Want to purchase a Masonic Lodge? It will cost you almost half a million dollars.
“Step back in time, specifically 1914, and immerse yourself in a place of mystery and magnificence, a grand building where we can imagine the secret meetings, voices, and music that once echoed in the halls. Step inside one of the few modern monoliths that remain standing firm…of the Masonic Lodge.”
So reads the description by River Hills Properties, the listing agent for the sale of 5 and 9 Prospect Street in Little Falls, almost 17,000 square feet of history sitting on just under half an acre for an asking price of $100 shy of half a million dollars.
The Masonic Lodge that sets “majestically” on the corner of Prospect and School Streets in the city was built in 1914, amid a period between 1870 and 1920 known as “The Golden Age of Fraternalism.” Architect, William Neil Smith cited the French Medieval Period as inspiring its design in French Gothic style, it is often referred to as a castle.
It is aptly constructed with stone, brick, and cement stucco and boasts terra cotta roofs with copper flashing.
At that time, the Mohawk Valley Region’s location along the Erie Canal, allowed it with ease to attract immigrant labor while able to easily trade their goods along the Canal and the Mohawk, St. Lawrence, and Hudson river sheds. In a region rich with dairy farms, Little Falls enjoyed the designation of “Cheese Capital of the World,” a period of prosperity reflected in the grandeur of their Masonic Lodge.
Fitting, it is, that the realtor invites you to “step inside one of the few modern monoliths that remain standing firm,” as the ethereal, centuries-old international fraternal organization that is the Freemasons – referred to by author and historian Jasper Ridley as “the world’s most powerful secret society” – began as a fraternal guild of stone masons, specifically masons who worked the finer stone that appointed the grander spaces. Sources differ in their origin, not surprising in the case of a secret society.
There is consensus that they are the oldest secular order still in existence.
Declining membership leads to sale
In the State of New York, there are 429 operating Masonic Lodges, according to the region’s Grand Lodge of New York, located at 71 West 23rd Street in Manhattan, which was established in 1781. But the Masons have been suffering a decline in U.S. membership since 1957, according to the Masonic Service Association of North America, when their population peaked at just over 4 million.
According to Robin Mongeau, the principal of River Hills Properties, who has an office in Little Falls, and is the listing agent for the Masonic Lodge property, that decline was suffered in kind by the Little Falls chapter.
In response to the decline in their membership, the Little Falls Freemasons sold the property to Charles and Theresa Tippin, prominent citizens of the city, in 1995. The Tippin family turned one upper floor into a private residence and operated a pottery business on the lower level.
The family invited the Freemasons to continue to hold their meetings there in the Masonic Lodge Room.
“It is soundproof, and you cannot see into it,” Mongeau described, sharing that the room has a balcony and a giant pipe organ, similar to a church.
In 2010, when their numbers had dwindled so much that they could no longer support a lodge/chapter, the Little Falls Freemasons merged with the Masonic Lodge in Dolgeville, which remains an operating lodge in good standing.
“Theresa Tippin really had an invested interest in Little Falls,” said Mongeau. “She was well known for embracing the community and opening up the property so everyone could enjoy the magnificence of the building.”
Mongeau said it would not surprise her if Tippin did not charge the Masons or anyone who imagined the other uses since they sold it, which include a nursery school, a performance space, and a venue for special events.
Lodge sold again
According to Mongeau, the property was sold in 2017 to Daniel Preston, who was based in New York City.
“Little Falls attracts a lot of people from New York City,” said Mongue, “because of its great architecture at affordable price points.”
Preston invested approximately $6 million in real estate in Little Falls at the time, including the Overlook Mansion, Hansen Island, and the Snyder Building, in addition to the lodge, according to the realtor.
Preston was no absentee landlord; he reportedly loved the little upstate city and planned to curate the properties to its benefit. Tragically, he died of cancer before he could bring those plans to life.
“Little Falls lost someone who had wonderful ideas to benefit the community,” said Mongeau, “and he had the resources to implement them.”
Preston’s assets were gathered into the Stay Well Trust, governed by one trustee in New York City and another in San Diego, which is endeavoring to liquidate Preston’s real estate in Little Falls.
Mongeau speaks of being chosen to represent the properties with a palpable sense of reverence and responsibility.
“While I don’t get to choose the buyers who might make an offer or which offer the Trustees accept,” said Mongeau, “I put what I call ‘the vibe’ out there, hoping to attract the right buyer for these properties and this community.”
Mongeau also represents the Overlook Mansion and shared her enthusiasm that it just went under contract to one of those “right buyers.”
“Little Falls is a cool city,” said Mongeau with undeniable sincerity, “and they’ve got a great mayor.”
And while the Masonic Lodge – the “castle” — on Prospect Street looks a bit out of place surrounded there by far more humble homes and businesses, Mongeau predicts, probably not for long?
She likens the recent renaissance of Little Falls to Saratoga Springs, New York States “Spa City.”
Said Mongeau, “I feel like Little Falls is on the verge of great things.”
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Sale of Masonic Lodge building in Little Falls invites ownership of a piece of history.
Reporting by Cara Dolan Berry, Utica Observer Dispatch / Observer-Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
