House of the Temple

The House of the Temple
House of the Temple in Washington, D.C.
Location within Washington, D.C.
General information
Architectural style	American Neoclassicism
Address	1733 16th St NW
Town or city	Washington, D.C.
Country	United States
Coordinates	38°54′50″N 77°02′09″W / 38.9138°N 77.0359°W / 38.9138; -77.0359Coordinates: 38°54′50″N 77°02′09″W / 38.9138°N 77.0359°W / 38.9138; -77.0359
Construction started	October 18, 1911
Completed	October 18, 1915
Client	Scottish Rite of Freemasonry
Design and construction
Architect	John Russell Pope

The House of the Temple is a Masonic temple in Washington, D.C., United States that serves as the headquarters of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, U.S.A. (officially, "Home of The Supreme Council, 33°, Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, Washington D.C., U.S.A.")

Designed by John Russell Pope, it stands at 1733 16th Street, N.W., in the Dupont Circle neighborhood, about one mile directly north of the White House. The full name of the Supreme Council is "The Supreme Council (Mother Council of the World) of the Inspectors General Knights Commander of the House of the Temple of Solomon of the Thirty-third degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry of the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States of America."

It contains a museum devoted to Albert Pike, who rewrote a number of the Scottish Rite rituals and headed its Supreme Council from 1859 until his death in 1891, and whose remains are buried in the House of the Temple.

On May 31, 1911, 110 years after the founding of the Supreme Council, Grand Commander James D. Richardson broke ground on the spot where the House of the Temple now stands in Washington, D.C. Grand Master J. Claude Keiper, of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia, laid the cornerstone in the northeast corner on October 18, 1911.

The temple was designed by noted architect John Russell Pope, who modeled it after the tomb of Mausolus at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The building was dedicated four years later on October 18, 1915.