House of the Temple

Scottish Rite Freemason temple on 16th Street in Washington, D.C., built between 1911 and 1915. Architect John Russell Pope modelled it on the ancient Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders, rendered in pure white limestone with 33 outer steps that mirror the 33 degrees of the rite. Inside, the temple room rises beneath a thirty-metre pyramid ceiling of dark Maharani marble, flanked by two monumental sphinxes representing wisdom and power. The building still houses the Supreme Council, 33 degrees, and a public library holding over 250,000 volumes. Free guided tours run on weekdays; reservations required.