A History of Highlands Event Center: Denver’s 1927 Landmark

Highlands Event Center at 3550 Federal Boulevard is a 1927 Classical Greek Revival landmark designed by Merrill and Burnham Hoyt for Highlands Temple Lodge #86, which still owns it. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995, it occupies a full city block in Denver’s Highlands neighborhood. Inside, it keeps its chandeliers, Art Deco ceilings, Masonic floor inlays, and original door hardware. Today it hosts events for up to 400 guests while remaining the Lodge’s home.

Built	1927, by architects Merrill and Burnham Hoyt for Highlands Temple Lodge #86
NRHP listed	1995, recognized for architectural and civic significance
Architectural style	Classical Greek Revival with Art Deco interior details
Capacity	Up to 400 guests across multiple event configurations

Some buildings in Denver communicate their purpose through scale alone, and Highlands Event Center at 3550 Federal Boulevard is one of them. Designed in 1927 for the Masonic lodge that still owns it, the building anchors a full city block in the Highlands neighborhood. It has served as a gathering place for North Denver for nearly a century. This history of Highlands Event Center covers how it came to be, who designed it, and what it has preserved.

The History of Highlands Event Center Begins on Federal Boulevard

Federal Boulevard runs north through Denver as a major arterial, and 3550 Federal has stood on it in the Highlands neighborhood since 1927. The building occupies an entire city block, a scale that was intentional from the beginning. Highlands Temple Lodge #86 wanted a home that announced its presence in North Denver and gave a growing community a civic gathering place.

The Highlands area was settled early, across the South Platte River from the first Denver settlements. By 1927, it had a residential and civic identity of its own, separate from downtown Denver, and Federal Boulevard was its main civic spine. Our history of the Highlands neighborhood traces that story from the 1858 townsite onward.

The building’s siting on a full block gives it a visual presence that ornament alone could not achieve. Arriving at 3550 Federal, the scale registers first, before any individual detail. That civic presence was a statement the Lodge wanted to make in 1927, and the building still makes it.

Merrill and Burnham Hoyt: Denver’s Architects

The commission for the Highlands Masonic Temple went to brothers Merrill Hoyt (1881 to 1933) and Burnham Hoyt (1887 to 1960), whose Denver practice was M.H. and B. Hoyt, Architects. Both brothers grew up in north Denver and graduated from North High School, giving them a personal tie to the Highlands. Merrill trained at the firm of William Fisher, Architects, an established Denver practice. Burnham trained at the Beaux Arts Institute in New York City and returned to Denver in 1919, after serving in World War I, to join his brother.

The firm prospered during the 1920s, a decade of civic and institutional construction across Denver. Like many architects of the period, the Hoyts worked in a range of historical styles: English Gothic, Spanish Baroque, Greek Revival, and Romanesque all appear in their portfolio. Their other surviving Denver buildings include the Fourth Church of Christ, Scientist at 3101 West 31st Avenue and the Denver Public Library Park Hill Branch at 4705 Montview Boulevard. For the Highlands Masonic Temple, they chose Classical Greek Revival, a style that signaled civic authority, permanence, and fraternal dignity.

Burnham Hoyt went on to design Red Rocks Amphitheatre in the foothills west of Denver, completed in 1941. That later work makes the Highlands building part of the early career of an architect whose designs still shape how Coloradans gather.

Classical Greek Revival: What the Style Communicates

Classical Greek Revival architecture draws on ancient Greek civic buildings: symmetrical facades, columned exteriors, horizontal entablatures, and a monumental scale that signals public purpose. In early 20th century America, it was the architecture of courthouses, libraries, banks, and civic institutions, buildings meant to project permanence and community investment.

For a Masonic temple, the choice was both practical and symbolic. Freemasonry has long drawn on classical and geometric imagery in its rituals and iconography. A Classical Greek Revival building aligned the structure with the organization’s own references to ancient craft and civic virtue. The proportions at 3550 Federal carry those associations to anyone approaching from Federal Boulevard, whether or not they know the Masonic context.

The 1927 date places the building at an interesting moment. In the interwar years, American architects often paired Classical Revival exteriors with Art Deco interiors, and the Highlands Masonic Temple reflects that combination. The facade reads as classical and restrained. Inside, the ceilings and details show the decorative movement reshaping American design in the late 1920s. The Denver Architecture Foundation includes the building in its guide to Denver architecture (opens in a new tab).

Highlands Temple Lodge #86 and the Masonic Heritage of North Denver

Freemasonry arrived in Colorado with the pioneers. The first Masonic gathering in what would become Colorado Territory took place at a cabin near Cherry Creek in 1858, the same year Denver was founded. The fraternity and the city grew together, and the organization’s role in early Denver civic life reached well beyond its membership meetings.

Highlands Temple Lodge #86 was chartered in 1897. The Lodge originally met in another historic building at 3220 Federal Boulevard, a few blocks south of the current address. By the mid-1920s, it had outgrown that space and was planning a permanent home that could serve both the Lodge and the wider community. The 1927 building at 3550 Federal was the result: a structure designed from the outset as a civic institution, not merely a meeting hall.

The Masonic tradition has long combined private organizational life with a public civic role. Well-known American Freemasons include George Washington, the first President, and Benjamin Franklin, a Founding Father. In Denver, as across the United States, Masonic lodges were significant civic institutions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They took part in charitable work, civic organization, and the physical fabric of their communities. The Highlands Masonic Temple was both an expression of and a contribution to that tradition.

Inside the Temple: What Has Survived Nearly a Century

Buildings from 1927 that keep their original interior materials are uncommon. Many go through renovation cycles that replace finishes, fixtures, and details as they age or as tastes change. Highlands Event Center at 3550 Federal Boulevard is a notable exception. The building has been maintained and selectively restored rather than gutted, and it retains a substantial collection of historic interior elements. You can see many of them in the Highlands Event Center gallery.

Historic architectural elements still in the building

1. Chandeliers and lighting

   The building’s vintage chandeliers shape the quality of light in the event spaces, a warmth that modern reproduction fixtures rarely match.

2. Classical Art Deco ceilings

   The interior ceilings combine the formal geometry of Classical Revival with the ornament of Art Deco, reflecting the decorative vocabulary of the late 1920s. They are a signature feature of the interior.

3. Bust of George Washington

   George Washington was a Freemason, and his link to the fraternity is a recurring theme in Masonic architecture and iconography. The building’s bust of George Washington reflects that connection.

4. Square and compass floor inlays

   The floor work includes Masonic square and compass symbols, the central emblems of Freemasonry. These details are documented in the National Register nomination and show the building’s explicit connection to its Masonic origins.

5. Maple ballroom dance floor

   The ballroom’s dance floor is maple hardwood. It was replaced with matching maple, so the floor guests dance on today keeps the material of the original design.

6. Original door hardware throughout

   The original door knobs and hardware remain throughout the building, a detail that speaks to the quality of the original construction and the care that has guided the building’s upkeep.

Together, these elements create an experience that sets Highlands Event Center apart from venues built to imitate historic character. Many of the details at 3550 Federal date to 1927 and have been maintained through nearly a century of continuous use.

The National Register of Historic Places: The 1995 Listing

In 1995, the Highlands Masonic Temple at 3550 Federal Boulevard was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the federal government’s official recognition of properties significant in American history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, and culture. The listing reflects the building’s architectural significance as one of Denver’s intact examples of Classical Greek Revival civic design, as well as its association with the Masonic fraternal tradition that contributed to the formation of early Denver.

A National Register listing has practical implications for a building’s future. Properties on the Register are eligible for federal historic preservation tax credits for qualifying rehabilitation work, and the listing signals a commitment to preservation that shapes how maintenance and renovation decisions are made. For event planners, the listing communicates something concrete: the building you are booking has been formally evaluated for its historical and architectural significance, and it has earned that recognition.

The listing also establishes what the building is not. It is not a reproduction of a historic look, and it is not a modern structure designed to seem old. It is a 1927 building cared for across nearly 100 years of continuous use, and many of the details your guests will see date to the Hoyt brothers’ design.

“A property listed in the National Register is recognized as significant in American history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, and culture.”

National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Program (opens in a new tab)

The Highlands Masonic Temple at 3550 Federal Boulevard was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. The building’s nomination form is the primary documentation source for its architectural details and organizational history.

Nearly a century after Merrill and Burnham Hoyt completed their design at 3550 Federal Boulevard, the building still serves the purpose it was built for: bringing people together in a space whose scale and character make the gathering feel significant. Highlands Event Center is available for weddings, corporate events, social celebrations, and private gatherings for up to 400 guests. Learn more about the venue, or get in touch to schedule a tour and see the building in person.

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