1922 Masonic Retirement Home Turned Haunted Boutique Hotel
3505 Pacific Ave, Forest Grove, OR 97116
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
European-style rooms start around $103/night; some rooms share bathrooms
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved paths on 13-acre campus
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1922 · Masonic History · Oregon Wine Country Heritage · McMenamins Historic Preservation · Washington County History
The building that became McMenamins Grand Lodge was constructed between 1920 and 1922 as the Masonic and Eastern Star Home, a facility designed to house aging, infirm, and economically vulnerable members of Oregon's Freemason chapters and their families. The main lodge's central area and east wing were completed January 1, 1922, with formal dedication that June. The brick-and-column building with its formal classical facade was a significant institutional construction in the agricultural landscape west of Portland.
For approximately 80 years, the home served as a retirement and care community for Masons and their dependents — a closed fraternal institution whose residents lived, aged, and died within its walls. The depth of that institutional history — decades of births, deaths, and communal life — gives the building a layered human record that extends well beyond most hospitality properties.
When the Masonic order built new facilities in 1999, the old home entered a period of deterioration. McMenamins, the Portland-based family-owned company known for renovating historic properties throughout the Pacific Northwest, acquired the building. The renovation yielded 90 guestrooms, a restaurant, four bars, a movie theater, a concert venue, and the Rubies soaking pool and spa on the 13-acre grounds.
McMenamins has operated the property since 2000 — now in its 25th year as a hotel. The company's design aesthetic incorporates historical photographs, thematic artwork, and — at Grand Lodge — Masonic symbolism woven through the decorative program.
Sources
The Lavender Lady is the defining paranormal presence at McMenamins Grand Lodge, and she is unusual in the genre for being both named and physically characterized. Accounts describe an elderly woman with white hair, wearing a print dress and slippers — a figure whose portrait is on prominent display inside the lodge. The portrait bears a strong resemblance to Anna, who lived in the building for many years before dying just shy of her 100th birthday.
The lavender detail is specific and consistent. Staff and guests describe encountering the scent in hallways where Anna reportedly walked — a sensory phenomenon distinct from visual apparitions and less easily dismissed as imagination or suggestion. A construction crew member named Tony, working during McMenamins' renovation, reported encountering her apparition directly.
The renovation discovery of 22 books bearing Anna's trademark lavender scent added a material dimension to the legend. The books, found during the building's conversion, became the basis for naming the attic rooms. Physical objects retaining a specific scent decades after their owner's death occupy an interesting space between paranormal claim and sensory memory.
The staff binder of guest paranormal reports has been maintained and is available to guests at the front desk. It represents one of the more transparent institutional approaches to paranormal history — rather than suppressing accounts or marketing them aggressively, the property treats them as ongoing documentation. Hotspots in the binder include Room 211, the second and third floor hallways, the Gift Shop, the Doctor's Office Bar, and the Children's Cottage.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Stay in one of 99 rooms at McMenamins Grand Lodge, a former Masonic retirement home built in 1922 on 13 acres at the edge of Oregon wine country. The property includes two restaurants, three bars, a theater, a soaking pool and spa. Staff maintain a public binder of guest paranormal reports — ask at the front desk. Room 211 and the second and third floor hallways are the most-cited locations.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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