Meet the Builders of California's Newest Masonic Lodges

Chartered just last fall, Pilares del Rey Salomon № 886 is emblematic of this new approach, one that emphasizes intimate groups guided by clearly defined goals. Whereas many lodges—particularly those established during the Gold Rush—are undergirded by tradition (and membership rolls in the hundreds), these new lodges are built on ideas. As a rule they’re nimble and agile, often moving between meeting spaces. Many cater to a constituency not historically represented within California Masonry. And they’re decidedly forward-looking. 

Mark McNee, who helped found Seven Hills № 881 in San Francisco in 2021, says he’s seen members reinvigorated by the challenge of forging a new culture from scratch. “We sought an environment where change and adaptation are embraced as the norm,” he says. “Our aim was to avoid being constrained by the notion that we had to adhere to traditional practices simply because that’s how things have always been done.” 

Without their own hall or an endowment to fall back on, these lodges face significant challenges, both psychically and financially. Charlie Cailao, the current master of Palos Verdes № 883, points out that his lodge received its charter over Zoom. As a lodge without a home, his group relied on an unusual commitment from its members to stay together. 

That was certainly the case for the eclectic band behind Ye Olde Cup and Ball № 880. Formed as the first “affinity” lodge in the state, Cup and Ball is made up of Mason-magicians, who, like traveling performers, initially moved from lodge to lodge around Southern California as a sort of road show, finally setting up shop at Los Angeles’s venerable Magic Castle, which secretary Rob Pepple now describes as “not just a background but a character in the story of our lodge culture.” Meeting there, he says, “gives the lodge a sort of double layer of mystery to it—one that we’re thrilled to share.” 

Ethnically diverse, culturally attuned, sometimes proudly eccentric, these groups show that while building a lodge is no easy feat, it’s also worth the reward.