Freemasons Celebrate 60th Anniversary of North Hollywood Temple

It's one of the most striking, unique and bizarre structures in North Hollywood. By Craig Clough R.J. Comer - Senior Warden of the North Hollywood Freemasons Suzanne Toyryla, the president of the North Hollywood Rotary Club (L), City Councilman Tom LaBonge and Alice Roth, LaBonge's deputy Deputy District Director for North Hollywood / Toluca Lake, listen as Armen Mardirousi, the current Master of the North Hollywood Masonic Lodge #542, speaks on the evening of its 60th anniversary, Sept. 1, 2011. It's one of the most striking, unique and bizarre structures in North Hollywood, if not all of the San Fernando Valley. It's architectural style has been described as "neo-Mayan," and for 60 years it has towered over pedestrians on Tujunga Avenue and visitors to the southern end of North Hollywood Park. On Sept. 1, the Freemasons of the North Hollywood Lodge #542 celebrated the 60th anniversary of the building with a public dinner and congratulatory speeches from Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge and Suzanne Toyryla, the president of the North Hollywood Rotary Club. Lodge #542 started in the 1920s back when North Hollywood was still called Lankershim, according to Armen Mardirousi, the current Master of the North Hollywood Lodge Freemasons. The members rented a building until a movement got underway in the 1940s to build their own temple. "Tonight, basically we are celebrating the 60th anniversary of the dedication of the building by the Grand Master of all Masons in California in 1951," Mardirousi told Patch. The North Hollywood Lodge has a deep connection to the Golden Era of the film industry. Former heads of some of the nearby movie studios were members, as were some famous actors, most notably Audie Murphy, the film star who was also the most decorated solider of WWII. Murphy lived nearby in Toluca Lake and an upstairs room in the lodge, the Audie Murphy Lounge, is dedicated to his memory. Many of his metals and other artifacts are displayed, as is his application to join the Masons. (See the attached photos for a full tour of the lodge). No celebrities were spotted Thursday night, but Mardirousi said that a very large number of its current members work in the entertainment industry as writers, producers, musicians and as other behind-the-scenes personnel. "A lot of studio heads and studio employees lived in this area and joined lodges where they lived, and we just happened to be in their neighborhood," said Mardirousi. "It's a temple-type of design, which unfortunately is kind of rare nowadays. A lot of the old buildings are being sold. Nowadays its very difficult to build anything resembling this anywhere. They won't let you. There's only a handful of temples in Southern California that are temple-style and still used as Masonic temples, the way they are situated and the directions they are facing, things of that nature." The temple was designed by two architects, Robert Benjamin Stacy-Judd (1884-1975) and John Aleck Murrey (1989-1957), according to Richard Hilton of the Museum of the San Fernando Valley. Hilton leads the museum's Historic Walking Tour of the NoHo Arts District. The temple is one of the stops, and a tour is being given this Saturday. Murrey was a North Hollywood local, and also a Mason and president of the Architects of the San Fernando Valley. He designed the 1801 New Hampshire Apartments near Griffith Park and another Masonic temple upstate not unlike the North Hollywood design, according to Hilton. Stacy-Judd, by all accounts, was a bit of an eccentric character who also designed the Aztec Hotel in Monrovia (1925), the First Baptist Church in Ventura, the Philosophical Research Center in Los Feliz, the North Hollywood Hospital (now gone) and many Spanish-style homes around L.A., according to Hilton. As was detailed in a profile on Monrovia Patch, Stacy-Judd once wrote a stage adaptation of Dracula, worked on the Spruce Goose with Howard Hughes and spent his later years trying to prove the existence of the mythical civilization of Atlantis. He began to wear Maya garb to Hollywood parties and claimed that Maya-themed projects would reinvigorate American architecture. But his knowledge of Mayan and other South American cultures was flawed, according to many. "He has been described as a 'kookie self-promoter,'" said Hilton in an email to Patch. "His academic understanding of the Mayans is deeply flawed, awed as he was by the culture. He did design costumes and sets for a Mayan movie which never saw the light of film. He dabbled in radio and had relationships with Hollywood personalities such as Bette Davis." (Make sure to read Monrovia Patch's great profile of Stacy-Judd for the full story.) The temple was severely damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake and had to undergo extensive renovations. Support pillars that extend through the first two floors were added and all the windows that used to exist on the first floor were removed. But one of the biggest blows wasn't to the structure itself, but its records. According to Mardirousi, part of the roof was ripped open and a room that held many of the lodge's old documents was exposed to the elements, destroying them. The Freemasons are a fraternal order that dates back to the 1800s. The group's meetings are closed to the public, and what the order is exactly and what happens at their meetings remains a secret. Much has been written and speculated about the Freemasons, too much to cover here, and with the evening being about the building, Patch kept its questions mostly limited to the structure itself. But it was still difficult not to ask what the Masons are all about. Mardirousi said the Masons "make good men better." Another Mason said they were about "bettering themselves, bettering their fellow Masons and bettering their community." Indeed, one of the things Masons are known for publicly is charity. Mardirousi said the lodge has adopted nearby Lankershim Elementary and has held several book drives for it. Thursday's dinner was also a book drive, the third dedicated to helping the school. The Masons also send over mentors that help the kids and read to them. "People drive by, they look at the building, and if you listen to all the stuff that you hear out there, there is a lot of mystique and a lot of mystery, I guess, behind the fraternity," said Mardirousi. "One of the main things we do as far as the community is concerned is to reach out. And then, it being a fraternity, obviously the same type of friendship is available within the brothers themselves." The lodge holds a regular meeting for members the first Thursday of every month and is preceded by a dinner that is open to non-members. "Typically, we use it to invite in guests that are interested in the fraternity. This is an opportunity to come and meet us, for us to meet them and get to know what we're about and for us to get to know what they're about," said Mardirousi. "This being the anniversary of the dedication of the building, we decided to recognize that fact at this dinner. But the dinners happen every month." Mardirousi said the lodge currently has around 170 members, or Master Masons, and many others going through the process of joining. For one who only knows of the Masons through documentaries on the History Channel, one of the first notable aspects about the North Hollywood Lodge is how many young members it has. Both LaBonge and Toyryla referenced this in their speeches. Young men in their early 20s, some with dyed hair who looked like they could be the bass player in a rock band playing on the Sunset Strip, are among the members. "Good evening everybody. I want to congratulate you, you all look good for being 60 years old," LaBonge joked to the group when he began his short speech before presenting the lodge with an accommodation certificate. Toyryla also talked about the youth movement at the lodge. "I noticed the councilman made a joke about all of you being 60, and I want to say how delighted I am to see so many young gentlemen here as part of this organization to help keep its standards and traditions going forward. I wish you a happy anniversary on your 60th anniversary," said Toyryla in her remarks. The North Hollywood Lodge #542 is located at 5122 Tujunga Avenue, next to the YMCA and across the street from North Hollywood Park.