Located at 1733 16th Street, NW, in Washington, D.C., is the monumental Freemason edifice that has been the national headquarters (House of the Temple aka HOT) of the Supreme Council, 33°, Southern Jursidiction, since 1915; the architect was John Russell Pope who was also famous for other DC buildings that followed this, his first in DC.
In 1947, 32 years after completion of the HOT, a building would be built at 1717 15th Street, NW to its rear side. The building currently serves as a condominium. It previously housed St. Augustine's Catholic Church convent, the Oznam School of Charity, offices for the Roman Catholic Archidiocese of Washington, a private residence, and a boarding house. It is a contributing property to the Fourteenth Street Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. On its roof is a cross made of reinforced concrete with coarse sand for durability. The cross is badly damaged as if by a blow with a heavy object.
In more recent years, a bust of the first U.S. president, George Washington, a copy of the original designed and created by Avard T. Fairbanks, was placed at the rear garden of the HOT along S Street. It was placed to honor George Washington, once a member of Freemasonry although it is suspect how active a member. Many of the new American ceremonies during his presidency, such as the very first oath of presidential office, were modeled after Masonic ritual. Masons and President Washington presided over the laying of the U.S. Capitol cornerstone in 1793.
The bust looks easterly toward 1717 15th Street, NW and the broken cross as if watching the cross that watches the HOT.
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