Member Profile: Jerry Zeldes
For Jerry Zeldes of Home Lodge No. 721, clowning around was more than just a form of service.
A Landmark, for sale
THE OAKLAND SCOTTISH RITE TEMPLE HITS THE MARKET FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A CENTURY.
By Ian A. Stewart
Above: The remodeled Art Deco facade.
It has stood for almost a century as one of the East Bay’s most distinctive buildings. But 99 years after its opening, the imposing Scottish Rite temple on Lakeshore Drive in Oakland may host its final fraternal meeting this year.
The 85,000-square-foot temple, built in 1927 by architect Carl Werner (of Tehama № 3), who together with Matthew O’Brien designed several of the state’s most important Scottish Rite temples, was officially placed on the market in late 2025. Jonathan Prestage, General Secretary of the Valley of Oakland Scottish Rite, says the sale stems from decades of an unsustainable financial outlook, a fate that has also befallen several other Bay Area event centers. Despite the temple’s many uses outside the fraternity—since the 1980s, it has hosted several musical, theatrical, and other performing arts organizations, including West Edge Opera—Prestage says the Valley simply can’t afford to maintain the temple. “The building was constructed for a membership of between 4,000 and 8,000,” he says. Today the Valley has just over 700 members, the vast majority of whom don’t even live in Oakland, he points out.
Prestage says the group has been negotiating with several bidders and expects to close the sale by the end of 2026, and that the Valley is also evaluating how best to serve a membership that has steadily dispersed across the Bay Area.
While Oakland was once a central gathering place, the largest concentrations of members now live around Union City and Martinez. The Valley is now exploring how to ensure members in both areas can remain engaged in Scottish Rite without unduly burdening either group with travel time.
Above: A gilded sunburst above the entrance portico.
The sale would reflect the organization’s changing needs and ongoing evolution. The Oakland Scottish Rite Valley was launched in 1883 by Albert Pike, the father of the Scottish Rite in the U.S., and Edwin Sherman, who envisioned creating a chapter in what was then the fast-growing East Bay. Initially housed at the Live Oak Masonic Temple on 16th and Broadway, the Valley later raised funds to construct its own building, believed to be the first dedicated Scottish Rite temple west of the Rocky Mountains.
The building’s original Greek classical facade survived only a few years. In the late 1930s, architect William Corlett oversaw a large-scale remodel to address exterior deterioration, the result of salt and moisture from nearby Lake Merritt. The second facade, in an Art Deco style, introduced Doric rather than Ionic columns flanking the cast-bronze front doors, which are decorated with Masonic symbols.
Inside, the temple retains the flair of the ornate Beaux Arts interior first unveiled 99 years ago. “When you walk through these buildings, you’re seeing Freemasonry as its founders intended,” says Adam Kendall, former executive director of the Oakland Scottish Rite Historical Foundation.
There’s a bit of silver lining for fans of the old digs. No matter who ultimately moves in, the building will be protected from demolition or significant redevelopment since it is designated a trophy asset.
Photo Courtesy:
Valley of Oakland Scottish Rite
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