The Grand Lodge Tour
2921 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh
Saturday, June 20
10am to 2pm
You've driven past this Masonic Lodge building for years, perhaps decades. If you grew up in Raleigh, so did your parents, plus the millions of people headed out to Crabtree Valley Mall - everyone curious. Now's your chance to see inside this exceptional midcentury building, designed by architect Leslie Boney of Boney Architects (later LS3P).
The Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina occupies a dignified mid-century building that has quietly served as the administrative heart of North Carolina Freemasonry for nearly seven decades. Dating to 1771, its offices were housed in the Masonic Temple Building on Fayetteville Street in downtown Raleigh, a ten-story 1907 tower that was Raleigh's first skyscraper. By the 1950s, however, the decision was made to sell the downtown property and build a new administrative home. The commission went to Leslie Boney, the Wilmington-based architect whose firm designed a remarkable number of North Carolina's institutional buildings. Boney drew the plans in 1955, and the building was dedicated in 1958. His firm, founded in 1922, continues today as part of LS3P. Architecturally, the Grand Lodge is a handsome example of the mid-century institutional Modernism, intended to last. Inside, the building contains the Grand Lodge's administrative offices, its extensive library, the archives (which hold minutes and records stretching back to the eighteenth century), and a small museum of North Carolina Masonic artifacts.
The Fine Print:
Tickets are not mailed; your name will be on a list at registration.
Once payment is made, there are no refunds for any reason except for tour cancellation. However, you can transfer tickets to others - just have them ask for the tickets in your name at registration.
Please do not attend if you are experiencing COVID symptoms or have tested positive within a week of the tour.
Architects can get self-reported CEU hours if arranged in advance with the AIA.
Participants are welcome to take photos inside and outside.
Strollers are not allowed, but carried children are free. No food, drink, or smoking inside. Bathrooms are not available onsite.
For tour inquiries, please contact Devra Dubroff, devra@usmodernist.org.
NCModernist's tours showcase exceptional Modernist architecture and historically significant or endangered mid-century modern buildings. NCModernist is a 501C3 nonprofit documenting, preserving, and promoting North Carolina residential architecture.