McMenamins Grand Lodge: 100 Year Old Freemason Retirement Home Turned Whimsigoth Hotel

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As mentioned earlier, we returned to Oregon for Patrick’s sister’s wedding. She chose to get married at a local campground with a beautiful lake. As her and her friends adore camping, many opted to pitch tents right on site. As for me I chose for Patrick and I to stay at McMenamins Grand Lodge, a nearby hotel with plenty of charm.

Sprawling across 13 acres, Grand Lodge is a beautiful and whimsical hotel, but it didn’t start out that way. In 1922 the Freemasons built the massive brick building as a home to care for their elderly members. A few years later, they added the Children’s Cottage to look after orphans of members. For over 70 years members of the Freemasons and the women’s branch, the Eastern Star lived here, but in 1999 they decided it was time to build a new facility, which they did just next door. That is when the McMenamins brothers swooped in, purchased the beautiful building with its Greek style portico, and did what they have become known for, transforming old buildings into stunning works of art.

Exterior of Grand Lodge, a Greek revival style portico with columns, with the building itself made of brick.

Sign for Grand Lodge.

Lobby of the hotel, with the check in desk on the right, walls and columns painted a pale green and unique light fixtures abound.

Exterior of the Children's Cottage, a smaller version of the first building, with smaller columns out front.

Most living in the Pacific Northwest are probably familiar with McMenamins, but for the uninitiated, I’ll explain. Brothers Mike and Brian McMenamin worked in the restaurant industry in the 1970s, later taking over Oregon’s first microbrewery, and eventually opening Oregon’s first brewpub. As they grew they leaned toward purchasing old properties and refurbishing them, sometimes in creative ways. A great example is actually where Patrick and I got married, the Kennedy School, an old elementary school turned hotel, theatre, and venue with multiple restaurants and bars. Their properties are filled with murals, antiques, and sometimes even ghosts. Grand Lodge is no exception when it comes to the ghosts, with one notable spirit being the “Lavender Lady” who roams the halls leaving a lingering scent of lavender.

Today Grand Lodge offers over 90 rooms for guests to stay in, a spa, two restaurants, three bars, movie theatre, disc golf course, and in 2022, when the property turned 100, they added an outdoor concert venue. Visitors can also take an art and history tour of the property. Sadly we didn’t have time for that, but I spent plenty of time roaming the halls, even stumbling across a hidden staircase themed to The Hobbit!

Exterior of Grand Lodge, a Greek revival style portico with columns, with the building itself made of brick.

Close-up of the Freemason symbol above the door.

A woman's portrait hangs above a fireplace near the check in desk.

A close-up of windows on the side of the building.

Close-up of ironwork by the restaurant.

Freemason symbol carved into the fireplace.

A painting of a woman in a red dress wearing a witch hat walks through water with rocks, below it reads "Ruby dons her swamp-wading gown and affects a pre-Raphaelite pose in the rock garden...Raspberry vines climb the now-absent twin columns in front of the Grand Lodge."

A painting of evergreens in the lobby.

Close-up of the door to our room called "You Can't Win"

View of our room, painted in a dark, rich blue, with a round window above the bed, which is flanked by golden lights.

A mural of group of men and two wolves.

A celestial border on the wall of the bathroom.

A box for soap that features a sun on it.

A wolf mural is painted on the right, with a seating area on the left.

Close-up of the whimsical guide book and room key.

A red velvet chair sits next too a fringed lamp under a window and surrounded by rich dark blue walls.

Hallway on the third floor, painted dark blue with a variety of colorful lights hanging.

A mural featuring Egyptian motifs, the Lodge, and women playing the accordian.

A stone lion head amid other mosaic works.

A painting of three women above a fireplace.

A blacklight mural of a cave featuring images from The Hobbit. Here Gandalf leads the hobbits up a staircase.

Stairs down toward a door with Golum at the bottom.

A mural featuring Egyptian motifs, and children on a bench.

View of the restaurant just past the check in desk, with works of art done in metal and various unique light fixtures.

A painting of the McMenamin character Hammerhead, a man with a hammer for a head, wearing orange overalls holds a pint of beer under a crescent moon.

Close-up of a face painted on a pipe.

A painting featuring the letter G and images of light fixtures.

A painting of a man on a horse above a fireplace.

A mural of a pig wearing sunglasses and a drag sit at a bar. Text below reads "During Prohibition, an illegal bar was called a Blind Pig and here in Forest Grove the basement of a local drugstore served as that function. Boxer also seated at the counter is the mascot of Pacific University and was secretly stashed in the drugstore during that era for awhile."

View of tables in the restaurant.

A mural of a tarot car featuring a redheaded woman holding a mask and below reads "The Orphan"

A lush parlor with chairs and couch and fringed lamps.

A celestial mural.

One of the hallways, painted in a pale tan, with unique light fixtures and various paintings.

A mural of a child by a tree, and an electrical panel door is painted in the Eastern Star motif.

A large mural of an old man on a black and white checkered floor with a moon on the left and son on the right.

A mural of a woman in a pink 1920s dress sits in a chariot pulled by a goat through the sky above the hotel, to the side it reads "One night in the 1920s: 'Mom' Toll sails her goat-chariot protectively over the Grand Lodge while orphans sleep below."

Visit Grand Lodge for a movie, concert, bite, or for the night, at 3505 Pacific Avenue, in Forest Grove. You can learn more about the property, and book your stay on their website. If you find yourself in Oregon and/or Washington be sure to look for any McMenamin property! They even have a handful in strip malls, and even they are charming inside.

Sources
Acker, Lizzy. “McMenamins will add a new outdoor concert venue to Forest Grove’s Grand Lodge next summer.” The Oregonian, 3 December 2021.
Hunter, Paul. “McMenamins Grand Lodge: Masonic Old Folks Home Now A Haunted Hotel.” That Oregon Life, 18 October 2022.
“Walking Tour.” McMenamins.

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One comment on “McMenamins Grand Lodge: 100 Year Old Freemason Retirement Home Turned Whimsigoth Hotel”

  1. I love the lodge. It was great to see photos of it again. I live closer to McMenamins Edgefield and have enjoyed many concerts and meals there. These venues are unique and a treasure for our area. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply