A King County judge is set to weigh in Friday on the fate of Des Moines’s nearly 100-year-old Masonic Home, the Tudor-Gothic "Landmark on the Sound" that has been at the center of a years-long tug-of-war between preservationists and redevelopment interests. After a multi-year environmental review and a round of administrative appeals, the question on the table is stark: demolition or a last-minute save.
The King County Superior Court session is scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday before Judge Campagna at the King County Courthouse in Seattle. Organizers say members of the public can attend in person or via Zoom, according to The Waterland Blog. The appeal challenges a conditional demolition permit the city issued after releasing a Final Environmental Impact Statement. Preservation leaders say briefs have already been filed and that Friday’s arguments could determine whether the case moves on to a full-blown court review.
How The Fight Reached The Courtroom
Advocates led by Citizens for the Protection of Des Moines’ Historic Resources, in coalition with the Des Moines Historical Society and the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation, appealed the city’s permit decision after the Final EIS was posted and the city issued a demolition permit in 2025. A King County hearing examiner later denied that administrative appeal on Dec. 11, 2025. The preservation coalition then filed a Superior Court petition to keep pressing its challenge, according to the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation.
About The Building
The Masonic Home sits on a bluff above Puget Sound at 23660 Marine View Drive South and was completed in the 1920s as a statewide retirement home for Freemasons. The campus includes a five-story main building, a water tower, pump houses and formal lawns. Its architectural history and significance are cataloged in the Pacific Coast Architecture Database, which documents the site’s origins and design, according to PCAD.
What The EIS Found
City consultants concluded that restoring and adaptively reusing the complex would face a sizeable feasibility gap, with cost modeling showing a shortfall in the hundreds of millions of dollars and construction-cost assumptions that drive a feasibility gap of more than $160 million. The Final Environmental Impact Statement also lays out mitigation options, from architectural salvage and documentation to a proposed city-managed preservation fund, as potential ways to reduce cultural loss, as described in the city’s Final EIS.
Preservationists Press On
The grassroots group driving the appeal says legal fees and records costs have kept climbing as it prepares for Superior Court, and organizers have launched fundraising to cover filing fees, transcripts and expert work. Lloyd Lytle Jr., president of Citizens for the Protection of Des Moines’ Historic Resources, told supporters the group raised roughly $7,000 earlier this year and that additional legal costs for March through May are expected to total about $20,000, according to The B-Town Blog. Preservation advocates argue the site’s community value and distinctive architecture merit more scrutiny before any wrecking crews roll in.
Who Owns The Site
The roughly 30-acre property is owned by Zenith Properties LLC, which purchased the campus in 2019. Local reporting and project records identify Zenith as the applicant for the demolition permit, and the company did not provide comment or access for reporting, according to KING 5.
Masons’ Stance
The Grand Lodge of Washington has not sided with preservationists. A letter from the grand master expressing support for demolition was filed in earlier stages of the review and is cited in historical write-ups and archival material. Local historian Paul Dorpat’s Seattle Now & Then column summarizes that history and references the grand master’s letter, according to Seattle Now & Then.
Legal Path Forward
The Superior Court appeal is a land-use petition that challenges the city’s SEPA review and permit under RCW 43.21C and Des Moines municipal code. Possible outcomes include a remand to the city for additional study, a reversal of the permit, or an order preserving the status quo while further proceedings unfold. The project record is cataloged on the Washington State Department of Ecology SEPA register, according to the WA Department of Ecology SEPA register.
