Local family snaps up Sydney Masonic temple

A Sydney Masonic temple has found a new owner, after a family swooped on the Hunters Hill property with plans to turn it into their new home.

Most of the significant ceremonial items and paraphernalia from the Hunters Hill Masonic Temple were removed by the vendors before expressions of interest on the property closed on March 26.

Gone is the Freemasons most recognisable symbol, a square overlapped by compasses fashioned into a metal doorknocker.

Several timber honour boards bearing names of past members of the male-only organisation that dates back to the 17th century have also been removed.

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However, a commemorative plaque at the front of the building set in 1921 remains, along with other structural elements that distinguish all Freemasons’ buildings such as an ionic pillar and pediment main entrance.

Simon Harrison from Belle Property — Hunters Hill received numerous enquiries on thethe property at 28 Alexandra St during a four-week marketing campaign.

The Masonic Temple at 28 Alexandra St, Hunters Hill, was built in 1921.

On the final day, a Hunters Hill family put forward an “attractive offer” acceptable to the vendor, Sydney Masonic Holdings Pty Ltd.

“There was an element of risk involved because of its landmark status in a conservation zone.”

Harrison could not reveal the sale price for the double-brick dwelling on an elevated 853sqm parcel with rear-lane access.

He says the building, which is mostly in original condition, requires a lot of work.

The layout is straightforward — at entrance level, a hall with a small stage has the original intact timber floorboards. A kitchen and ladies’ and gents’ bathrooms are also on this floor.

The first floor contains original floorboards.

Upstairs is the ceremonial hall carpeted in the official ‘Masonic Blue’.

In the centre of this room with a barrel-vaulted ceiling is a small rectangular chequerboard floor that has a Masonic star at its centre. The black and white is said to represent the yin and yang of the human condition.

While the R2 residential zoned block could have been developed as a duplex site or for a range of other low-rise commercial uses subject to council approval, Harrison said the new owners expressed a desire to retain and renovate the existing building.

“As far as I know, they are going to create a family home rather than knock it down,” Harrison says.

The property is set between two residential properties, two doors down from Hunters Hill Town Hall on one corner and the post office on the other. It is 260 metres to Hunters Hill Public School.

Its next door neighbour, a renovated five-bedroom house on 702sqm without rear-lane access, sold for $3.82 million in March 2018.

This article from the Northern District Times originally appeared as “Landmark Masonic temple to get a new lease of family life”.