House of the Temple Tours

The headquarters of America’s Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, this American Neoclassic building was modeled after the enormous tomb of Mausolos at Halicarnassus, one of the original Seven Wonders of the World and inspiration for the term mausoleum. Completed in 1915 after four years of construction, this Masonic temple was designed by John Russell Pope, head of the architecture firm behind the Jefferson Memorial, National Archives, and the West Wing of the National Gallery of Art.

Visitors can only view the bulk of the Temple via one-hour guided tours, which leave from the lobby on the hour; the last tour of the day begins at 4 p.m. Before or after a tour, visitors can explore the Temple’s library, the oldest library in D.C. that’s open to the public, and home to 250,000 books, manuscripts and more.