Royal Arch Mason
Cryptic Degrees
Royal Master
Select Master
Super Excellent Master (Optional)
Chivalric Order / Commandery of Knights Templar
Order of Red Cross
Order of Knights of Malta / Order of Malta
Order of Knights Templar / Order of the Temple
Table 2.3: The York Rite levels of membership.
The York Rite’s Architecturally Character Defining Features
Large “Drill Hall” for group maneuvers with a relative lack of decoration
“Armories” for storing regalia in lockers, display cases or storage rooms
Lodge Rooms referred to as “Asylums”
Gothic style decorative program
Military references
Symbols in reference to the medieval Knights Templar: crucifix, sword, red cross,
and crown
Asylums and Armories
155
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 51.
88
As the York Rite changed, so did the ritual spaces they used. Whereas York Rite
Masons could initially hold gatherings in existing Lodge Rooms or other large meeting
rooms the inclusion of military style activities fostered the creation of specialized spaces.
Buildings that catered to the York Rite began to incorporate “a drill room in which to
practice marching and an armory room for the storage of uniforms, weapons, banners,
and other martial paraphernalia.” Drill Halls were usually large, well-lit rooms, with high
ceilings and good ventilation to accommodate large groups of active people. York Rite
regalia was inspired by the military uniforms of the Civil War, and newer York Rite
uniforms took after military dress uniforms of the time. (See Figure 2.27) Armories could
be composed of mass-produced lockers or display cases with glass doors. The Armory
could be placed in a small to mid-sized room, or placed along the hallways and corridors
that led to or encircled the Lodge Room.
156
Figure 2.27: Knight Templars in their military style uniforms arranged in front of the Hollywood
Masonic Temple (built 1921), located at 6840 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, California. From
the Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection, 00042597.
York Rite Drill Halls and Armories were spartanly appointed spaces, reflecting
the military ideas of efficiency and utilitarianism. Unfortunately, there are few
photographs of York Rite interior spaces. When a new Masonic Lodge building was built
156
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 43, 58-59.
89
the exterior and richly decorated Lodge Rooms were photographed, while the modest
appointed Drill Halls and Armories received little attention.
157
Lodge Rooms where the York Rite conducted rituals (often called Asylums) were
as richly decorated as the Lodge Rooms of other Masonic bodies. The York Rite
Asylums often utilized Gothic style ornament and furnishings in reference to the
Medieval Knights Templar. Like other Masonic structures York Rite buildings also had
banquet halls for socializing outside the regulated structure of Asylums/Lodge Room and
Drill Hall activates.
158
Compared to the Scottish Rite and the Shrine, the York Rite did not express
themselves architecturally as much. Much of their economic focus was on uniforms that
could include pants, jacket, chapeau, sword, cape, hat and an expensive price tag. Moore
surmises that the York Rite chose to display their prowess through marching in parades
and drill exhibitions rather than through their architecture.
159
The Shrine
The Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, shortened to just “The
Shrine,” created a fun, frivolous fraternity set in pseudo-Arabic play land. Masonic
historian William D. Moore states that among the male archetypes Freemasonry provides
the Shriner was the archetypal fool, and that self-indigent nature of the Shrine allowed
men to act in a manner completely contrary to the Victorian notions of manhood.
160
While the York Rite and Scottish Rite have older roots in Europe, the Shrine was
created in America after Civil War, and as such a good deal more about its early history
is known. The Shrine was established in 1870 in Manhattan, New York by physician and
surgeon Dr. Walter Fleming and popular stage actor William “Billy” Florence. Founded
by a physician and an actor, their personal sympathy for the ill and spirit of colorful
157
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 62.
158
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 54-59, 60-61.
159
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 61.
160
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 114. The other
male archetypes Freemasonry provides include; the heroic artisan of the Mason in the lodge, righteous
warrior of the York Rite, and the wise men or wizards of the Scottish Rite.
90
pageantry would develop into the Shrine’s defining cultural outlets: the Shriner’s
Hospitals and the whimsical displays seen in parades.
Fleming and Florence felt there should be more fun and play within Freemasonry.
Previously Florence had been on tour in France and been invited to a party given by an
Arabian diplomat. The exotic style, flavors and music of the Arabian-themed party
inspired Florence to suggest it as a theme for the new fraternity. Dr. Fleming took the
ideas for a whimsical fraternity and created the rituals that would form the base of the
Shrine. Fleming also designed an emblem (a downward turned crescent moon with a
sphinx head) and costumes that included a red fez for the new “Order of the Mystic
Shrine.” The dramatic and eye-catching Arabian style was a good fit for The Shrine as it
was seeking to attract new members. The exotic style hinted at lost and forbidden
knowledge, a recurring Masonic theme. Shrine ceremonies were raucous comedic affairs
that changed quickly over time as members got tired of seeing or performing the same
old routines. Unlike the York and Scottish Rite, the Shrine did not have a system of
degrees or orders to rank members with, however prospective Shrine members had to
already be well educated in the masonic ways, either having reached the 32° in the
Scottish Rite or a Knights Templar in the York Rite.
161
The first Shrine group, called Mecca Temple, was organized in 1872 in New York
City Masonic Hall. A “Temple” is a group of Shriners and their basic organizational unit,
akin to a Lodge of Freemasons, or a Valley of Scottish Rite Masons. After several years
of slow growth in 1876 a new body within the Shrine was created to spur new
membership. The Imperial Grand Council of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of
the Mystic Shrine for the United States of America was formed with Dr. Fleming serving
as its first Imperial Grand Potentate. They created rules for membership, rules for the
creation of new temples, embellished the initiation ritual and added to the “history” of the
161
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 97.Shriners
International, History – Beginnings, http://www.shrinersinternational.org/Shriners/History/Beginnings.
West Suburban Shrine Club, A Short History of Shriners Hospitals for Children and the Shriners
International, http://www.westsuburbanshrineclub.org/History-Shriners.htm.
“This was the era of the popularisation of the Book of 1001 Arabian Nights and its stories of Sinbad,
Aladdin’s genie-infested lamp, Ali Baba & the Forty Thieves, and flying carpets; a time of Zouave
uniforms on regiments in the armies of the United States, Confederate States, France and other countries.”
91
Shrine. These changes coupled with publicity and a recruitment campaign bore positive
results. By 1878, just two years later, there were 425 Shriners in thirteen Temples across
eight states. Continued growth of the Shrine in the early twentieth century resulted in the
Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine International (today also part of
Shriners International) to service Temples in Canada, Mexico, and Panama.
162
The Shriners history of dedicated medical philanthropic support germinated at the
1920 annual Imperial Session in Portland, Oregon where the “Noble” Forrest Adair
proposed the creation of a Shriners’ Hospital for Crippled Children as the fraternity’s
official philanthropy. A few years earlier Nobel Adair had been heavily involved with the
Scottish Rite Atlanta Consistory’s foundation of the Scottish Rite Hospital. Adair’s
proposal was approved, and by 1922 the cornerstone of the first Shriners Hospital for
Crippled Children was laid in Shreveport, Louisiana. Today the medical philanthropic
branch of the Shrine is called the Shriners Hospitals for Children. They have a network of
twenty-two hospitals in the United States, Canada, and Mexico that specialize in treating
children under eighteen years old with orthopedic disabilities, burn injuries, spinal cord
injuries and cleft lip and palate.
163
The Shrine changed their name again in 2010 to Shriners International and shares
its’ Tampa, Florida based headquarters with the Shriners Hospital for Children. Shriners
International oversees 193 Shriners “Temples,” most of which are in the United States,
with approximately 400,000 Shrine members. Each temple has a clearly defined territory
that can be quite large, as such smaller groups within the temple, called units, can be
organized to gather people into smaller geological groups or for a specific purpose.
Nobles of the Shrine include former United States presidents Warren Harding, Franklin
Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Gerald Ford and countless other great and ordinary men.
164
162
West Suburban Shrine Club, A Short History of Shriners Hospitals for Children and the Shriners
International, http://www.westsuburbanshrineclub.org/History-Shriners.htm.
163
West Suburban Shrine Club, A Short History of Shriners Hospitals for Children and the Shriners
International, http://www.westsuburbanshrineclub.org/History-Shriners.htm. Imperial Sessions are week-
long buisness meetings held annually in a different host city.
164
Lu Lu Shriners, About The Shrine & LuLu Shriners, http://www.lulushriners.org/about_us.html. West
Suburban Shrine Club, A Short History of Shriners Hospitals for Children and the Shriners International,
http://www.westsuburbanshrineclub.org/History-Shriners.htm.
92
Character Defining Features Associated with Shrine Buildings
Moorish Revival style architecture
Large Auditorium with remnants of Lodge Room features
o Stage Floor extends past proscenium arch
o Seating along sidewalls faced the center of the room, instead of the stage,
akin to a Lodge Room
Large Banquet Hall and other entertainment spaces
Shrine symbols; crescent moon, sphinx head, etc.
Architecture of the Shrine: Mosque as Fraternal Hall
After rapid growth in membership by the first decades of the twentieth century,
the Shrine had begun to outgrow the shared spaces in existing masonic halls and required
larger spaces. Flush with members and dues for the first time Shriners were able to build
meeting structures that catered to their needs and aesthetic only. Pulling from their Arabic
“history” and rituals a wave of Moorish Revival style shrines were built. Masonic
architectural historian William D. Moore points to the first purpose built Shriners
building, the Lu Lu Temple in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (built1904, destroyed by fire in
1945), as setting a pattern of construction for other Shrine buildings to follow. “Shrine
mosques exhibited three basic qualities: (1) neo-Islamic [or Moorish Revival]
architectural style; (2) floor plans prominently featuring a banquet hall, and auditorium
with a stage, and secondary service spaces; and (3) fraternally affiliated architects.”
165
(See Figure 2.28)
165
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 95.
93
Figure 2.28: The Lu Lu Temple in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (built 1904, burned 1945) was the first
purpose built Shrine building. Its Neo-Islamic/Moorish Revival style architecture greatly influenced
later Shrine fraternity buildings. From postcard in author’s personal collection.
Many of the earliest Shrine buildings used the romantic and fantastical Moorish
Revival style of architecture. Moorish Revival architecture was popularized in Europe in
the early 1800’s as part of the Romanticist movement. One of the earliest notable
Moorish Revival structures in America was P. T. Barnum’s mansion Iranistan (built
94
1848, burned 1857) in Bridgeport, Connecticut. During the height of its influence, the
Moorish Revival style was also a favored motif for Jewish synagogues because of its
association with the golden age of Jewry in medieval Muslim Spain, as well as with
theater buildings, smoking room interiors, and Shriners Temples.
166
As dozens of Shrine Temples were built across America, unique architectural
features were developed.
167
The Kismet Temple Mosque of Brooklyn, New York (1910)
has a main floor plan similar to commercial theaters of its time; the street-level floor had
a grand entrance that opened to a decorative lobby, which in turn lead to the main
auditorium space. However, the layout of the Kismet Temple Mosque’s auditorium
differed from contemporary theaters. The stage floor thrust out far beyond the
proscenium arch. Audience seating did not face the stage wall but ran parallel to the
sidewalls so the audience was facing the center of the room rather than the stage (similar
to contemporaneous Scottish Rite Auditoriums). The Kismet auditorium was a hybrid of
the traditional Lodge Room expanded to the size of a commercial theater. “By retaining
this floor plan for their primary meeting space, the organization ensured that events
within the hall would be communal and participatory, with the audience members
watching themselves as well as those of their number who functioned as performers.”
168
166
Wikipedia, Moorish Revival Architecture, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moorish_Revival_architecture.
167
Notable Moorish Revival style Shrine temples that still stand today include the Helena Civic Center in
Helena, Montana (built in 1919 as the Algeria Shrine Temple), the New York City Center in New York,
New York (built in 1922 as the Mecca Temple), the Altria Theater in Richmond, Virginia (built in 1926 as
the ACCA Temple Shrine), the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California (built in 1925-1926 as the Al
Malaika Temple Mosque), the Tripoli Shrine Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (built in 1926-1928 as the
Tripoli Temple), and the Fox Theater in Atlanta, Georgia (built in 1927-1929 as a joint Fox Theater and
mosque for members of the Yaarab Temple of the Mystic Shrine). Evans, National Register of Historic
Places Inventory - Nomination Form - Algeria Shrine Temple,
http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/nrhp/text/88000434.PDF; McAvoy, National Register of Historic Places
Inventory - Nomination Form - Al Malaikah Temple,
http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/nrhp/text/87000577.PDF; Pitts, National Register of Historic Places
Inventory - Nomination Form - Fox Theater, http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/nrhp/text/74002230.PDF;
Wenger, Inventory Form For Nominated Poperties - Tripoli Temple,
http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/nrhp/text/86000142.PDF; Wikipedia, New York City Center,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_Center.; Wikipedia, Altria Theater,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altria_Theater.
168
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 101-104.
95
While Shrine buildings were built primarily to serve the fraternity’s ceremonial
and social needs many buildings also included revenue-producing spaces to ensure that
the high cost of a building would not permanently wipe out a Temples finances. The
auditorium and banquet spaces were rented out to the public. Shrine buildings would also
include office space, ground floor retail and exhibition halls to help pay for the structure
and eventually provide an income.
169
The most prominent Shrine building in California is the Al Malaikah Temple,
commonly known as the Shrine Auditorium, located at 655 West Jefferson Boulevard,
Los Angeles (See Figure 2.29 and Figure 2.30). Constructed from 1925 to 1926 the
Shrine Auditorium was designed by two members of the Los Angeles based Al Malaikah
Shriners, architects John C. Austin and Abraham M. Edelman, in collaboration with
theater architect G. Albert Lansburgh. The new structure was to replace an earlier
Moorish Revival style Temple that was destroyed by fire on the same site in 1920. Shrine
membership was growing exponentially and reached its peak during the 1920s, so the
new Al Malaikah Temple was built on a much grander scale than its predecessor. It was
the world’s largest theater upon its completion and was intended to function as both a
fraternal and civic space. The auditorium is a massive structure constructed of steel
trusses to support the roof and auditorium balcony, reinforced concrete, and exterior
decorations composed of plaster. “The exterior is a medley of onion domes, horseshoe
arches, and elaborate filigree and plaster relief work. Not to be outdone, the interior is
extensively stenciled, and the auditorium features a ‘tented’ ceiling executed in concrete
(See Figure 2.30).”
170
169
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 111.
170
Christy Johnson McAvoy, and Leslie Heumann. "National Register of Historic Places Inventory -
Nomination Form - Al Malaikah Temple," http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/nrhp/text/87000577.PDF.
Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 107.
96
Figure 2.29: The Shrine Auditorium (1925-1926) is a massive Moorish Revival style fraternal and
civic auditorium. From the Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection, 00015545.
97
Figure 2.30: The Shrine Auditorium interior. Note Moorish Revival stylings that include a tent-like
ceiling, the horseshoe shaped proscenium arch over the stage, murals of riders on camelback.
Photographed in 1926, from the Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection, 00015570.
Upon its completion, the Auditorium could seat an audience of 6,700 people, plus
hold over 1,000 people on the 194 foot wide and 69 foot deep stage. The enormous
94,000 square foot western facing auditorium structure forms the base of an “L” shaped
ground plan. The top of the “L” is an adjoining northern facing exhibition hall, measuring
150 foot by 250 foot, containing a 101,000 square foot basilica-like space. The massive
and flamboyantly appointed building cost $2.5 million to construct, an enormous sum
even by the prosperous standards of the 1920s. Over the years it has hosted the Academy
Awards, Grammy Awards, Miss Universe and many other ceremonies. In 2002 the
Auditorium and Expo Center underwent a $15 million renovation and upgrade, which
included the construction of a multi-story parking structure that mimicked the
Auditorium’s massing and exterior architectural details. Today the Shrine Auditorium is
98
listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is Los Angeles Historic-Cultural
Monument #139.
171
Summary of Character Defining Features Associated With Masonic
Lodge Buildings
These tables list the architectural features commonly associated with Freemasonry
as a whole and within particular sub-groups. (See Table 2.4 and Table 2.5) The table of
architectural features commonly associated with specific sub-groups lists the features
unique to that sub-group and not used by other sub-groups. Masonic sub-groups use their
unique features in addition to the architectural features associated with Freemasonry as a
whole, as an extra layer of information and meaning.
171
McAvoy, National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form - Al Malaikah Temple,
http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/nrhp/text/87000577.PDF. Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual
Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes, 107. Wikipedia, Shrine Auditorium,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrine_Auditorium.
99
Architectural Features Associated with Freemasonry and Masonic Sub-Groups
Interior Features
Lodge Room
o Rectangular room with high ceilings, often aligned east to west
o Symmetrical placement of room elements (doors, furniture, windows, etc.)
o Dias/platform with monumental chairs along the eastern wall, including
the Master’s Chair /Oriental Chair of Solomon
o Columns flanking the Master’s Chair along the eastern wall
o Windows placed so people outside cannot see into the Lodge room, or no
windows
o Altar in the center of the Lodge Room
o Soundproofing measures
o Large and/or elaborately decorated chairs placed individually along the
eastern and western walls for specific officers, such as the Master’s Chair
o Rows of seating along the south and north walls facing the altar at the
center of the Lodge Room
o Jachin and Boaz: the twin pillars topped with spheres
Tiler’s Room: a small room before entering the Lodge Room
Crooked staircase or path from building entrance to Lodge Room
Entertainment and socializing rooms: Lounges, Billiard Rooms, Banquet Halls,
Ballrooms and Auditoriums
Exterior Features
Stone or faux stone exterior cladding
Cornerstone, often in northeast corner
Monumental symmetrical primary façade
Both Interior and/or Exterior Features
Columns: especially Doric, Ionic and Corinthian columns
Masonic decorative symbols (Square & Compass, “G”, All-Seeing-Eye of God,
etc.)
Reference to King Solomon’s Temple
Brass used
Historic decorative style
Table 2.4: Character defining architectural features associated with Masonic Lodge buildings.
100
Architectural Features Associated With Specific Masonic Sub-Groups
Scottish Rite
Double-headed eagle
Large Auditorium/Theater with elements of a Lodge Room
o Large open floor area in front of the stage
o Seating facing open floor area instead of the stage
o Steps spanning the width of the stage
Reference to the Wise Men of Freemasonry, especially King Solomon
Doric columns
Reference to the 4
th
to 33
rd
degrees
Twin Sphinxes
Tomb of King Mausolus at Halicarnassus reference, especially the stepped
roofline
York Rite
Large “Drill Hall” for group maneuvers with a Spartan lack of decoration
“Armories” for storing regalia in lockers, display cases or storage rooms
Lodge Rooms referred to as “Asylums”
Gothic style decorative program
Military references
Symbology in reference to the medieval Knights Templar: crucifix, sword, red
cross, and crown
Shrine
Moorish Revival style architecture
Large Auditorium with remnants of Lodge Room features
o Stage Floor extends past proscenium arch
o Seating along sidewalls faced the center of the room, instead of the stage,
akin to a Lodge Room
Large Banquet Hall and other entertainment spaces
Shrine specific symbols (crescent moon, sphinx head, etc.)
Table 2.5: Character defining architectural features associated with Freemasonry’s three main sub-
groups; the Scottish Rite, York Rite and the Shrine.
101
Chapter 3: A History of the Millard Sheets Designed Scottish
Rite Masonic Temple
A New Scottish Rite Building for Los Angeles
After World War II, the Scottish Rite continued to increase in membership across
the nation, and in Los Angeles. Between 1906, when the first purpose built stand-alone
Scottish Rite Cathedral was built at 929 South Hope Street, and 1960, when construction
began on the Millard Sheets designed Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, the Scottish Rite
Southern Jurisdiction had grown from 28,587 to 503,761 members; a growth of
1,762%.
172
In California Scottish Rite membership had been growing by about 1,000
members a year during the 1950s. Of the sixteen California “Valleys,” Los Angeles had
the most members and the largest number of new Lodge initiates, over 500 in 1962.
173
In the 1950s, the Venerable Master of the Los Angeles Valley, Judge Ellsworth
Meyer, 33° (See Figure 3.1), began exploring the possibilities of building a new larger
Scottish Rite facility. Venerable Master Meyer approached several Masons who were
architects, and Millard Sheets, who neither an architect nor a Mason.
174
Sheets was
known as the designer of the National American Fire Insurance building (built 1953-
1954, demolished) and the Home Savings and Loan building (built 1954-1956) that
already graced Wilshire Boulevard, where the Scottish Rite had purchased land to house
172
The Scottish Rite Cathedral at 929 South Hope Street was demolished with several other nearby
buildings some time after 1963 and 949 South Hope Street was built in its place.
173
Arthur R. Andersen and Leon O. Whitsell. California's First Century of Scottish Rite Masonry.
(Oakland, California: The Supreme Council, 33°, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for
the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States of America, 1962, c1963), 344-345. In 1962 the Los Angeles
Scottish Rite Valley had 9,749 Lodge Members and 567 Lodge Initiates. While other Lodges, like Oakland,
had comparable membership numbers Los Angeles had almost double the number of Lodge Initiates.
174
Andersen and Whitsell, California's First Century of Scottish Rite Masonry, 102. Millard Sheets was not
a Freemason, but he was a member of the Bohemian Club; a San Francisco fraternal order of men who are
interested in the arts. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution , Oral History Interview With
Millard Sheets, Tape 5, Side A.
102
their new Temple building.
175
(See Figure 1.5 and Figure 1.11) As an architectural
designer Millard Sheets would paint his designs for buildings and then other architects
would make the working building plans based on his designs.
Figure 3.1: From left to right: Millard Sheets (building designer), David Underwood (architect that
often worked with Sheets), Hazel Meyer and Ellsworth Meyer (Scottish Rite Venerable Master) as
they depart for Rome in 1961 to inspect the statues carved by A. Rossi, and the travertine to clad the
Temple. From Los Angeles Scottish Rite Bulletin, April 1961, 39.
176
Meyer invited Sheets to a dinner at the Los Angeles Athletic Club to discuss an
“interesting subject.” Sheets spoke at length about his first meeting with the Scottish Rite
175
Arenson, National American Fire Insurance 3731 Wilshire: The First Sheets-Ahmanson Collaboration,
http://adamarenson.com/2013/03/national-american-fire-insurance-3731-wilshire-the-first-sheets-
ahmanson-collaboration/.
176
Steelman, Samuel (Editor), "Our Venerable Master Leaves for Rome," Los Angeles Scottish Rite
Bulletin XLIV, no. 4 (April 1961), 39.
103
Masons in his 1977 interview with the Oral History Program, University of California,
Los Angeles:
I went to meet them, and they were quite an interesting group. There were
doctors and some lawyers and this judge and two or three others, eight
people all together. They said, "We are going to build a new temple."
They called it a "cathedral." I said, "Well, what kind of a cathedral?" They
said, "Scottish Rite." I was a little dopey. I thought it might be Masonic,
but I wasn't sure. I said, "Well, where is your old one?" I thought that
might give me a clue, and they told me where it was, down on Flower
Street, something like that.
177
Then I knew that they were talking about a
Masonic temple. They said, "We are trying to be very thorough before we
go ahead with this job. We have met nine firms of architects, of which at
least the principal men are members of our particular Masonry degree and
also our particular temple. We've discussed the matter at length with each
of them, and we've asked them for their idea of how they would approach
this problem. You're the only one outside of the group that belong to the
temple that we've interviewed. […]
So they told me quite a bit about what has to be in a temple of this
kind. I didn't dream that there was a huge auditorium and a huge dining
room. The auditorium seats 3,000, and the dining room seats 1,500, and
they have many lodge rooms and recreation rooms. It's a city, a
tremendous thing. They told me a lot about the project and they said,
"Would this kind of a thing appeal to you? How would you go about it?" I
said, "Well, I don't think I'd go about it any differently than I would any
other kind of a project. As a matter of fact," I said, "the first thing I would
want to do is to prepare a very carefully thought out list of questions
which I would like to present to you people for answers. You cannot
design in a vacuum, whether it's a big project or a little project, whether
it's for this kind of public use or semipublic use or private industry. It
doesn't make any difference. I'd have to know a lot more about you. As a
matter of fact, the first question I would put at the top of my list is, 'Why
do you think you need to build a big temple? What's wrong with the one
you've got?' I don't know anything about the one you've got, except that
I've seen the outside and it looks horrible. But," I said, "that isn't the
important thing. The important thing is why do you think you need a
temple? Maybe the idea of Masonry isn't even practical today." They
really looked so shocked at that! […]
They said, "Well, do you envisage any form?" I said, "Oh, no, I
don't envisage any form at all at this point because it's got to grow out of
the function and out of the whole idea of what you want." So they said,
177
Sheets’ recollection is just a little off. Flower Street is only one block away from the former Scottish
Rite Cathedral at 929 South Hope Street, Los Angeles (built 1906, demolished).
104
"Well, why don't you write us a list?" We had a pleasant dinner party, and
we didn't get any farther than that, but I was happy to be included. I spent
a lot of time then for maybe six weeks, five or six weeks—I know I didn't
hurry—trying to really think out the problems. I knew the site. The site
was magnificent.
I was very busy, and I suddenly realized that about four months
had gone by. I thought perhaps I had frightened them away completely by
asking them the twenty-five or more questions of why they thought they
ought to build a temple. Then the phone rang and it was Judge Meyer, the
head of the Scottish Rite. He said, "Well, we're ready to answer your
questions." […] They had worked terribly hard on all of the questions and
had, I thought, some imaginative answers. They were not in any way tying
me or any other designer down, but they had some very good thoughts
about the new relationship of Masonry to society and why they felt this
was an important time to build the temple and why they wanted to truly
represent the spirit of Masonry.
So without further ado, I made many sketches, I think three
different concepts, which I presented to a smaller committee that they had
decided would be easier to operate with. I think there were four people—
or five, counting Judge Meyer—on the committee. I made the presentation
of these three different concepts, from which they selected one. It was the
one that we finally followed, but it grew considerably in the development,
as most of these kinds of things do, both in character and in detail.
[…] It took about two years to build the building. It took more than
a year to plan it in the actual design stage. It took almost another year
before that, while we talked about it. Including that six-month wait, I think
it was almost four years.
178
Millard Sheets said that working on the Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic
Temple was one of the most exciting projects of his career.
179
He found the Masons to be
fascinating clients during the two projects he would eventually worked on with them; the
Scottish Rite Masonic Temple in Los Angeles (built 1960-1961), and then the Scottish
Rite Temple (built 1965) in San Francisco.
180
“They know what they want, and they are
178
Oral History Program: University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles Art Community: Group
Portrait: Millard Sheets, Interviewed by George M. Goodwin, 496-497., 486-490.
179
Oral History Program: University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles Art Community: Group
Portrait: Millard Sheets, Interviewed by George M. Goodwin, 496-497., 485.
180
Sheets, "Millard Sheets: A Man of Great Diversity," in A Tapestry of Life: The World of Millard Sheets,
72. Lovoos and Penney, Millard Sheets: One-Man Renaissance, 72. Oral History Program: University of
California Los Angeles, Los Angeles Art Community: Group Portrait: Millard Sheets, Interviewed by
George M. Goodwin, 496-497.
105
perfectly fine to work with. They deal very directly. There's no bouncing around. I do
admire what they do for society, because it's much more than a lodge. It's basically a
thing that means a tremendous amount, I think, to an awful lot of people outside of the
Masons themselves.”
181
The Design Process Seen Through Architectural Renderings
Many of the Millard Sheets Designs, Inc. sketches for the Los Angeles Scottish
Rite Masonic Temple were purchased and available for me to view at Alan Wofsy Fine
Arts, a gallery at 1109 Geary Boulevard, San Francisco, California.
182
(See Appendix A)
Most of these artworks were not signed, labeled, or dated. After Sheets’ death, his son
Tony Sheets annotated the renderings in the margins or on the backside giving
circa/approximate dates.
183
Millard Sheets himself probably made the initial sketch of the
Temple, with other people at Millard Sheets Designs, Inc. completing subsequent
renderings based on Sheets’ initial design. As the principal of the company Millard
Sheets would sign renderings, plans, and artworks produced by Millard Sheets Designs,
Inc. employees even if he did not personally make them.
184
What follows is my own speculative analysis of the Temple renderings and an
effort to organize them chronologically in the order of their creation. Given the lack of
exact dates or labels, my order is educated guesswork based on how the finished Temple
building was constructed. The sketches that most closely resemble the Temple as it was
built are at the end of the chronological order. The renderings that are the most unlike the
built Temple are at the beginning, as they are probably early concepts that were
abandoned or radically changed after Sheets received feedback from the Scottish Rite
Masons. Figure 3.2 to Figure 3.17 represent my attempt to order the exterior renderings
chronologically. Many of the exterior sketches come in sets of three, each giving straight-
181
Oral History Program: University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles Art Community: Group
Portrait: Millard Sheets, Interviewed by George M. Goodwin, 496-497., 497-498.
182
Because formatting within the margins requires the figures of Millard Sheets artwork to be relatively
small and cropped I have created Appendix A, with full page enlargements of Sheets renderings of the
Temple.
183
Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, "Art-Books.Com," http://www.art-books.com/cgi-bin/artbooks/index.html.
184
Adam Arenson, email message to author, September 5, 2017.
106
on views of the proposed western, southern, and eastern façades. There are also a few
interior sketches. (See Figure 3.19, Figure 3.22, and Figure 3.23)
First, is Figure 3.2, as it is the most dissimilar from the as-built Temple and is
probably from the beginning of the planning process. Figure 3.2 is probably one of the
initial options Millard Sheets proposed to the Scottish Rite committee. It is a rough pencil
sketch with impressionistic details. It appears white gouache paint was used to white-out
so certain areas, especially along the roofline, and new shapes drawn over it. This
rendering has two monumental decorated entrances on the primary southern façade that
faces Wilshire Boulevard, instead of the single entrance that was eventually built. Two
large spires project from the roof, but only one spire was actually built. The far bottom
left of the rending shows a statue, whereas the Temple was built with many statues along
its southern and eastern façade.
Figure 3.2: Study of the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, by Millard Sheets. Courtesy Alan Wofsy Fine
Arts, 03-0097.
Next, Figure 3.3 shows a colored and more artistically detailed angled view of the
Temple’s western and southern façades, with people walking towards the building’s three
visible entrances. Compared to Figure 3.2, there are still two entrances facing
south/Wilshire Boulevard, but now an entrance on the left/western façade is clearly
visible. This renderings’ building volume is similar to the constructed Temple with the
exception of a large multi-story rectangular volume stepped back from the roofline of the
right/eastern portion of the building. This smaller secondary rooftop volume has similar
107
decorative features to the larger primary ground-level volume, including large quarter-
circular flutes at each of the four corners of the building.
185
Figure 3.3: Rendering of the east and south façades of the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, by Millard
Sheets Designs, Inc. Courtesy Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, 03-0067.
Figure 3.4 and Figure 3.5 are slightly more detailed strait on plan views of the
southern and western facades of the building seen in Figure 3.3. Hand-written notes on
the back of Figure 3.4 say “stained glass window” on the left side of the sketch, and
“mosaics over entrance, relief sculptures” on the right ride. This indicates that the
decorative program for the exterior of the building was not immediately decided.
Eventually, relief sculptures were changed to free-standing statues; a large stained glass
window over the left side entrance became mosaic panels with brass lettered inscriptions,
and the right side entrance and large rooftop volume were discarded entirely. The rooftop
spires that were in Figure 3.2 are not present in this set of renderings, but one spire in on
the built Temple.
185
The quarter-circle flutes at the four corners of the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple is a motif used later
used by Sheets at the Home Savings and Loan buildings located at 15625 Whittier Boulevard, Whittier,
California (built 1962, currently Chase Bank) and at 840 N San Fernando Boulevard, Burbank, California
(built 1963-1964, currently Chase Bank). "Home Savings Stars New Burbank Branch," Los Angeles Times,
April 21, 1963. "Preliminary Plans for Office Approved," Los Angeles Times, April 16, 1961. "Savings,
Loan Assn. to Open in Burbank," Los Angeles Times, May 31, 1964.
108
Figure 3.4: South elevation rendering of the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, by Millard Sheets
Designs, Inc. By Millard Sheets. Courtesy Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, 03-0111 & 03-0103.
Figure 3.5: West elevation rendering of the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, by Millard Sheets Designs,
Inc. Courtesy Alan Wofsy Fine Arts.
Certain architectural details from this early stage survived to be included in the
built Temple. The building corners have quarter-circle flutes. Elevated braziers/cauldrons
flank the entrance all three visible entrances (though only one set of cauldrons would be
built). The south/Wilshire entrance has four doorways with four decorated panels rising
above each doorway to almost the roofline. Also, there are decorative elements flanking
the Wilshire facing entrance but the rendering shows what looks like bas-relief sculptural
109
figures whereas the as-built Temple has round double-headed eagle sculptures over
stained glass windows.
The next set of renderings (Figure 3.6, Figure 3.7, and Figure 3.8) shows a
building concept that has been reduced in volume with the removal of the large rooftop
volume over the east/right side of the building. However, it looks like the whole building
façade has been made just a little bit taller with the addition of the black band below the
roofline. The almost flat roof seen in the previous set of renderings has been replaced
with a low sloping roofline very similar to what was eventually built. The rooftop spire
present on the left/west of Figure 3.6 looks nearly identical to the spire that was built. The
second rooftop spire seen in Figure 3.8 was never built, and it looks like it has been
painted over in Figure 3.6. The rectangular shape of the rendered building is broken up
with two square projections with quarter-fluted corners at either end of the
primary/southern façade, whereas the constructed Temple only has one square projection
on the left/west side of the Temple. Overall the decorative program has remains relatively
the same.
Figure 3.6: South elevation rendering of the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, by Millard Sheets
Designs, Inc. Sold with Figure 3.7 and Figure 3.8. Courtesy Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, 03-0101.
110
Figure 3.7: Western elevation of Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, by Millard Sheets
Designs, Inc. . Courtesy Alan Wofsy Fine Arts.
111
Figure 3.8: East elevation rendering of the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, by Millard Sheets Designs,
Inc. Courtesy Alan Wofsy Fine Arts.
Note that each entrance area has a different number of doorways. The entrance
under the removed rooftop volume remains but the decoration around it has been reduced
in scale. Like the previous set of renderings this set has cauldrons flanking each entrance,
but they appear to be attached to the wall, like sconces. The built Temple only has one set
of two three-legged cauldrons on rectangular travertine podiums that flank the primary
entrance on the southern/Wilshire Boulevard façade. There is a band of tan coloring at
the base of the building, representing a change in materials, probably not the white
travertine that clads the as-built Temple. It is unclear what that material would be.
The next set of exterior façade renderings show the Temple almost as it was built.
(See Figure 3.9, Figure 3.10, and Figure 3.11) This set of renderings is particularly
notable because they show fading from framing, and Figure 3.9 is stamped on the back
“Scottish Rite Cathedral Association.” Renderings from this set are the only ones dated
112
(1958) and signed by Millard Sheets. This set of renderings is likely the final conceptual
draft that the Scottish Rite approved before construction began. The Los Angeles Scottish
Rite probably displayed these framed renderings to advertise what their new Temple
would look like.
Figure 3.9: South elevation rendering of the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, by Millard Sheets
Designs, Inc. (1958). This is the only rendering of the Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic Temple to
be dated by Millard Sheets himself. “Scottish Rite Cathedral Association” is stamped on the back of
this painting. Courtesy Alan Wofsy Fine Arts.
Figure 3.10: West elevation rendering of the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, by Millard Sheets
Designs, Inc. Courtesy Alan Wofsy Fine Arts.
113
Figure 3.11: East elevation rendering of the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, by Millard Sheets
Designs, Inc. Courtesy Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, 03-0100.
The rendered Temple’s volumes match the as-built Temple shape, but there are
some minor differences in the decorative program. For instance, the rendering shows
twelve statues atop an elevated ledge that wraps around the southern, eastern, and a bit of
the northern façade, whereas the built Temple has eight statues along the south and east
facades, and none on northern façade that faces the parking lot. The rendered roofline is
the same as the built roof, including the fourth floor balcony that is recessed to the point
of near invisibility. The built balcony has four decorative latticework cutouts studded
along the wall that functions as the railing that were not included in the renderings. This
is one of the few decorative elements that was added to the built Temple exterior. When
comparing this set of renderings to the built Temple the exterior decoration is reduced in
scope, probably for economic reasons.
The rendered decoration above the eastern façade entrance seen in Figure 3.11 is
identical to the built Temple, but the built southern and western façade decorative
entrances have been simplified compared to the rendering. The renderings show what
looks like tall mosaics panels extending vertically all the way from the first floor
doorways and up over the second and third stories. However, the built Temple’s southern
114
and western entrances are a mixture of brass-lettered inscriptions and smaller mosaic
panels set in travertine. Perhaps the southern and western façade entrance decorations
were changed after the eastern façade mosaic was completed and the Masons saw how
time consuming and expensive the smallest of the planned entrance mosaics was.
The rendered southern and western façades show circle-in-square bird decorations
flanking both entrances, each one above a wall mounted cauldron. The built Temple has
double-headed eagle sculptures inside a circular stained glass window. The built temple
has three-legged cauldrons that sit on rectangular travertine volumes that flank the
southern/Wilshire Boulevard entrance only, with no cauldrons at the eastern entrance.
A green (as seen in Figure 3.9) or gold/brown band of color (as seen in Figure
3.11) is behind the rendered statues, representing a change in cladding material. The built
Temple has light brown pebble dashed panels cladding much of the southern, eastern, and
northern façade behind and above the statues. The increased use of pebble dash panels on
the Temple compared to the travertine cladding shown in the renderings was adjusted to
bring down the cost of the building. Pebble dash is much less expensive than travertine
imported from Italy.
The few changes between this last set of renderings and the built Temple appear
to represent a scaling back of some of the expense in the decorative program; fewer
statues, fewer cauldrons, simpler artwork above the west and south entrances, and less
travertine cladding. As expensive and complex as the Temple was, undoubtedly there
were many rounds of back-and-fourth between the Scottish Rite Masons and Millard
Sheets Designs, Inc. before an aesthetically pleasing and affordable plan was reached
between them.
Another set of three renderings of the Temple exterior were published in the Los
Angeles Scottish Rite Bulletin in 1959, before construction began on the building (See
Figure 3.12, Figure 3.13 and Figure 3.14). These 1959 published renderings are very
similar to particular previously discussed renderings. The straight-on southern façade
view in Figure 3.12 is a near copy of Figure 3.9. Additionally the straight-on western
façade view in Figure 3.14 is a near copy of Figure 3.7. I say “near copy” because the
115
lines of the building form are the same, while the painted artistic elements (people,
plants, shading) are different. It looks like the line-work of these Temple renderings was
copied, or printed, and then color detail was hand-painted onto the multiple copies with
the natural variance of handmade items.
Figure 3.12: “The designer portrays our new temple. A view from Wilshire Boulevard by Millard
Sheets.” From Los Angeles Scottish Rite Bulletin XLII(8).
Figure 3.13: “A View of our new temple from the east.” From Los Angeles Scottish Rite Bulletin
XLII(9).
116
Figure 3.14: “A View of our new temple from the West.” From Los Angeles Scottish Rite Bulletin
XLII(10).
Finally, there are two exterior renderings that give a detailed view of the mosaic
panels and brass lettered inscriptions that are above the southern/Wilshire Boulevard (see
Figure 3.15) and western/Lucerne Boulevard entrances (see Figure 3.16). Figure 3.15 of
the southern/Wilshire Boulevard entrance shows eight Masonic symbols set in what looks
like black marble panels. Black marble was by Millard Sheets Designs, Inc.’s usual
backing for mosaics at this time.
186
The change from black marble to white travertine was
probably a Masonic request. Between the mosaic symbols are lettered Bible quotes that
highlight Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, and Devotion. This rendering is almost exactly
like the built Temple, only the bottom left symbols of the key and triangle have been
changed slightly. In addition, white travertine was used to for the mosaic panels and not
black marble.
186
Adam Arenson, Banking on Beauty: Millard Sheets and Midcentury Commercial Architecture in
California, (Austin: University of Texas Press, forthcoming).
117
Figure 3.15: Study of the mosaics and brass lettering over the south façade entryway. Courtesy Alan
Wofsy Fine Arts.
118
Figure 3.16: Decorative mosaic panels and brass lettered inscriptions above the southern/Wilshire
Boulevard entrance. Photo by author, 2012.
Next, Figure 3.17 shows the decorative plan above the western/Lucerne
Boulevard entrance. It shows fourteen Masonic symbols around three inscriptions that
highlighting Faith, Hope, and Charity. The rendered plan shows the Bible inscriptions
exactly as the brass letters were installed on the Temple. The mosaic panels of Masonic
symbols have some small differences. The rendering shows six of the fourteen mosaic
panels backed in black marble, instead of the white travertine that was eventually use. In
the top right corner panel in the rendering is the Eye of God in a blue triangle, whereas
the built Temple has just the Eye of God. The bottom corner panels have switch place,
and the plumb bob symbol in the bottom right of Figure 3.17, and in the bottom left of the
built Temple has been changed a bit. (See Figure 3.18)
119
Figure 3.17: Study of the mosaics and brass lettering over the west façade entryway. Courtesy Alan
Wofsy Fine Arts.
120
Figure 3.18: Decorative mosaic panels and brass lettered inscriptions above the western/Lucerne
Boulevard entrance. Photo by author, 2012.
With the discussion of exterior façade renderings complete there are three
renderings of spaces and artwork inside the Temple: Figure 3.19, Figure 3.22, and Figure
3.23.
Figure 3.19 is labeled by Tony Sheets as a Southern California office building
lobby, but it is most certainly the Temple lobby. The spatial volumes and the
arrangements of the doorways are exactly the same as the built Temple. (See Figure 3.20
and Figure 3.21) Masonic use is also implied in the rendering by highlighting three steps
in the foreground. In Freemasonry three steps symbolize the first three Craft Degrees that
form the foundation of Masonry. Three steps are used in Lodge Rooms to climb the dais
to the Masters’ Chair. By featuring three steps so prominently in Figure 3.19 it hints at
the Masonic nature of the rendered building.
121
Figure 3.19: Lobby rendering of the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, by Millard Sheets Designs, Inc.
Courtesy Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, 03-0114.
122
Figure 3.20: The interior lobby of the Temple, looking north, from above the Wilshire Boulevard
entrance. By looking at the many similarities between the Temple lobby and Figure 3.19, we can see
that Figure 3.19 is a conceptual rendering of this lobby. Photo from LoopNet, circa 2011.
123
Figure 3.21: A second view of the Temple lobby from the Wilshire Boulevard entrance. Photo by
author, 2012.
Overall the architectural volumes by Millard Sheets Designs, Inc. designed stayed
the same with some minor decorative and cladding changes. Similarities between the
rendered lobby in Figure 3.19 and the built lobby include; the three circular light fixtures,
the overall size and shape of the room, the volumes of the two second story balconies
over the left/west and right/east doorways, the three steps to climb before entering the
main body of the lobby, and inclusion of a large two-story tall art installation on the far
end/northern wall off the lobby. Differences between the rendering and the built lobby
include; changing the three strips of artwork on the far/north wall to one large mural,
opening up the entryway on the left/west, changing the floor from a black material to a
tan travertine, and the large area rug from tan to red.
Figure 3.22 is a design for the “California History” mural on the north wall of the
lobby. The overall size and shape of the mural rendering and the installed mural are the
124
same, but some notable changes have been made between concept and creation. The fluid
combination of seven groupings of figures in the rendering transformed in the installed
mural into five distinctly separated rectangular scenes, with one inscription panel of text
Figure 3.22: Study of the “California History” mural for the north wall of the lobby in the Scottish
Rite Masonic Temple, by Millard Sheets Designs, Inc. and possibly by Millard Sheets. Courtesy Alan
Wofsy Fine Arts.
Finally, Figure 3.23 is a rendering for the mosaic panels that were installed in the
northern wall of the Temple’s Auditorium. The human figures (Hermes, Minos with
Moses, and Zarathustra) are in rectangular panels with irregular cloud-like shapes
blending them together. The rendered plan was installed almost exactly as drawn, with
only some minor changes in color, figure posture, and the placement of the irregular-
shapes.
125
Figure 3.23: Rendering of figures executed in mosaic on the north wall of the Temple Auditorium, by
Millard Sheets Designs, Inc. From left to right the figures are; Hermes, Minos, Moses, and
Zarathustra. Courtesy Alan Wofsy Fine Arts.
126
Construction of the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple
Figure 3.24: The Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic Temple under construction. From Los Angeles
Time, July 31, 1960, 16.
The land the Temple sits on was purchased in 1955 after years of negotiation for
these specific properties, indicating the Scottish Rites’ desire to create a city landmark on
the well-traveled Wilshire Boulevard.
187
The new Temple would be four miles west of
187
Los Angeles Scottish Rite Bulletin, "New Temple Building Permit Issued,". XLII, no. 6 (1959), 61-62.
127
the Scottish Rite Cathedral it would replace on Hope Street in downtown Los Angeles.
(See Figure 2.22) The parcel is made of four adjacent lots sized for single-family
residences in the Windsor Square neighborhood that where combined to accommodate
the large size of the Temple.
188
After many years of preparation, the Los Angeles Scottish Rite Cathedral
Association was granted a permit to construct a new building on April 22, 1959.
189
To get
to that point the members of the Cathedral Association had examined many locations,
negotiated over a year to purchase a desirable parcel of land on Wilshire Boulevard, met
with many architects and designers, oversaw the creation and changes to the general
building design created by Millard Sheets, and then they directed the preparation of
working plans and specifications.
190
Finally, construction of the Los Angeles Scottish
Rite Masonic Temple could begin. Upon completion, this new Temple would become the
largest Scottish Rite facility in the nation.
191
Suitably, the ceremonies for the Temple’s
groundbreaking, cornerstone laying, and opening were done with traditional Masonic
flair.
On January 16, 1960, a crowd of hundreds watched more than two hundred
Masons simultaneously raise shovels and break ground along a white outline of the new
Temple. The groundbreaking ceremony incorporated elements promoted by the Scottish
Rite; religion, public service, artistic performance, and inter-masonic support. A rector of
the St. James Episcopal Church gave an invocation, and a pastor of the Hollywood First
Methodist Church gave a benediction. Both clerical men were Scottish Rite Masons.
Judge Ellsworth Meyer led the ceremony before guests that included former California
188
The four Temple parcels are combined from Lots 1, 2, 22 & 23 in Tract 1476 & 1390. Three of the lots
were vacant when Temple construction began, but 638 S. Lucerne Boulevard had a residence that was
removed. City of Los Angeles, Zimas, http://zimas.lacity.org/. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. Los Angeles,
California, Volume 8, Sheet 823.
189
Los Angeles City Department of Building and Safety, Application to Construct New Building and for
Certificate of Occupancy, 1959LA30009. The board of Directors during the Temple’s construction
comprised: George W. Nilsson, 33°; Edgar V. Stuart, 33°; Harry Keeling, 33°; Ralph H. Head, 33°, and
John A. Sickenberger, 33°. Andersen and Whitsell, California's First Century of Scottish Rite Masonry, 91.
190
Los Angeles Scottish Rite Bulletin, "New Temple Progress Report." XLI, no. 6 (1958). Los Angeles
Scottish Rite Bulletin, "Ground Breaking Ceremony Set for January 16." XLIII, no. 1 (1960).
191
“Steele Work Advanced on Masonic Temple,” Los Angeles Times, July 31, 1960.
128
Governor Goodwin J. Knight, District Attorney William B. McKesson, and Superior
Judge Newcomb Condee. “The Builders,” a song written by Ellsworth Meyer and
composed by another Scottish Rite Mason, was sung before the crowd. The Shrine
showed support for their brother Masons through the attendance of Melvin Pixley, the
Potentate of the Al Malaikah Temple.
192
On April 29, 1961 several hundred people attended a ceremony to place the
Temple’s cornerstone and a time capsule.
193
(See Figure 3.25)
192
“200 Help in Scottish Rite Temple Start,” Los Angeles Times, January 17, 1960. "Masons Join In A
Mass Ground-Breaking Ceremony," Los Angeles Hearald-Express, 18 January 1960, A-10. Andersen and
Whitsell, California's First Century of Scottish Rite Masonry, 91. Los Angeles Scottish Rite Bulletin
"Ground Breaking Ceremony Set for January 16," XLIII, no. 1 (1960).
193
“Masons Place Cornerstone for Cathedral,” Los Angeles Times, April 30, 1961. "Cornerstone Rites to Be
Held Today," Los Angeles Examiner, April 29, 1961.
129
Figure 3.25: Freemasons ceremonially place the cornerstone of the new Scottish Rite Masonic
Temple on April 9, 1961. From left to right: Henry C. Clausen (Sovereign Grand Inspector General
of the Scottish Rite in California), Guy B. Mize (Deputy Grand Master), Ellsworth Meyer (Venerable
Master of the Scottish Rite Bodies in Los Angeles), and Alfred F. Breslauer (Grand Master of
Masons in California). From Andersen and Whitsell, California’s First Century of Scottish Rite
Masonry, 95.
After Millard Sheets created the general design of the Temple bids for the
contractors and subcontractors that would actually construct the Temple were
advertised.
194
The “tremendous task” of transforming Sheets’ design into engineering
specifications was awarded to William D. Coffey, and Associates, who had “performed
outstandingly in combining that wisdom, strength, and beauty so essentially necessary in
194
Los Angeles Scottish Rite Bulletin, "New Temple Progress Report," XLI, no. 6 (1958).
130
all Masonic undertakings.”
195
H. F. McCann, vice president of William D. Coffey
Associates, Inc., was the resident engineer for the Temple project.
196
The buildings’ steel framework was constructed by U.S. Steel’s American Bridge
Division in eight separate fragments, with over 1200 tons of structural steel.
Each of the
main steel trusses weighs 23 tons, measuring 110 feet long by 14 feet high. The massive
twenty-eight ton theater balcony support girder is 110 feet long by 8 feet high. The steel
beams were fabricated at the U.S. Steel American Bridge plant in Orange, Texas. Each
assembly unit was shipped separately by rail, some requiring three freight cars in a row to
carry them, and were delivered to the construction site at night to avoid interfering with
traffic.
197
Millard Sheets described designing the myriad of interior spaces within the
Temple:
I was surprised by the tremendous number of things that had to be
incorporated in this temple. First of all, the upper degrees of Masonry are
given in an auditorium, and they are given in the form of plays. They have
incredible costumes and magnificent productions of the basic concepts
that are ethical and have at heart a religious depth, and they draw from
many religions, as far as I understand. I'm not a Mason, but I do feel that
it's a tremendous attempt toward the freedom of man as an individual, and
the rights of man as an individual, and respect for various races and
creeds. I won't say this is always obtained, but certainly that's been the
spirit. They felt that they wanted to depict this in every form. That's the
reason there's so much decoration involved in the temple.
198
The temple is
like a city. It has a huge auditorium where they hold performances for the
degree. Then there are four lodge rooms upstairs, where the various blue
lodges meet to give the lower degrees. There is a recreational floor that
has nothing but library facilities and pool tables and a combination of
reading room and card room. There is a very fine library, which we had a
lot of fun designing. There are, of course, the locker rooms and all of the
other things that make it a tremendous, big building. It’s four stories above
ground and one below. There is a huge dining room on the top floor that
195
Los Angeles Scottish Rite Bulletin, "New Temple Building Permit Issued," XLII, no. 6 (1959), 61-62.
196
“Steele Work Advanced on Masonic Temple,” Los Angeles Times, July 31, 1960.
197
“Steele Work Advanced on Masonic Temple,” Los Angeles Times, July 31, 1960. Los Angeles Scottish
Rite Bulletin, "Report by the Venerable Master," XLIII, no. 7 (1960).
198
Oral History Program: University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles Art Community: Group
Portrait: Millard Sheets, Interviewed by George M. Goodwin, 490-491.
131
seats 1,500 people, where you get an excellent view of the city. It's all
under the overhang of that big roof that extends over the balcony areas.
199
The Los Angeles Times reported that first floor Auditorium would be “the same
size as that in Grauman’s Chinese Theater, and will have a similar sound system.” The
buildings other amenities included club rooms, foyers, classrooms and a library. The top
floor would have a dining room to seat 860 people, a kitchen, three Masonic Lodge
Rooms, and a lounge all serviced by four hydraulic elevators.
200
The Temple was opened with two days of ceremonies on November 10
th
and 11
th
,
1961 officiated by retired federal judge and Scottish Rite Sovereign Grand Commander
Luther A. Smith. Smith said of the Temple, “This is the most beautiful Masonic Temple
building in the entire world—outside of the Supreme Council Temple in Washington,
D.C.” Newspapers reported that the new building would serve 9,500 Los Angeles
Scottish Rite members. The windowless four-story building had three Lodge Rooms to
serve ten separate Lodge groups. The auditorium sate 1800 people with lighting, curtains,
and sound equipment operated from a control booth on the balcony with one-hundred and
seventy-eight control switches. An “elaborate and tasteful” lounge was on the second
floor/mezzanine and another lounge on the third floor.
201
A history of Scottish Rite Masonry in California published in 1962, just a year
after the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple of Los Angeles was completed, described the
building at length:
The new Temple is four stories high with a large auditorium seating about
1,800, and an adjoining two-level parking area with space for 260
automobiles. It has three lodge rooms of the use of local Blue Lodges. The
total area of the building site is 370 feet on Wilshire Boulevard with a
depth of 235 feet. The exterior is finished in Italian travertine marble
embellished with mosaics and gold lettered inscriptions, and adorned with
eight statues of marble carved in Italy, depicting ‘The Builders’ beginning
with the time of King Solomon and ending with Albert Pike and George
199
Oral History Program: University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles Art Community: Group
Portrait: Millard Sheets, Interviewed by George M. Goodwin, 494-495.
200
“Steele Work Advanced on Masonic Temple,” Los Angeles Times, July 31, 1960.
201
“Scottish Rite Masonic Temple Special Ceremony Finishes Dedication,” Los Angeles Herald-Express,
November 11, 1961, A4.
132
Washington. Each statue is to be five feet wide, three feet deep and 15 feet
high. The pedestals are 12 feet above the sidewalk. The finished Temple is
truly an artistic triumph. It reflects the efforts and genius of those who
contributed, including the workmen, the builders, the engineers and artist
and designer Millard Sheets.
202
The interior is richly finished in marble, mosaics and other fine
appointments. The state has a proscenium opening of 60 feet, equipped for
sound and closed circuit television. The scenery was painted by the finest
scenic artists. The dining room on the top floor has accommodations for
approximately 900. The Temple was completed in September 1961 at a
cost of about six million dollars and dedicated on November 10 and 11,
1961. It is not only the finest in the country, but an ornament and
landmark for the beautiful ‘City of the Angeles’.
203
Immediately north of the Temple building is a two level parking garage 260
parking spaces.
204
It is accessible from Plymouth and Lucerne Boulevard, but not from
the major thoroughfare of Wilshire Boulevard. (See Figure 3.26)
202
Andersen and Whitsell, California's First Century of Scottish Rite Masonry, 91-92. Los Angeles Scottish
Rite Bulletin “New Temple Building Permit Issued,” XLII, no. 6 (1959): 61-62.
203
Andersen and Whitsell, California's First Century of Scottish Rite Masonry, 94.
204
Andersen and Whitsell, California's First Century of Scottish Rite Masonry, 91.
133
Figure 3.26: Forty-five degree angle northern satellite view of the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, showing primary southern facing façade along
Wilshire Boulevard. Courtesy Google Maps, 2014 watermark.
Courtesy Google Maps, 2014 watermark.
134
The projected cost of the Los Angeles Scottish Rite Temple rose upward as it was
built. During ground-breaking in January 1960 it was reported to that the Temple would
cost four million dollars to build. The cost was reported as four and a half million dollars
during the grand opening ceremonies in November of 1961.
205
In 1962, a year after the
Temple was opened California Scottish Rite members and historians Arthur R. Andersen
and Leon O. Whitsell reported the price to be “about six million dollars.”
206
A hefty sum,
six million dollars in 1962 is worth forty-seven million dollars today.
207
The Temple’s
construction was funded in part by membership dues but also, as Millard Sheets
explained, “it's extraordinary the amount of money that members leave at their deaths or
give during their lifetime to Masonry.”
208
A Building Without an Architect?
One mystery sounding the Temple’s construction is whom the building’s architect
is. Millard Sheets is the Temple’s designer, and William D. Coffey is mentioned in
newspaper articles and Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety documents
building’s structural engineer. But, those same governmental documents leave the
“architect” entry blank.
209
Was there an architect at all? Did William D. Coffey perform
dual roles as engineer and architect for this steel framework building?
S. David Underwood is a likely candidate to be the Temple’s architect because he
was often the architect for Millard Sheets designed buildings during this time. There is
some circumstantial evidence to support his involvement. Underwood accompanied
Sheets and the Scottish Rite Venerable Master Ellsworth Meyer on a trip to Italy in 1961
to inspect the quarry that would provide the travertine cladding and the Albert Stewart
205
“200 Help in Scottish Rite Temple Start,” Los Angeles Times, January 17, 1960. "Scottish Rite Masonic
Temple Special Ceremony Finishes Dedication," Los Angeles Herald-Express, November 11, 1961.
206
Andersen and Whitsell, California’s First Century of Scottish Rite Masonry, 94.
207
Alioth LLC, “Inflation Calculator,” http://www.in2013dollars.com/.
208
Andersen and Whitsell, California’s First Century of Scottish Rite Masonry, 95. “Steele Work
Advanced on Masonic Temple,” Los Angeles Times, July 31, 1960. Oral History Program: University of
California Los Angeles, Los Angeles Art Community: Group Portrait: Millard Sheets, Interviewed by
George M. Goodwin, 495.
209
“Steele Work Advanced on Masonic Temple,” Los Angeles Times, July 31, 1960. In this article
“Coffey” is misspelled “Doffey.” Los Angeles City Department of Building and Safety, Application to
Construct New Building and for Certificate of Occupancy, 1959LA30009.
135
designed statues that sculptor A. Rossi had been commissioned to make for the Temple’s
exterior. (See Figure 3.1) Who else but the building’s architect would travel all the way
to Italy to see the building’s statues and cladding source? However, Underwood is not
credited with being the Temple’s architect in any government documents or newspaper
reports. A search of S. David Underwood’s personal files held by his son did not reveal
anything to suggest he is the Temple’s architect. Most telling among Underwood’s
personal papers are his many pages long resumes written after the construction of the Los
Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic Temple. None of his resumes include the Temple
building, a large expensive project that would have been a career highlight.
210
Based on
this evidence I do not believe S. David Underwood
is the Temple’s architect.
Millard Sheets historian Adam Arenson notes that S. David Underwood worked
full-time with Sheets while the Temple was being designed and constructed. Arenson
thinks it is likely that Underwood did all the exterior design work, with Rufus Turner
helping with the internal design.
211
An exploration of S. David Underwood and Rufus
Turner’s archival documents may provide the answer.
Currently the only reference that I can find that identifies the Temple’s architect
points to William D. Coffey. In Andersen and Whitsell’s California's First Century of
Scottish Rite Masonry a photo of the Temple’s cornerstone laying ceremony shows
William D. Coffey in the crowd. In the photograph’s description he is identified as
“William D. Coffey, Architect and Engineer of the New Temple.”
212
I am not sure how
true this statement is. This is the only source that identifies the Coffey as the Temple
architect, after over a year of media coverage and Scottish Rite newsletters that
publicized the Temple’s features. Also, California's First Century of Scottish Rite
Masonry has several errors regarding the dates of the Temple’s ceremonies and perhaps
crediting Coffey as the engineer and architect is another small error. William D. Coffey
may be the Temple’s architect, but it has not been absolutely proven so.
210
Steve Underwood, Steve Underwood's personal family archive of Martha and David Underwood.
(Claremont, Califonia, April 22, 2015). David Underwood’s son, Steve Underwood, does not belive his
father was the Temple buildings architect based on the lack of the Temples mention in his later resumes.
211
Adam Arenson. email message to author, September 5, 2017.
212
Andersen and Whitsell, California's First Century of Scottish Rite Masonry, 93.
136
Chapter 4: A Description of the Millard Sheets Designed
Scottish Rite Masonic Temple
The monumental Millard Sheets designed Scottish Rite Masonic Temple (built
1960-1961) located at 4357 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California (See Figure 4.1
and Figure 4.2) is a blend of Masonic architectural traditions and Millard Sheets’
signature design elements. This chapter will give a narrative description of the Temple as
it exists today after a renovation into the home of the Marciano Art Foundation, as well
as list the Temple’s character defining features. Chapter 5 will discuss the Temple’s
historic and architectural significance in the wake of the Marciano alterations.
Figure 4.1: The Millard Sheets designed Scottish Rite Masonic Temple (built 1960-1961) of Los
Angeles, before its alteration into the Marciano Art Foundation. View of the western façade (left)
and primary southern façade facing Wilshire Boulevard (right). Photo by author, 2012.
137
Figure 4.2: The southern (left) and eastern (right) façades of the Millard Sheets designed Scottish
Rite Masonic Temple of Los Angeles (built 1960-1961), before its transformation into the Marciano
Art Foundation. Photo by author, 2013.
Narrative Description of the Former Scottish Rite Masonic Temple
Located at 4357 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California and spanning an
entire block on the northern side of Wilshire Boulevard between South Lucerne
Boulevard and South Plymouth Boulevard sits the former Scottish Rite Masonic Temple
of Los Angeles (built 1960-1961). The Freemasons sold their fraternal clubhouse in July
2013 and it was reopened as the Maurice and Paul Marciano Art Foundation, a private
contemporary art museum, in June 2017.
213
213
Julie Grist, “Marciano Art Museum Unveils Plans for Masonic Temple on Wilshire,” Larchmont Buzz,
May 22, 2014, http://www.larchmontbuzz.com/larchmont-village-news/marciano-art-museum-plans-
masonic-temple-wilshire/. James Bartlett, A Masonic Temple with an Eccentric History Re-Opens as a
Contemporary Art Museum, June 16, 2017, https://www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/a-masonic-temple-with-
an-eccentric-history-re-opens-as-a-contemporary-art-
museum?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_content=599e6b6519694a000780a51
0&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook.
138
The Mid-Century Modern style building is steel framed with four above ground
stories and a basement, containing of 99,943 square feet of net internal area.
214
Adjacent
to the north side of the building is a two-story parking deck that holds 259 cars.
215
Set on
the busy and wide Wilshire Boulevard, the former Scottish Rite Masonic Temple’s
gleaming white travertine cladding draws the eyes of passing motorists. Notable features
include the mosaics, sculptures and stained glass windows on the west, south and east
exterior façade. The building’s exterior façade is mostly original to its construction in
1961, but the interior is almost completely new. The Freemasons altered some original
interior furnishings and finishes in the 1980s and 1990s, but the majority of the interior
historic features were removed between 2013 and 2017 to make gallery space for the
Marciano museum.
Setting
The former Scottish Rite Masonic Temple of Los Angeles (built 1960-1961) was
built on Wilshire Boulevard in the Hancock Park neighborhood, and is currently adjacent
to the Windsor Square Historic Preservation Overlay Zone (HPOZ), a historically
designated neighborhood of stately and spacious single-family homes built primarily in
the 1910s through the 1930s. Sitting across Wilshire Boulevard from the Temple building
is the Wilshire Congregational Church (1925), a Gothic Revival style building that is now
the Wilshire United Methodist Church. Also across Wilshire Boulevard is the Ebell of
Los Angeles (1927) a women’s social club designed in a Renaissance Revival style. The
steel framed building is clad in white travertine imported from Italy and light brown
pebble dash coated rectangular panels. The low-pitched red tile roof is not original but
looks identical to the original roof. The four story tall building with a rectangular layout
214
wHY and Simone Lapenta, “Marciano Art Foundation,” edited by Maurice and Paul Marciano Art
Foundation, (Culver City: wHY, © 2017), 67. The Marciano Art Foundation building plans show the
building as having three floors with a mezzanine and basement. "Steele Work Advanced on Masonic
Temple," Los Angeles Times, July 31, 1960.
215
"Steele Work Advanced on Masonic Temple," Los Angeles Times, July 31, 1960.
139
measures 370 feet long along the south and northern façade, and 235 feet wide along the
eastern and western facades.
216
South Façade
The Mid-Century Modern style building rises four stories above ground level. The
primary south façade facing Wilshire Boulevard stretches 370 feet with a symmetrical
entrance area on the left/west and raised sculptures on the right/east.
217
(See Figure 4.3)
The symmetrical entrance area is a white travertine clad volume on the west side
protruding slightly from the rest of the building, framed by quarter-round flutes of an
unknown cladding material (possibly cast white cement now painted white). This white
travertine protruding volume is symmetrical with five terrazzo clad steps leading up to
four sets of double doors. The recessed black metal doors are each fenestrated with two
panes of frosted white glass. Originally, each of the eight doors had a handle in the shape
of a double headed eagle, the logo of the Scottish Rite Masons. Flanking the steps and
doorways are two brown metal cauldrons with three legs sitting atop white travertine clad
podiums that are rectangular from the front and square from above. The travertine
cladding on of the western cauldron podium was repaired/replaced during the 2013-2017
renovation, after a car had apparently hit it. Above each set of the four double doors is a
tall rectangular travertine protrusion spanning the second and third story, that is
embedded with a mosaic of a Masonic symbol, a Biblical quotes in raised brass lettering,
and then another mosaic of a Masonic symbol. Flanking both sides of the doorway
decorations at the second story level are two matching stained glass windows in a circle
filled in with a double-headed eagle. At the fourth floor level is a raised horizontal band
of molded cement cladding that was painted white during the 2013-2017 renovation.
Joining the travertine cladding (possibly white cement) to the roofline is a half story of
black metal panels with flat vertical ridges. The red tile hipped roof protrudes
approximately two feet from the exterior façade.
216
Andersen and Whitsell, California's First Century of Scottish Rite Masonry, 91.
217
Andersen and Whitsell, California's First Century of Scottish Rite Masonry, 91.
140
Figure 4.3: The west façade (left) and primary south façade (right) of the Marciano Art Foundation
museum (formerly the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple). Photo by author, 2017.
Originally the far western side of the southern façade the building was labeled
with brass letters; “SCOTTISH RITE MASONIC TEMPLE 4357” but those letters were
removed during the 2013-2017 Marciano renovation. Also removed during the Marciano
renovation were stairs that connected the sidewalk on Wilshire Boulevard to the
courtyard in front of the western façade.
The eastern/right side of southern façade is a statue display area. At the first floor
are bushes covering a white travertine clad ledge. At the second story level, six white
travertine statues also imported from Italy are equally spaced upon the ledge. The
recessed area behind the statues that rises to the third story level is clad in light brown
pebble dash rectangular panels. At the fourth floor level the lower half of the story is a
protruding white band studded with four cast cement grills with a pattern of interlocking
squares. This area encloses a balcony recessed to near invisibility. The invisible balcony
serves to hide the secret Masonic proceedings while also creating an outdoor space usable
in both hot sun and rain. The balcony area and protruding white band join the roofline
with black metal panels that have flat vertical ridges
141
West Façade
The western building façade is set back from South Lucerne Boulevard with a
leveled cement paved sculpture courtyard between the road and the building. (See Figure
4.4) The western façade is 235 feet wide and mimics the southern façade’s protruding
symmetrical doorway area.
218
The symmetrical western façade has one cement step
spanning the width of the building that leads to five recessed doorways set in a white
travertine cladding. Originally the three center sets of glass double doors had double-
headed eagle handles. All the original doors were replaced during the Marciano
renovation with (from left to right) frosted glass double doors, three sets of clear glass
double doors, and one set of blank white metal double doors. To the left of the recessed
doorways raised metal lettering reads “MAURICE & PAUL MARCIANO ART
FOUNDATION.” Above the five sets of double doors are five protruding vertical
travertine rectangles that collectively hold fourteen mosaics of Masonic symbols and
originally three Bible quotes in brass letters. The raised brass lettered passages were
removed from the western façade during the Marciano restoration. Flanking the doorway
area at the second story level are two stained glass windows with cast cement double-
headed eagle sculptures, identical in scale and position to the eagle windows on the
southern façade. The fourth floor level is a raised white horizontal band on the bottom
half, and then joins the roofline with black metal panels with flat vertical ridges.
218
Andersen and Whitsell, California's First Century of Scottish Rite Masonry, 91.
142
Figure 4.4: Western façade of the Marciano Art Foundation with contemporary sculpture in the
courtyard. Photo by author, 2017.
143
North Façade
The Marciano Art Foundation’s northern façade has protruding volume with
quarter-circle flutes on the western side of the façade that matches the shape of the
southern and western façade volumes, but it is clad in cast cement instead of travertine
and has none of the decorative elements. (See Figure 4.5) At the first floor level the
entrance volume is pierced along the center of its’ axis by a single doorway protected by
a small metal canopy. The metal canopy and rolling metal door were installed during the
2013-2017 Marciano renovation. At the third story level is a window and a vent.
Originally both these were vents but the window was installed during the Marciano
renovation. At the fourth floor level a raised vertical white band reaches half way up,
then black metal panels with flat vertical ridges continue up to the roofline.
Figure 4.5: Northern façade of the Marciano Art Foundation with two story parking deck. Photo by
author, 2017.
The eastern side/left of the northern façade is clad in cement half way up the first
floor level, and then has a flat top ledge that could have held statues, but none were ever
installed. Adjacent and below the first floor level is a ramp goes down from South
Plymouth Boulevard and into the underground story of the parking garage. Metal utility
doors irregularly punctuate the first floor and basement levels. Spanning the second and
third story levels of the northern façade’s eastern side are light brown pebble dash
144
cladding in rectangular panels. A vent punctuates the expanse at the third floor level. At
the fourth floor level a raised white cement band spans most of the building horizontally
with clear glass panels enclosing the balcony in the center of the fourth floor. The clear
glass panels enclosing the north façade balcony are not original, and were installed during
the Marciano renovation. The original balcony was a mirror image of the cement and cast
cement grills that still enclose the fourth floor balcony on the southern façade. As
elsewhere, the raised horizontal cement band connects to the roofline with black metal
panels with flat vertical ridges.
East Façade
The Marciano Art Foundation’s eastern façade is slightly narrower than its
opposing western façade. At the center of the first floor level are two cement steps
leading up to three sets of metal doors. To the left of the center axis doorways are two
more metal double doors that irregularly punctuate the façade. At the second story level a
vertical volume clad in white travertine rises to the fourth floor level with a monumental
mosaic stretching over the multiple stories. To either side of the travertine and mosaic are
the volume of the building is pushed back to make a ledge at the juncture of the first and
second story. A travertine statue inhabits the ledge on either side of the central axis
volume at the second story level. The recessed areas behind the statues is clad in light
brown pebble dash rectangular panels from the second to the third floor. A raised white
cement band tops the recessed volumes, but does not continue into the travertine and
mosaic central axis panel. As elsewhere, the raised horizontal cement band and travertine
connects to the roofline with black metal panels with flat vertical ridges.
145
Figure 4.6: East façade of the Marciano Art Foundation (formerly the Scottish Rite Masonic
Temple). Photo by author, 2017.
Roof
The roofline protrudes approximately two feet from much of the exterior façade,
and approximately six feet from the recessed volumes on the eastern façade. The
overhanging roofline in reminiscent of Fran Lloyd Wright’s Prairie School roofs. The
low angled hipped rooftop is clad with red clay tiles. At the western apex of the roof is
metal spire with horizontal spoked wheels.
219
(See Figure 4.7, Figure 3.26, and Figure
5.3)
219
Knowing the Masons favored the use of brass because of its association with King Solomon’s Temple, I
would bet the rooftop spire is made of brass.
146
Figure 4.7: The southwest corner of the former Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, with spire and
roofline. Note that this photograph was taken before the 2013-2017 Marciano Art Foundation
restoration. Photo by author, 2013.
Interior
The interior of the Marciano Art Foundation has been almost completely altered
from its original state when the building opened as the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple of
Los Angeles in 1961. Only parts of the entry foyer, lobby, Relic Room (formerly the
library), and art installations in the bookstore and fourth floor gallery remain. (See Figure
4.8, Figure 4.9, Figure 4.10, Figure 4.11, and Figure 4.12) The former Scottish Rite
Masonic Temple lost the majority of its interior features to make gallery, office and
storage space for the Marciano Art Foundation renovation. Interior spaces that were
removed include the massive Auditorium and stage that spanned the first, second and
third floor, as well as Lodge Rooms, banquet halls, and lounges. The interior of the
building was stripped down to cement and steel to remove the unwanted Auditorium and
asbestos insulation. (See Figure 4.13 and Figure 4.14) The exposed interior metal and
147
cement interior walls were clad in a gray spray on Quickrete type material. New interior
partition walls were constructed with metal stud and gypsum board.
220
Flooring in
renovated spaces is exposed cement.
Figure 4.8: Lobby of the Marciano Art Foundation, located on the first floor, looking north. Note
original terrazzo floor, and marble and tile wall cladding. Marciano renovation changed the layout of
the second floor/mezzanine. Photo by author, 2017.
220
wHY and Simone Lapenta, “Marciano Art Foundation," edited by Maurice and Paul Marciano Art
Foundation, (Culver City: wHY, © 2017), 51.
148
Figure 4.9: Lobby of the Marciano Art Foundation, looking south, with original 1961 terrazzo,
marble and tile cladding on the lower level, and original chandelier above. Photo by author, 2017.
149
Figure 4.10: Southern side of lobby with doorways leading out to Wilshire Boulevard. Features
original to the building include the terrazzo floor, railings at steps, brown booked marble wall
cladding with gold tile stripes. New features installed during the Marciano renovation include
curtain wall, celling lighting, doors and artwork (coat). Photo by author, 2017.
150
Figure 4.11: The Marciano Art Foundation Relic Room, formerly the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple
library. The built-in shelves are original to the building. Photo by author, 2017.
151
Figure 4.12: Layers of artwork; contemporary artwork hung on a wall created during the Marciano
restoration, and the Millard Sheets designed mosaic that is original to the building. Photo by author,
2017.
152
Figure 4.13: Steel beam trusses supporting the ceiling of the former Auditorium area. This massive
area is now gallery space that can hold large scale artworks. Photo by author, 2017.
Figure 4.14: Fourth floor gallery space with semi-exposed steel beams that support the building roof.
Note doorway on the right to the north façade exterior balcony. Photo by author, 2017.
153
Character Defining Features
An important part of documenting a building is identifying its character defining
features. According to National Park Service Brief 17, Architectural Character:
Identifying the Visual Aspects of Historic Buildings as an Aid to Preserving Their
Character, character defining features include; the overall shape of a property (building,
structure, etc.), its material, craftsmanship, decorative details, interior spaces and features
(as applicable), as well as the various aspects of its site and immediate environment
(form, configuration and orientation).
221
The National Park Service advises that all properties change over time and that it
is not necessary for a property to retain all of its original historic physical features.
However, to retain its historic integrity a property must retain the essential physical
features that convey the historic identity of the property. “The essential physical features
are those features that define both why a property is significant and when it was
significant.”
222
The following list summarizes the character defining features of the Millard
Sheets designed Scottish Rite Masonic Temple of Los Angeles (built 1960-1961), during
its period of historic significance from 1961 to 1972. Also noted is the current status of
those features after the Marciano Art Foundation renovation from 2013 to 2017.
Of the ten identified character defining, features currently five are intact, two have
been notably altered, and three have been removed. I believe the Temple retains its
integrity. Most of the Temple’s character defining features are present in some way. Also,
most of the alterations been made to the interior of the building, where alterations are
needed most to change the use and update the systems of a building.
221
U.S. Department of the Interior - National Park Service. 1988 (revised for Internet). Preservation Briefs
17 - Architectural Character - Identifying the Visual Aspects of Historic Buildings as an Aid to the
Preservation of Their Character. Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
http://www.nps.gov/tps/how-to-preserve/briefs/17-architectural-character.htm.
222
U.S. Department of the Interior - National Park Service. 1990 (revised 2005). National Register Bulletin
(#15) - How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. Washington D.C: U.S. Government
Printing Office. http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/publications/bulletins/nrb15/, 46.
154
With most of the Temples’ exterior features present the building is able to clearly
communicate the buildings original identity as a Masonic fraternal building. The
Marciano Art Foundation has incorporated the Relic Room as museum of the building
and Freemasonry’s history. Combined, the implicit symbology of the buildings physical
features and the explicit mini museum display, announces the Temple’s identity as a
Scottish Rite building to the ‘enlightened’ and ‘profane’ members of society. The stained
glass and cast cement double-headed eagle windows are recognizable to other
Freemasons and fraternal societies as a Scottish Rite symbol. The museum display blurbs
of the Relic Room explain what the Scottish Rite is to people who may have never heard
of it before.
List of the Character Defining Features of the Historic Scottish Rite Masonic
Temple of Los Angeles
o Exterior Character Defining Features
o Exterior form and building volumes (intact)
o Exterior cladding of travertine, pebbled dash, and molded cement (intact)
o Mosaics (intact)
o Statues/Sculpture (intact)
o Brass lettered quotations (partially removed)
o Other exterior details (intact)
o Interior Character Defining Features
o Lodge Rooms (removed)
o Auditorium (removed)
o Dining Room (removed)
o Other Interior details and finishes (mostly removed)
Historic Photographs of the Temple Interior
While the former Scottish Rite Masonic Temple’s exterior architectural features
are evident to anyone who looks at them from the street, the Temples interior
architectural features were hidden for much of its history. As a ‘secret society’ the
Scottish Rite Masons did not widely publish pictures of the Temple interior and only
155
allowed ‘profane’ members of society a few opportunities over the decades to tour the
building.
One of the few sources of interior photographs from the Scottish Rite Masonic
Temples’ period of significance in the decade after it was constructed (1961-1971) is the
Los Angeles Scottish Rite Bulletin. (See Figure 4.15) The Bulletin occasionally
published photos of the Temples lesser known interior spaces. Unfortunately, the Los
Angeles Public Library’s collection of Los Angeles Scottish Rite Bulletin covering 1961
to 1972 was mostly destroyed by water damage after two fires in the 1980s at the main
central library building. The incomplete collection of Bulletins I was able to find has
some interesting interior pictures, (See Figure 4.15, Figure 4.16, Figure 4.17, Figure 4.18,
Figure 4.20, and Figure 4.21) but frustratingly photographs of the Auditorium, Lodge
Rooms, or the dining room have not been found.
223
Figure 4.15: The cover of the Los Angeles Scottish Rite Bulletin featuring a picture of the Millard
Sheets designed Temple. From Los Angeles Scottish Rite Bulletin LII (2):0.
223
Does anyone out there have a complete collection of Los Angeles Scottish Rite Bulletins from 1961
through 1972?
156
Figure 4.16: The Board of Directors Room with furniture donated by a Scottish Rite Mason’s widow.
From Los Angeles Scottish Rite Bulletin, XLIX (9):102-103.
Figure 4.17: Fourth floor lounge in between the elevators and the dining room, that also serves as a
waiting room the Blue Lodge on that floor. From Los Angeles Scottish Rite Bulletin. no. L (5):58.
157
Figure 4.18: Billiard Room on the third floor of the Temple. From Los Angeles Scottish Rite
Bulletin, no. L (2):18-19.
158
Figure 4.19: The kitchen at the east end of the fourth floor serves the dining room that is also on the
fourth floor. The kitchen is approximately eighty feet long and thirty-five feet wide. From Los
Angeles Scottish Rite Bulletin, XLIX (12):138-139.
159
Figure 4.20: The fourth floor elevator hallway. From Los Angeles Scottish Rite Bulletin, no. LI
(2):18.
Figure 4.21: The Temple Lobby’s western wall with the names of major donors to the Temples’
building fund affixed to the marble walls. From Los Angeles Scottish Rite Bulletin, no. LI (8):77.
160
Chapter 5: A Historically Significant Building
The former Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic Temple building (currently the
Marciano Art Foundation) has a delightful unique design and history. It is perhaps the
largest work of master designer Millard Sheets. But how quantifiably significant is the
building? Does it qualify to be listed on the applicable federal, state, and local registries
of historic places? This chapter will evaluate the former Los Angeles Scottish Rite
Masonic Temple for its eligibility on the National Register of Historic Places, the
California Register of Historical Resources, and the Los Angeles list of Historic-Cultural
Monuments.
National Register of Historic Places Evaluation
Is the Millard Sheets designed Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic Temple
eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP)? The National
Park Service determines eligibility by evaluating a properties’ significance through the
lens of historic context, Criteria for Evaluation, integrity, and Criteria for Considerations.
The process of evaluation is explained in their publication “How to Apply the National
Register Criteria for Evaluation.”
224
The publication states; “To qualify for the National Register, a property must be
significant; that is, it must represent a significant part of the history, architecture,
archaeology, engineering, or culture of an area,” and it must have physical features that
make it a good example among properties that are associated with that aspect of the past.
A property under evaluation must be proven to represent an important aspect of local or
224
U.S. Department of the Interior - National Park Service, National Register Bulletin (#15) - How to
Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation, 1-2. This publication is also available online at
https://www.nps.gov/nr/publications/bulletins/nrb15/.
161
national history, and must possess the required level of integrity in order to qualify for the
National Register.
225
In brief, in regards to the NRHP criteria, the former Scottish Rite Masonic
Temple is important to the historic themes of architecture and social history, it is
significant under Criteria for Evaluation A and C, the building retains its integrity, and is
not affected by the Criteria for Considerations. Each of these points is explored at length
below. With these findings, the former Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic Temple
(currently the Marciano Art Foundation) is eligible for nomination on the National
Register of Historic Places.
Historic Context
The National Park Service explains that, “to qualify for listing in the National
Register of Historic Places, a property must be significant; that is, it must represent a
significant historic context in the history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, or
culture of an area, and it must have the characteristics that make it a good representative
of properties associated with that context.”
226
Historic contexts are the trends and patterns
in history or prehistory that when evaluating a property can clarify the meaning of a
building, object, or site. Historic context shows how a property under evaluation is part of
events larger than itself, that occur outside of the property’s physical boundaries.
227
To evaluate a property within its historic context, the property’s historic or
prehistoric themes, period of significance, and geographical limits are defined. To briefly
summarize these points, the Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic Temple (currently the
Marciano Art Foundation) is significant within the themes of architecture as a Mid-
Century Modern masterpiece of Millard Sheets, and the building is significant to the
social history theme as a Los Angeles fraternal organization. The Temple’s period of
significance extends from 1961, when construction on the building was completed, to
225
U.S. Department of the Interior - National Park Service, National Register Bulletin (#15) - How to
Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation, 7.
226
U.S. Department of the Interior - National Park Service. 1991, Revised 1999. National Register Bulletin
(#16b) - How to Complete the National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form, 11.
227
U.S. Department of the Interior - National Park Service, National Register Bulletin (#15) - How to
Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation, 7.
162
1971. In 1971 Sheets asked for the artwork he had loaned the Scottish Rite to decorate
the Temple’s interior rooms to be returned to him in preparation for his move to northern
California, ending Sheets’ involvement with the Temple building.
Within the history of the surrounding area, the Temple building is a result of post-
World War II prosperity and the movement of the ethnic white population away from
downtown Los Angeles to more desirable westward locations.
228
The Temple was built
on a stately, relatively quiet part of Wilshire Boulevard in the Windsor Square
neighborhood, just a few blocks east of the livelier Miracle Mile neighborhood.
The Temple building is adjacent to the Windsor Square Historic Preservation
Overlay Zone (HPOZ). HPOZs are historic neighborhoods with distinct architectural and
cultural resources that have been officially designated by the Los Angeles City Planning
Department.
229
Los Angeles HPOZs “identify and protect neighborhoods with distinct
architectural and cultural resources” by requiring proposed exterior alterations and
additions to properties within the HPOZs to be reviewed by a board of local
stakeholders.
230
Windsor Square was subdivided in 1911 by the Windsor Square
Investment Company into spacious lots with at least 100 feet of street frontage and
generous setbacks. Large upper class single-family homes were initially built in the
Craftsman and Beaux Arts/Classical Revival style. Later infill reflected the popularity of
period revival architectural styles such as Spanish Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival,
English Revival, Mediterranean Revival and American Colonial Revival.
231
228
Already established as a major thoroughfare before World War II, the post-war decades saw Wilshire
Boulevard blossom with the “steel beanstalks” of major construction from its start in downtown Los
Angeles to its termination at the ocean side bluffs of Santa Monica. Los Angeles Times, "New Buildings
Change Wilshire Blvd. Skyline, Big Structures Going up at Astonishing Rate from Downtown Area to
Santa Monica," March 19, 1961.
229
Los Angeles City Department City Planning, About the HPOZ Program,
http://preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/homepage/about-hpoz-program.
230
Los Angeles Office of Historic Resources, About the HPOZ Program,
http://preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/homepage/about-hpoz-program.
231
Los Angeles City Department City Planning, Office of Historic Resources - Windsor Square,
http://preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/la/windsor-square. Los Angeles City Department City Planning: Office
of Historic Resources, "Windsor Square Historic Preservation Overlay Zone Preservation Plan," (2007),
http://preservation.lacity.org/files/Windsor%20Square%20Preservation%20Plan%202007.pdf.
163
The Temple fit nicely among a collection of other large social gathering places on
Wilshire Boulevard. At the time of the Temple’s construction the Los Angeles Times
observed that, “Despite its newness – its use of sculptured concrete and mosaic – the
Masonic Temple does not seem out of place across the street from the Byzantine domes
and towers of the Wilshire Methodist Church and the elegant balconies and arches of the
Ebell Club, built many years ago in the style of the Italian Renaissance palazzio.”
232
Themes
A theme is a means of organizing the history or prehistory into coherent patterns
of development. A theme is significant if it is important to American history. Significant
themes identified by the National Register of Historic Places have been organized into a
Areas of Significance list. Themes on the Areas of Significance list include agriculture,
archaeology, ethnic heritage, maritime history, science, and many others.
233
Los Angeles
Scottish Rite Masonic Temple can be categorized in the NRHP’s Area of Significance
within the themes of architecture and social history because of its status as a Mid-Century
Modern architectural masterpiece, and as a fraternal social club important to local history.
The Temple building is significant under the Areas of Significance theme of
architecture as a monumental example of Mid-Century Modern architecture and the work
of a master. Building designer Millard Sheets personally selected the travertine and
marble for the building’s exterior from an Italian quarry near Rome. Artwork expressing
Scottish Rite degrees and ethos is integrated into the Temple’s exterior. Travertine statues
and cast cement sculptures designed by Albert Stewart, mosaics, and brass lettered
quotations adorn but do not overburden the sleek lines and minimalist form of the
building.
234
232
"New Buildings Change Wilshire Blvd. Skyline, Big Structures Going Up at Astonishing Rate From
Downtown Area to Santa Monica," Los Angeles Times, March 19, 1961.
233
U.S. Department of the Interior - National Park Service, “National Register Bulletin (#16b) - How to
Complete the National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form,” 8.
234
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution , Oral History Interview With Millard Sheets, Tape
5, Side A. Sheets, "Millard Sheets: A Man of Great Diversity," in A Tapestry of Life: The World of Millard
Sheets, 61-71. Los Angeles Conservancy, Scottish Rite Masonic Temple,
https://www.laconservancy.org/locations/scottish-rite-masonic-temple. "Steele Work Advanced on
Masonic Temple," Los Angeles Times, July 31, 1960.
164
Additionally, in the Areas of Significance the Temple building is significant under
the theme of social history because of its association with Los Angeles Masonic history.
During the 33 years that the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple building served as the
headquarters for Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masons from 1961 to 1994, numerous local
and state officials, judges, lawyers, bankers, and local business owners who contributed
to the history of Los Angeles fraternized at this social club.
235
Notable persons associated
with the Temple building include superior court judge and Scottish Rite member
Ellsworth Meyer, California governor Goodwin J. Knight, superior court judge Newcomb
Condee, federal judge Luther A. Smith, and Los Angeles City Council president L.E.
Timberlake, 32°.
236
Period of Significance
Under Criterion A, the period of significance is from 1961 to 1994. This time
frame is from when the Temple building opened in November 1961 to when Los Angeles
Scottish Rite moved their headquarters to Santa Monica. Under Criterion C, the period of
significance is 1961 to 1971. This is from when the building opened to when Millard
Sheets asked for the artwork he had loaned the Scottish Rite to decorate the Temple’s
interior rooms to be returned to him in preparation for his move to northern California,
ending Sheets’ involvement with the Temple building.
237
The Scottish Rite began making
structural changes to the Temple’s interior beginning in 1972.
238
(See Appendix B)
235
Los Angeles Conservancy, Scottish Rite Masonic Temple,
https://www.laconservancy.org/locations/scottish-rite-masonic-temple.
236
"Scottish Rite Masonic Temple Special Ceremony Finishes Dedication," Los Angeles Hearald-Express,
November 11, 1961. "200 Help in Scottish Rite Temple Start," Los Angeles Times, January 17, 1960.
"Steele Work Advanced on Masonic Temple," Los Angeles Times, July 31, 1960. Los Angeles Scottish Rite
Bulletin, "City Council Honors Melvin A. Pixley," LI, no. 8 (1968), 76.
237
Sheets items on loan to decorate the Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic Temple included “a Japanese
screen in the Waiting Room next to the Dining Room on the 4
th
floor; a large number of Frank Brangwin
etchings in the Library, and several small paintings in the offices on the first floor.” Archives of American
Art, Smithsonian Institution, Millard Sheets Papers, 1907-1990, 375.
238
Los Angeles City Department of Building and Safety, Application to Alter - Repair - Demolish and for
Certificate of Occupancy, 1972LA59202.
165
Narrowing the period of significance to 1961 through 1971 focuses on when the
significant themes of architecture and social history overlapped.
239
The building is located in Section 23 of Township 1 South and Range 14 West on
the United States Geological Survey’s Hollywood quadrangle map. The building is in
UTM Zone 11S 3769839 Northing, 377849 Easting, or Latitude 34.06215°N, Longitude
118.32367°W using the WGS 84 map datum.
240
Criteria for Evaluation
The National Register requires that a property be significant under one or more of
their four Criteria for Evaluation:
o Criterion A applies to properties that are significant because of their association to
important events.
o Criterion B applies to properties associated with important people in the past.
o Criterion C applies to properties with important design or construction value,
manmade expressions of culture or technology.
o Criterion D applies to properties that have a potential to provide information
about prehistory or history.
The historic context of a property is used as the basis for judging its significance
within the Criteria for Evaluation.
241
Given the Temple’s importance to the themes of
social history and architecture, Criterion A and Criterion C are used to evaluate the
quality of the Temples significance.
The former Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic Temple is significant under
Criterion A for its association with a pattern of events that have made a contribution to
Los Angeles Masonic history. The Scottish Rite Masonic Temple served as the
headquarters for Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masons from 1961 to 1994. Numerous local
239
Andersen and Whitsell, California's First Century of Scottish Rite Masonry, 94-95. Los Angeles City
Department of Building and Safety, Application to Alter - Repair - Demolish and for Certificate of
Occupancy, 1972LA59202.
240
U.S. Geological Survey. "Hollywood Quadrangle, California--Los Angeles Co., 7.5 Minute Series
(Topographic)." (Denver, 1966, Photorevised 1981).
241
U.S. Department of the Interior - National Park Service, National Register Bulletin (#15) - How to
Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation, 11.
166
and state officials, judges, lawyers, bankers, and local business owners who socialized at
this building have contributed to the history of Los Angeles.
242
The Temple building is significant under Criterion C for its architectural
significance. This monumental Mid-Century Modern style building represents the work
of a master, building designer Millard Sheets. Millard Sheets notable works include
dozens of Home Savings and Loan buildings, the “Rainbow Tower” ceramic mural on the
exterior of the Hilton Hawaiian Village, and the “World of Life” granite mosaic mural on
the exterior of Notre Dame University’s Father Theodore Hesburgh Library. Currently
one of Sheets’ buildings and one artwork installation is listed on the City of Beverly Hills
Local Register of Historic Properties.
243
Integrity
Assessing integrity is one of the most important steps to determine eligibility. A
building that has no remaining integrity to its period of significance cannot be considered
eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, regardless if meets the Criteria for
Evaluation or is a shining example within its historic context. Integrity is a properties’
ability to convey its significance through its physical features. The National Register
recognizes seven qualities that define integrity: location, design, setting, materials,
workmanship, feeling, and association. A property with integrity possesses several or
nearly all of these aspects of integrity.
244
Location is the place where the historic property was constructed or the place
where the historic event occurred. The Millard Sheets designed former Scottish Rite
Masonic Temple retains its integrity of location, as the building has not moved.
242
Los Angeles Conservancy, Scottish Rite Masonic Temple,
https://www.laconservancy.org/locations/scottish-rite-masonic-temple.
243
Sheets, "Millard Sheets: A Man of Great Diversity," in A Tapestry of Life: The World of Millard Sheets,
61-71. City of Beverly Hills, Local Register of Historic Properties,
http://www.beverlyhills.org/citygovernment/departments/communitydevelopment/planning/historicpreserv
ation/localhistoriclandmarks/.
244
U.S. Department of the Interior - National Park Service, National Register Bulletin (#15) - How to
Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation, 44-49.
167
Design is the combination of elements that create the form, plan, space, structure
and style of a property. The Sheets designed Temple retains most of its original design
elements. It retains its steel beam structural system, its exterior massing, exterior
cladding, exterior ornamental details, and stained glass fenestration. However, during the
Scottish Rite Masonic Temples conversation into the Marciano Art Foundation the
building lost its interior spatial organization, most notably its’ Auditorium and three
Lodge Rooms.
Setting refers to the character of the physical environment a property inhabits.
The Temple retains its integrity of setting within the cityscape of Wilshire Boulevard.
Manmade or natural physical features that contribute to setting include topography,
vegetation, simple manmade features, and the relationship of the property between other
buildings, features and open spaces. The topography of Wilshire Boulevard still includes
the low dips and hills. The Hollywood Hills are just barely visible from side streets, but
are focally framed in the Temples third floor balcony windows. Vegetation planted
around the Temple now, while not exactly the same as during its period of significance
has the same feel, with short trees and plants that consume little water. (See Figure 5.1
and Figure 5.2) Simple manmade features, including the streetlights and traffic lights, are
still the same. A bus stop and two benches have been added to the sidewalk along the
southern façade. The relationship between the Temple and surrounding buildings,
features and open spaces is the same. The broad streetscape of Wilshire Boulevard and
the Temples’ two most prominent neighboring buildings, the Wilshire Congregational
Church (now the Wilshire United Methodist Church) and The Ebell of Los Angeles, has
not changed significantly.
168
Figure 5.1: The Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic Temple in 1962, just a year after it was built and
during its period of significance, with a view of the west and southern facades. From Andersen and
Whitsell, California’s First Century of Scottish Rite Masonry, 96.
Figure 5.2: Then and Now, 1962 vs. 2017. The exterior and streetscape are almost identical. Photo by
Author, 2017.
169
Materials are the “physical elements that were combined or deposited during a
particular period of time and in a particular pattern or configuration to form a historic
property.”
245
The Temple mostly retains its key exterior materials dating from the period
of significance. The red tile roof has been replaced with a new roof that looks the same
(See Figure 5.3), and bronze lettering has been removed from the west and south facades.
The exterior travertine and pebble coat cladding have been beautifully cleaned and
maintained. However, the interior materials from the period of significance have been
almost completely removed. Former Scottish Rite Masonic Temple Lodge Rooms,
lounges, the kitchen, theater, and banquet hall have been replaced with Marciano Art
Foundation galleries, offices, and storage space. Interior materials that remain include the
lobby’s terrazzo, marble and gold tile floor and wall cladding, along with mosaic tile and
gold gilded drinking fountains, and two of three original chandeliers. The former library
room is now the “Relic Room,” and displays Masonic objects on original built-in wooden
bookshelves.
245
U.S. Department of the Interior - National Park Service, National Register Bulletin (#15) - How to
Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation, 45.
170
Figure 5.3: Forty-five degree angle view of the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple looking west, showing
the original red tile roof being replaced with a similar red tile roof during the 2014-2017 Marciano
Art Foundation renovation. Scaffolding can be seen on the east façade. Courtesy Google Maps, 2014
watermark.
Workmanship is physical evidence of an artisan’s labor and skill as it applies to
the built environment, often reflecting a particular people, culture, or time period. The
workmanship of the Temple’s period of significance is beautifully evident when looking
at the exterior as a whole and its individual components. The exterior façade’s custom
made mosaics, statuary, stained glass windows, door handles, braziers flanking the
Wilshire Boulevard entrance, the rooftop spire, etc. convey the high artistic and
craftsmanship standards of Millard Sheets and the Scottish Rite. The refurbished interior
only partially retains evidence of workmanship from the period of significance. The
theater that had state of the art technology when it was built has been removed. Interior
cladding and finishes, custom made furniture, and decoration have been removed save for
171
areas in the lobby, former library/Relic Room, bookstore, and former banquet hall/3
rd
floor gallery.
Feeling is as properties ability to express the aesthetics or historic feel of a
particular time period. Once again, the Temple retains its aspect of feeling when looking
at the exterior façade, but recent remodeling has changed the interior’s feeling.
Association is the direct link between a historic property’s physical features and
the historic event and/or person associated with it. The Temple strongly retains its’
association with Millard Sheets and is conveyed through his signature boxy design with
white travertine cladding and high quality artistic elements incorporated into the property.
Millard Sheets “signature” is even emended in the towering mosaic on the building’s
eastern façade (See Figure 5.4), and painted into a mural in the current bookstore. The
Temple also retains its association with the Scottish Rite order of Freemasonry. The
Rite’s logo, the double-headed eagle, is writ large and small on the exterior for passing
motorists and pedestrians alike in the form of the four stained glass window elements and
eight southern façade door handles. Other masonic symbols adorn the exterior facades
mosaics, and entryway braziers.
172
Figure 5.4: Millard Sheets “signature” in the Temple’s eastern façade mosaic, with the white
travertine that clads much of the building exterior. Photo by author, 2017.
Overall, the Temple completely retains its integrity aspects of location, setting,
and association, with partial retention of its aspects of design, materials, workmanship,
and feeling due to interior renovation. Ultimately assessing a properties’ integrity is
based on why the property is significant. Does the property retain essential physical
features that convey the identity for which the building is significant?
246
The former Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic Temple is significant under
Criteria A and C because of its association with the Scottish Rite, a prominent social club
important to local history, and because of its masterful architectural design by Millard
Sheets. As the Temple was transformed into the Marciano Art Foundation, the building’s
interior was hollowed out to steel and cement. The Temple lost almost all of its interior
character defining features, most notably the Lodge Rooms and Auditorium. Can a
building with so little interior integrity but high exterior integrity qualify for the National
Register of Historic Places under Criteria A and C?
246
U.S. Department of the Interior - National Park Service, National Register Bulletin (#15) - How to
Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation, 44-46.
173
Under Criterion A the Temple is eligible for its role in local history and not its
architecture or design, so the lack of interior integrity is not as important a factor. Also,
as the home of a “secret society,” the public rarely gained access to the Temples’ interior
spaces, whereas the exterior is much more relevant to its status as a local landmark.
When determining the relevant aspects of integrity under Criterion A and B the National
Park Service says, “A basic integrity test for a property associated with an important
event or person is weather a historical contemporary would recognize the property as it
exists today.”
247
Under this metric, the Temple retains eligibility despite subsequent
modifications to the building. The buildings Scottish Rite and Masonic history are
physically expressed through the four large double-headed eagle windows, the generally
Masonic and specifically Scottish Rite mosaic symbols on the east, south, and west
façades, metal cauldrons on the south façade, and on the interior lobby chandeliers.
Freemasonry is expressed through the inclusion of Albert Pike in the west façade statues,
a man best known for his contributions to American Freemasonry.
On the other hand the Temple has been stripped of the most important character
defining features associated with a Masonic Lodge building and a Scottish Rite building;
the three Lodge Rooms and Auditorium. A Freemason shown only the interior of the
Marciano Art Foundation museum would not be able to immediately recognize it as
Masonic Lodge building. By a close margin the former Scottish Rite Masonic Temple
does not have the integrity to be eligible for National Register listing under Criterion A.
Under Criterion C the Temple is eligible as one of the grandest works of Millard
Sheets, a mater architectural designer. “A property significant under Criterion C must
retain those physical features that characterize the type, period, or method of construction
that the property represents. Retention of design, workmanship, and materials will usually
be more important than location, setting, feeling, and association.”
248
Although
alterations have negatively affected the Temple’s integrity of design, materials,
247
U.S. Department of the Interior - National Park Service, National Register Bulletin (#15) - How to
Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation, 48.
248
U.S. Department of the Interior - National Park Service, National Register Bulletin (#15) - How to
Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation, 48.
174
workmanship, and feeling the most, the building’s physical features still broadcast it as a
Millard Sheets design. His design is physically evident through his signature white
travertine cladding, boxy and elegant linear volumes, and through the high quality artistic
works integrated into the architecture of the building. The exterior integrity is more
important to Millard Sheets designed building than the interior integrity because of his
focus on the look of the exterior façade. Sheets painted at least a dozen renderings of the
Temple’s exterior but there are much fewer renderings of the interior. (See Appendix A)
Only one of those interior renderings is of an interior space, the lobby, which has been
mostly preserved. (See Figure 3.19, Figure 3.20, Figure 3.21, Figure 4.8, Figure 4.9, and
Figure 4.10)
In conclusion, the former Scottish Rite Masonic Temple retains the aspects of
integrity relevant to is nomination under Criteria C. However, an argument can be made
for the building’s eligibility under Criterion A. This may be a situation where the support
or disapproval of the building’s current owners towards nomination would have a strong
impact on whether the building would be determined eligible for the National Register.
Criteria for Considerations
Certain types of properties are not usually eligible for inclusion on the National
Register of Historic places unless they meet special requirements called Criteria
Considerations. Property types that must meet the Criteria Considerations are religious
properties, moved properties, birthplaces and graves, cemeteries, reconstructed
properties, commemorative properties, and properties achieving significance within the
past fifty years.
249
The Freemasons are a social club that uses Biblical lore in many of its
activities. While Freemasonry has religious undertones, Freemasonry is not a religious
organization. The former Scottish Rite Masonic Temple is not a property type that
requires further evaluation under the Criteria Considerations.
249
U.S. Department of the Interior - National Park Service, National Register Bulletin (#15) - How to
Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation, 25-43.
175
California Register of Historical Resources Evaluation
The California State Historical Resources Commission oversees the California
Register of Historical Resources (California Register), a program to identify, evaluate,
register and protect the state’s significant historical and archaeological recourses. To
qualify for listing on the California Register a property must be resource must be
significant at the local, state, or national level under one or more of the California Criteria
for Designation. California’s Criteria for Designation are patterned after the National
Register of Historic Places’ Criteria for Evaluation. Similar to the national example the
California Registers’ Criteria for Designation set a framework for evaluating the type of
significance a property may have. The California Criteria for Designation are as follows:
o Criterion 1: A property associated with events that have made a significant
contribution to the broad patterns of local or regional history or the cultural
heritage of California or the United States.
o Criterion 2: A property associated with the lives of persons important to local,
California or national history.
o Criterion 3: A property that embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type,
period, region or method of construction or represents the work of a master or
possesses high artistic value.
o Criterion 4: A property that has yielded, or has the potential to yield, information
important to the prehistory or history of the local area, California or the
nation.
250
The California State Historical Resources Commission encourages a historic
property to be evaluated first under the National Register of Historic Places (National
Register). The California Register automatically includes all properties within California
that are listed on the National Register. If a property is not eligible for the National
Register, it may be eligible for the California Register because of three slight differences
in eligibility standards between the two registers. Properties that can be eligible for the
250
State of California, California Register of Historical Resources,
http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=21238.
176
California Register but are not eligible for the National Register include properties that
have lost sufficient integrity to convey their identity through character and appearance,
but still maintain a potential to yield significant scientific or historical information or
specific data. A moved building can be eligible for the California Register (but not the
National Register) if it was moved to prevent its demolition at its original location and if
the new location is compatible with the original character and use of the historic resource.
Finally, a reconstructed building less than fifty years old may be eligible for the
California Register if it embodies traditional building methods and techniques, such as
Native American structures.
251
The Millard Sheets designed former Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic Temple
is eligible for the California Register of Historic Resources under Criterion 1 and
Criterion 3 (which mimic National Register Criterion A and Criterion C). The Temple is
eligible under Criterion 1 because it has made a significant contribution to the broad
patterns of local Los Angeles history as a fraternal social club that catered to local
political, governmental, and business leaders. The Temple building’s case for California
Register eligibility is even stronger under Criterion 3 because it embodies the distinctive
characteristics of a type and period of design, possesses high artistic values, and
represents the work of a master. The Scottish Rite Masonic Temple is a unique example
of Mid-Century Modern architecture executed on a grand scale, and its exterior façade
speaks to its identity as a Masonic type building. The building is one of the largest
surviving works of Millard Sheets, a master designer, and its collection of mosaics,
sculpture, stained glass, murals, marble and travertine possess high artistic value.
The former Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic Temple (currently the Marciano
Art Foundation) is eligibility for designation to the California Register of Historic
Resources under Criterion 3. The Temple is not eligible under Criterion 1 because of its
251
California Office of Historic Preservation, "California Office of Historic Preservation Technical
Assistance Series #6 - California Register and National Register: A Comparison (for Purposes of
Determining Eligibility for the California Register)," edited by Department of Parks and Recreation, (2011
Update),
http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/pages/1069/files/technical%20assistance%20bulletin%206%202011%20update.pdf.
177
lack of interior integrity and the removal of the most important character defining
features associated with Freemasonry. The Temple could be nominated to the California
Register alone, but since it is eligible for the National Register as well, a more
economical use of effort would be to nominate the Temple to the National Register and
then have the building automatically listed on the California Register of Historical
Resources.
Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument Evaluation
The City of Los Angeles maintains a list of Historic-Cultural Monuments that
includes the cities’ most significant and cherished historic resources. The Los Angeles
Cultural Heritage Commission and the Office of Historic Resources oversee the Historic-
Cultural Monument designation process. The Historic-Cultural Monument designation
process is defined by Los Angeles’ Cultural Heritage Ordinance.
252
The Cultural Heritage Ordinance defines a Historic-Cultural Monument as “any
site (including significant trees or other plant life located on the site), building or
structure of particular historic or cultural significance to the City of Los Angeles.”
253
These include properties that fall into one or more of the following Cultural Heritage
Ordinance Criteria:
o Historic structures or sites in which the broad cultural, economic or social history
of the nation, State or community is reflected or exemplified.
o Historic structures or sites identified with historic personages or with important
events in the main currents of national, State or local history.
o A historic structure or site that embodies the distinguishing characteristics of an
architectural type specimen, inherently valuable for a study of a period, style or
method of construction.
252
City of Los Angeles, Office of Historic Resources - Historic-Cultural Monuments,
http://preservation.lacity.org/commission. City of Los Angeles, Cultural Heritage Ordinance,
http://preservation.lacity.org/commission/cultural-heritage-ordinance.
253
City of Los Angeles, Cultural Heritage Ordinance,
http://preservation.lacity.org/sites/default/files/Cultural%20Heritage%20Ordinance.pdf.
178
o A notable work of a master builder, designer, or architect whose individual genius
influenced his or her age.
254
Like the Criteria for Designation for the California Register of Historical
Resources, these four Cultural Heritage Ordinance Criteria are largely based on the
National Register of Historic Places’ Criteria for Evaluation.
The Millard Sheets designed former Scottish Rite Masonic Temple (currently the
Marciano Art Foundation) is eligible for nomination as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural
Monument chiefly because it is a notable work of master builder Millard Sheets.
Overall, the former Scottish Rite Masonic Temple is still eligible for listing at the
national, state, and local level despite changes undergone during adaptive reuse,
including dramatic interior changes.
254
City of Los Angeles, "Cultural Heritage Ordinance," edited by Department of City Planning, (1962,
revised 2007), http://preservation.lacity.org/sites/default/files/Cultural%20Heritage%20Ordinance.pdf,
Section 22.171.7.
179
Conclusion
In summary, Millard Sheets (1907-1989) is a master designer with a rich legacy
of architectural works that have only just passed the fifty-year threshold for nomination
to local, state, or federal historical registry listing. Get out there preservationists! Find the
nearest Millard Sheets building and nominate it to a historic registry if it is worthy. Make
local governments aware of Sheets buildings’ high architectural and artistic value.
Given my current research and understanding, I find the Millard Sheets designed
former Scottish Rite Masonic Temple (built 1960-1961) of Los Angeles to be eligible for
inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, the California Register of Historical
Resources, and as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. The former Temple’s
eligibility is steady even with its’ recent alteration into the home of the Marciano Art
Foundation.
Personally, I find the Marciano Art Foundation’s current museum display to be
charming, entertaining, and well worth a visit. The Marciano Art Foundation is a
satisfying addition to Los Angeles growing collection of impressive private museums like
The Broad and The Getty Center.
255
The Scottish Rite Masonic Temple’s adaptive reuse
into a museum is a particularly happy result after the building sat vacant for nineteen
years. During that time, the Temple faced considerable obstacles to its survival. It was
purpose-built for Masonic use, with almost no windows, and did not have a flexible
design that could easily transition into any use. It did come with an Auditorium that the
wealthy residents of the surrounding neighborhood despised to the point of sustained
legal action because of its negative affect on parking and traffic.
255
The Getty Center (1997) is also a boxy design clad in white (or off-white) travertine. Millard Sheets and
his Home Savings and Loan buildings contributed to what Southern Californian’s think of when they think
of an impressive local landmark.
180
Lessons Learned
Looking at the example of the former Scottish Rite Masonic Temple what lessons
can be learned? How can other significant Masonic buildings be appropriately preserved?
In short; money, parking, and vigilance.
Masonic and Mid-Century Modern buildings that retain their original use have the
best chance of preserving their historic features. Masonic buildings that stay in the
ownership of the organizations that paid for their construction are for the most part
lovingly maintained. However, with the reduced numbers in Masonic membership from
when many of these massive building were constructed, a steady financial situation can
be difficult to maintain. While earlier Masonic Lodge buildings in cities often have
ground floor rental spaces to help pay the bills, Mid-Century Modern era Masonic
buildings were often created with theaters, auditoriums, and banquet halls as resources
that could be rented out. Steadily operating the rental facilities as desirable and affordable
option is a key part of preserving Masonic buildings and other social club houses like
them. When the Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic Temple lost its’ ability to rent out its
Auditorium the Scottish Rite had little financial incentive to stay in the building.
To that end, Masonic organizations and social clubs should make an effort to be
“good” neighbors. Reviewers on Yelp love the Millard Sheets designed Scottish Rite
Temple in San Francisco, except for (again) the parking. Social clubs with large
structures imbedded in increasingly populated cities should strive to mitigate the negative
effects they have on parking and traffic. Make the process of getting large numbers of
people in and out of a facility as streamlined as possible. Borrowing tactics from larger
gatherings like concerts, professional sports games, or theme parks should be considered.
Would shuttle busses, parking attendants, an enlarged garage or parking lot shave
minutes off of the delay to local traffic passing through?
If a Masonic building is sold and must adapt to a new use then the character
defining features of the building should be assessed preserved if they do not inhibit the
buildings new use. Preservation organizations and individual citizen can voice their
concern, but it is local governments that hold a lot of power to preserve a buildings that is
181
not listed on a historic registry. The Design Review Board for the Park Mile Specific Plan
(a branch of the City of Los Angeles Department of City Planning) discouraged wHY
Architecture from cutting windows into the south façade, which would have removed the
mosaics and brass lettering above the southern entryway.
256
Perhaps a little more could have been done to preserve the Temple building’s
most important character defining features. I applaud the Marciano Art Foundation for
including a museum dedicated to the Temple’s past life as Masonic building, however
instead of saving the interior of the former library as the “Relic Room” it would have
been better to preserve a more significant interior space, such as one of the Temple’s
three Lodge Rooms.
Future Research Topics
During my research for this thesis I found many areas where further research
could be done, especially concerning Millard Sheets. A handful of books have been
written about Millard Sheets, but they mostly focus on his career as a painter and do not
go in depth about his architectural works. One bright spot is historian Adam Arenson
forthcoming book Banking on Beauty: Millard Sheets and Midcentury Commercial
Architecture in California.
257
Much of Arenson’s research into Millard Sheets
architecture is posted online, including a map of Millard Sheets Designs, Inc. artworks
and buildings.
258
However, other than Adam Arenson’s work, there is a lack of in-depth
research into Sheets architectural career.
Sheets architectural career is a slippery topic to handle because he was not a
licensed architect. Extra research is involved to discover if Sheets designed a building
and not the architect listed on government agency records. Also complicating research
into Millard Sheets designed buildings is that he was hired to decorate certain parts of a
256
Grist, "Marciano Art Museum Unveils Plans for Masonic Temple on Wilshire," Larchmont Buzz, May
22, 2014.
257
Adam Arenson, Banking on Beauty: Millard Sheets and Midcentury Commercial Architecture in
California, (Austin: University of Texas Press, forthcoming).
258
Adam Arenson, “Definitive List for Home Savings and Loan Artwork, Savings of America Artwork,
and the Millard Sheets Studio Public Projects,” http://adamarenson.com/homesavingsbankart/thelist/.
182
building project, or remodel existing buildings. A building can look like it was designed
by Sheets, but that may not necessarily have been the case. A building can have Sheets
signature travertine and high quality artistic program, but that may be just a component
that another architect added to his or her design.
Additional research topics raised include discovering if any buildings remain from
the Millard Sheets designed aviation schools. What private residences did Millard Sheets
design? Thankfully, Adam Arenson is writing an upcoming book detailing the Sheets
designed Home Savings and Loan Buildings, but what about the other Sheets designed
commercial buildings? Millard Sheets son Tony Sheets and the Millard Sheets Papers at
the Smithsonian Institution have oodles of information about Sheets architectural career.
Tony Sheets has removed many Millard Sheets designed artworks before a buildings’
demolition or alteration. Where have these artistic architectural installations ended up?
Can the diaspora of Sheets designed mosaics, murals, statuary, etc. be holistically
researched?
Further research into the former Scottish Rite Masonic Temple of Los Angeles
and other Millard Sheets Studio works can be done at The Huntington Library, Art
Collections, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California. Specifically the Denis
O’Connor collection at the Huntington contains further information about Sheets and the
Temple building that was not accessible to me as a masters’ degree student, but is
available to university/college faculty and PhD students.
183
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193
Appendix A: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts Figures
Figure A.1: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # 03-0097. “Study for the Scottish Rite Temple, Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles,
California. Sheets, Millard. ca. 1961. Pencil and gouache. 11 x 27 inches. Annotated and authenticated by Tony Sheets, the artist’s
son in 2003. On board.” Written on artwork: “Preliminary Design for Scottish Rite Bld. by Millard Sheets - Tony Sheets 2003."
“Study for the Scottish Rite Temple, Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. Sheets, Millard. ca. 1961. Pencil and gouache. 11 x
27 inches. Annotated and authenticated by Tony Sheets, the artist’s son in 2003. On board.” Written on artwork: “Preliminary
Design for Scottish Rite Bld. by Millard Sheets - Tony Sheets 2003."
194
Figure A.2: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # 03-0067 . “Rendering of the Scottish Rite Temple, Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.
Sheets, Millard. ca. 1961. Gouache painting. 25.5 x 40 inches. Signed in gouache by the artist. On board.”
. “Rendering of the Scottish Rite Temple, Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. Sheets, Millard. ca. 1961. Gouache painting. 25.5 x 40
inches Signed in gouache by the artist On board ”
195
Figure A.3: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # 03-0111 on left and Catalog # 03-0103 on right. Annotation on left side Catalog # 03-0111 reads
“South elevation. Stained Glass Window. Scottish Rite Temple, Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles. Sheets, Millard. ca. 1956. Wash over brown
diazo print. 17 x 26. inches. Signed in pencil by the artist. On board.” Annotation on right side Catalog # 03-0103 reads, “Elevation. Mosaics
over Entrance. Relief Sculpture. Los Angeles California. Sheets, Millard. ca. 1958. Wash over brown diazo print. Scottish Rite Temple,
Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles. 17 x 28. inches. Signed in pencil by the artist. On board.”
Annotation on left side Catalog # 03-0111 reads “South elevation. Stained Glass Window. Scottish Rite Temple, Wilshire Boulevard, Los
Angeles. Sheets, Millard. ca. 1956. Wash over brown diazo print. 17 x 26. inches. Signed in pencil by the artist. On board.” Annotation on right
side Catalog # 03-0103 reads, “Elevation. Mosaics over Entrance. Relief Sculpture. Los Angeles California. Sheets, Millard. ca. 1958. Wash
over brown diazo print. Scottish Rite Temple, Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles. 17 x 28. inches. Signed in pencil by the artist. On board.”
196
Figure A.4: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # Unknown. “West Elevation. Mosaics over Entrance.
Relief Sculpture. Scottish Rite Temple, Wilshire boulevard, Los Angeles, California. Sheets, Millard.
ca. 1961. Wash over brown diazo print. 16.5 x 19.25 inches. Signed and titled in pencil by the artist.
On board.”
197
Figure A.5: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # 03-0101. “Photograph of Studies for the Scottish Rite Temple, Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles.
Sheets, Millard. ca. 1961. Photograph. 8 x 19 inches.” Figure A.5, Figure A.6, and Figure A.7 were sold together as a set.
“Photograph of Studies for the Scottish Rite Temple, Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles. Sheets, Millard. ca. 1961. Photograph. 8 x 19 inches.”
Figure A.5, Figure A.6, and Figure A.7 were sold together as a set.
198
Figure A.6: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # Unknown. No description from Alan Wofsy Fine Arts
website. Figure A.5, Figure A.6, and Figure A.7 were sold together as a set.
199
Figure A.7: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # Unknown. “East Elevation I. Scottish Rite Temple. Los
Angeles, California. Sheets, Millard. ca. 1961. Gouache paining. […] 15 x 20 inches. Signed and titled
in pencil by the artist.” Figure A.5, Figure A.6, and Figure A.7 were sold together as a set.
200
Figure A.8: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # Unknown. “Rendering of the Scottish Rite Temple, Wilshire Boulevard, (with murals and
sculptural figures), Los Angeles, California. Sheets, Millard. 1958. Gouache painting. 17 x 40 inches. Signed and dated in ink by the artist. On
board.” Stamped on back of painting: “Scottish Rite Cathedral Association” is stamped on the back of this painting. This is the only rendering
of the Los Angeles Scottish Rite Temple to be dated (1958) by Millard Sheets himself.
“Rendering of the Scottish Rite Temple, Wilshire Boulevard, (with murals and sculptural figures), Los Angeles, California. Sheets, Millard.
1958. Gouache painting. 17 x 40 inches. Signed and dated in ink by the artist. On board.” Stamped on back of painting: “Scottish Rite
Cathedral Association” is stamped on the back of this painting. This is the only rendering of the Los Angeles Scottish Rite Temple to be dated
(1958) by Millard Sheets himself.
201
Figure A.9: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # Unknown. “Photograph of Studies for the East and
West facades of the Scottish Rite Temple, Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles. Sheets, Millard. ca. 1961.
Photograph 10 x 19 inches.”
202
Figure A.10: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # 03-0100. “East Elevation I. Scottish Rite Temple. Los
Angeles, California. Sheets, Millard. ca. 1961. Gouache painting. 15 x 15 inches. Signed in pencil by
the artist. On board.”
203
Figure A.11: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # Unknown. No description from Alan Wofsy Fine Arts
website. Written in margins of the sketch are notations that include; “South Wall. Same intervals 13
lines as in other filled in with stars.” On the back of this board is a little sketch of the temple.
204
Figure A.12: Doodle of the Temple on the back of Figure A.11.
205
Figure A.13: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # Unknown. No description from Alan Wofsy Fine Arts
website. Written in the margins of this sketch are numbers, calculations and “8" Final Size. Make
Cartoon. Letters 9".”
206
Figure A.14: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # 03-0114. “Design for a Southern California Office Building Lobby. Sheets, Millard. ca. 1960s.
Watercolor painting. 18 x 30 inches. Probably a collaboration with Robert L. (Bob) Jackson. Unsigned.”
“Design for a Southern California Office Building Lobby. Sheets, Millard. ca. 1960s. Watercolor painting. 18 x 30 inches. Probably a
collaboration with Robert L (Bob) Jackson Unsigned ”
207
Figure A.15: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # Unknown. No description from Alan Wofsy Fine Arts website. Written on back: “California
History Mural Designed by Millard Sheets by Tony Sheets.”
208
Figure A.16: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, Catalog # Unknown. No description from Alan Wofsy Fine Arts website. Written in margins, “Scottish
Rite Auditorium (North Wall).” Signed by Millard Sheets. From left to right the figures are labeled; Hermes, Minos, Moses, and Zarathustra.
No description from Alan Wofsy Fine Arts website. Written in margins, “Scottish Rite Auditorium (North Wall).” Signed by Millard Sheets.
From left to right the figures are labeled; Hermes, Minos, Moses, and Zarathustra.
209
Appendix B: Tables of Persons, Companies, and Dates
Associated with the Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic Temple
Construction Professionals Associated with Building the Los Angeles
Scottish Rite Masonic Temple
Business
Individual
Consultant
Contribution to Construction
Robert E. McKee General contractor
259
Millard Sheets Designs,
Inc.
Millard Sheets Executed murals and mosaics, selected
exterior marble and travertine.
260
U.S. Steel: American
Bridge Division
Wade Moore Fabricated the steel trusses.
261
Erected
the steel framework.
262
William D. Coffey
Associates, Inc.
William D. Coffey Licensed Engineer.
263
State License
Number: Structural 247.
264
Possibly the
Architect.
265
William D. Coffey
Associates, Inc.
H.F. McCann Resident Engineer H.F. McCann was
also vice president of William D.
Coffey Associates, Inc.
266
Table B.1: Construction professionals associated with building the Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic
Temple.
259
“Steele Work Advanced on Masonic Temple,” Los Angeles Times, July 31, 1960. “200 Help in Scottish
Rite Temple Start,” Los Angeles Times, January 17, 1960.
260
“Steele Work Advanced on Masonic Temple,” Los Angeles Times, July 31, 1960.
261
Ibid.
262
Ibid.
263
Los Angeles City Department of Building and Safety, Application to Construct New Building and for
Certificate of Occupancy, 1959LA30009.
264
Los Angeles City Department of Building and Safety, Application to Alter - Repair - Demolish and for
Certificate of Occupancy, 1962LA17396.
265
William D. Coffey is listed in multiple sources as the Temple’s engineer, but so far in my research only
California's First Century of Scottish Rite Masonry lists him also as the Temples’ architect. Andersen and
Whitsell, California's First Century of Scottish Rite Masonry, 93.
266
“Steele Work Advanced on Masonic Temple,” Los Angeles Times, July 31, 1960. In this article
“Coffey” is misspelled “Doffey.”
210
Contributing Artists to Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, Los Angeles
Artist Contribution to Temple
A. Rossi Italian sculptor of the eight exterior travertine statues
designed by Albert Stewart.
267
Albert Stewart Designer of eight exterior monumental sculptures, four
double-headed eagle cast cement window grills, and
matching double-headed eagle door handles on south and
west façade double doors (doors now removed).
268
Andree Mendenhall Tolstoy
Mahoney
Fabricated the interior Auditorium mosaic figures under
the direction of Millard Sheets, Sue Hertel, and Martha
Underwood (née Martha Menke).
269
Martha Underwood
(née Martha Menke,
married 1962)
270
Fabricated the mosaic panels on the Temple exterior, and
interior Auditorium mosaic panels (now removed) along
with other Millard Sheets Designs, Inc. artists.
271
There
are photographs of her working on the large eastern
façade mosaic while it was laid out flat on the Millard
Sheets Designs, Inc. studio floor.
272
Millard Sheets Building designer. Designed (and perhaps executed) the
lobby and reading room (now bookstore) mural.
273
Susan “Sue” Hertel Assisted with the fabrication of the interior Auditorium
mosaic figures (now removed).
274
Probably assisted with
the fabrication of the exterior mosaics under the direction
of Martha Underwood (née Martha Menke).
275
Table B.2: Contributing artists to the Millard Sheets designed Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic
Temple.
267
“Steele Work Advanced on Masonic Temple,” Los Angeles Times, July 31, 1960.
268
Oral History Program: University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles Art Community: Group
Portrait: Millard Sheets, Interviewed by George M. Goodwin, 493-493.
269
Adam Arenson, email message to author, April 23, 2015. Adam Arenson’s knowledge is based on a
2015 interview with Andree Mendenhall Tolstoy Mahoney.
270
Claremont Heritage, Underwood + Underwood: The Art + Architecture of Martha & S. David
Underwood, 2.
271
Claremont Heritage, Underwood + Underwood: The Art + Architecture of Martha & S. David
Underwood, 15. Worley, Scottish Rite Temple, April 4, 2015.
272
Underwood, Underwood's personal family archive of Martha and David Underwood, April 22, 2015.
273
Oral History Program: University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles Art Community: Group
Portrait: Millard Sheets, Interviewed by George M. Goodwin, 485-498.
274
Arenson, email message to author, April 23, 2015.
275
Sue Hertel and Martha Underwood’s involvement with the fabrication of the exterior façade mosaics is
suported by photographs of them posing in front of cartoon the eastern façade mosaic symbols avalable in
the Denis O’Connor Collection at the The Huntington Library.
211
Timeline of Building Department Documents for the Los Angeles
Scottish Rite Masonic Temple
212
Date Action or Description of Work
4/22/1959 Application to Construct New Building filed with the City of Los Angeles
for Masonic Temple and Parking Garage. The listed Owner is the Scottish
Rite Cathedral Association of Los Angeles at 929 South Hope Street, Los
Angeles. Licensed Engineer: William D. Coffey. No architect or contractor
is listed on the permit, but Robert E. McKee is later noted as the general
contractor by the Los Angeles Times.
276
11/7/1960 Application to “change existing steel Bm (beam?) at stairs No. 5 and No.
6.” Licensed Engineer: William D. Coffey.
277
1/19/1962 Request for change of address from 4373 Wilshire Boulevard to 4357
Wilshire Boulevard, because of the location of physical access.
278
6/18/1962 Application to “add gas pipe & fireproof it” in elevator shaft.
279
8/9/1962 Application to add sound baffle to auditorium. Licensed Engineer: William
D. Coffey. Contractor: Edward M. Pozzo Co.
280
1/17/1963 Certificate of Occupancy reads, “4 stories, type I, 124’ x 306’ masonic
temple. Maximum occupancy: Auditorium of 1
st
floor – 1394 occupants,
balcony – 626, classroom – 238, dining room – 860, assembly room –
1880, lodge room A – 100, lodge room B – 90, lodge room – 276. 292
required parking spaces, 258 parking spaces provided. A-1, B-2, G-1
occupancy. Owner: Scottish Rite Cathedral Assoc. of L.A. Owner’s
Address: 4357 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, Calif.”
281
2/26/1963 Application to erect flag pole.
282
2/6/1968 Application to erect a canvas “Public Assembly” tent 40’ x 100’ in size, to
be used from 2/12/1968 to 2/14/1968. Contractor: Krupnicks, Inc.
283
10/10/1972 Application to change existing coat room to record storage.
284
Table B.3: Timeline of permitted construction events at Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, Los Angeles.
276
Los Angeles City Department of Building and Safety, Application to Construct New Building and for
Certificate of Occupancy, 1959LA30009. Andersen and Whitsell, California's First Century of Scottish
Rite Masonry, 91. “200 Help in Scottish Rite Temple Start,” Los Angeles Times, January 17, 1960.
277
Los Angeles City Department of Building and Safety, Application to Alter - Repair - Demolish and for
Certificate of Occupancy, 1960LA74255.
278
Los Angeles City Department of Building and Safety, Request for Change of Address, 1960LA74255.
279
Los Angeles City Department of Building and Safety, Application to Alter - Repair - Demolish and for
Certificate of Occupancy, 1962LA13234.
280
Los Angeles City Department of Building and Safety, Application to Alter - Repair - Demolish and for
Certificate of Occupancy, 1962LA17396.
281
Los Angeles City Department of Building and Safety, City of Los Angeles Certificate of Occupancy,
1959LA30009.
282
Los Angeles City Department of Building and Safety, Application to Construct New Building and for
Certificate of Occupancy, 1963LA31688.
283
Los Angeles City Department of Building and Safety, Application to Construct New Building and for
Certificate of Occupancy, 1968LA60677.
284
Los Angeles City Department of Building and Safety, Application to Alter - Repair - Demolish and for
Certificate of Occupancy, 1972LA59202.
Abstract (if available)
Abstract
The former Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic Temple (built 1960-1961), currently the Maurice and Paul Marciano Art Foundation, is the work of a master: building designer Millard Sheets (1907-1989). Significant architecturally, this building is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, the California Register of Historical Resources, and as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, even considering extensive interior alterations that changed the fraternal building into an art museum.
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Asset Metadata
Creator
MacDonald, Laura Jane
(author)
Core Title
The iconic Millard Sheets designed Scottish Rite Masonic Temple of Los Angeles, California: reuse of a mid-century modern fraternal building
School
School of Architecture
Degree
Master of Historic Preservation
Degree Program
Historic Preservation
Publication Date
09/29/2017
Defense Date
09/29/2017
Publisher
University of Southern California
(original),
University of Southern California. Libraries
(digital)
Tag
4357 Wilshire Boulevard,California Register of Historical Resources,Heritage Conservation,Historic Preservation,Los Angeles,Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument,Los Angeles Scottish Rite,Marciano Art Foundation,Masonic,Masonic building,Masonic Temple,Maurice and Paul Marciano Art Foundation,Millard Sheets,National Register of Historic Places,OAI-PMH Harvest,Scottish Rite,Scottish Rite Masonic Temple
Language
English
Contributor
Electronically uploaded by the author
(provenance)
Advisor
Sandmeier, Trudi (
committee chair
), Arenson, Adam (
committee member
), Lesak, John (
committee member
)
Creator Email
lauramac123@gmail.com,ljmacdon@usc.edu
Permanent Link (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c40-441178
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MacDonald, Laura Jane
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texts
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The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...
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Tags
California Register of Historical Resources
Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument
Los Angeles Scottish Rite
Marciano Art Foundation
Masonic
Masonic building
Maurice and Paul Marciano Art Foundation
Millard Sheets
National Register of Historic Places
Scottish Rite
Scottish Rite Masonic Temple