Elks Club Building
Berkeley, Alameda County, California
Marker Inscription
CITY OF BERKELEY LANDMARK designated in 1991. ELKS CLUB BUILDING Walter H. Ratcliff, Jr., Architect, 1913. Berkeley’s Elks Club, the 1002nd Chapter of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, was founded in 1905, just in time for members to assist those displaced by the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. Later they helped wartime survivors and needy children. This is one of many Ratcliff buildings in Berkeley. Classical Revival-style pilasters at corner bays, the projecting cornice, and oversized oak doors are in the tradition of men’s clubs of the era. This building’s three-part composition, formal second-floor detailing, and Greek frieze are elements of Beaux-Arts design. Sold by the Elks to a church group in the 1990s, the building was acquired in 2008 by the Tibetan Nyingma Meditation Center. Berkeley Historical Plaque Project 2011
Erected by Berkeley Historical Plaque Project
The Story
Designed by architect Walter H. Ratcliff, Jr. and completed in 1913, this Classical Revival and Beaux-Arts building housed Berkeley's Elks lodge, chartered in 1905 just in time to aid those displaced by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The fraternal order later assisted wartime survivors and needy children. Sold to a church group in the 1990s, the building was acquired in 2008 by the Tibetan Nyingma Meditation Center.
Why it matters
Fraternal lodges like the Elks were pillars of civic life and mutual aid in early-twentieth-century America, and this building's passage from lodge hall to meditation center traces the changing face of an American city.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
By the time this building rose in 1913, Berkeley was a city hitting its stride in the Progressive and modern era — a moment of civic ambition when American towns built substantial, dignified halls to house the organizations that anchored public life. This was one of them.
The early twentieth century was the great age of the fraternal lodge. Across the country, orders like the Elks brought people together for fellowship, ritual, and — crucially — mutual aid, in a time before the modern social safety net. A lodge hall was a place where a community organized its own generosity.
The architecture reflects that seriousness of purpose. Designed by the architect Walter H. Ratcliff, Jr. — responsible for many buildings around Berkeley — it wears its intentions on its facade: Classical Revival pilasters at the corner bays, a projecting cornice, oversized oak doors, a formal three-part composition and a Greek frieze. These are the borrowed dignities of Beaux-Arts design, chosen to say that what happened inside mattered.
People & events
Berkeley's Elks lodge was chartered in 1905 as the 1,002nd chapter of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks — and its timing turned out to be almost providential. Barely a year later, the great earthquake of 1906 devastated San Francisco across the bay, and the new lodge found its members helping those displaced by the disaster.
That set the pattern. In the decades that followed, the lodge extended its aid to wartime survivors and to needy children, doing the steady, unglamorous work of mutual support that defined fraternal orders in that era. This 1913 building was the home base for all of it — the hall where members gathered, planned, and pooled their efforts.
The building's later life is a story in itself. The Elks sold it to a church group in the 1990s, and in 2008 it was acquired by the Tibetan Nyingma Meditation Center. The oak doors that once opened onto a men's club of the Progressive era now open onto a community of contemplation.
Its place in the American story
Fraternal lodges were pillars of American civic life in the early twentieth century, and this building lets you see why. Before government programs filled the gap, organizations like the Elks were how ordinary Americans looked after neighbors displaced by disaster, wounded by war, or simply in need. Charity and belonging came bundled together in halls like this one.
The response to the 1906 earthquake captures that role perfectly: a brand-new lodge, tested almost immediately by catastrophe, turning its fellowship into relief. Multiply that by thousands of chapters nationwide and you get a portrait of how much of America's mutual aid once flowed through fraternal orders.
And the building's journey — lodge hall, then church, then Tibetan meditation center — traces the changing face of an American city in miniature. The institutions that gather a community shift over the generations, but the buildings endure, absorbing each new purpose. That arc, from a Progressive-era men's club to a place of Buddhist practice, is the story of American pluralism written in brick and oak.
If you visit
Start with the facade, because Ratcliff meant it to be read. Find the Classical Revival pilasters at the corner bays, follow the projecting cornice, and note the three-part composition and the Greek frieze — the vocabulary of a men's club of the era, meant to convey permanence and civic weight. The oversized oak doors are worth a look for their sheft alone.
Then hold the building's long life in mind as you stand there. The same walls that housed earthquake relief in 1906 and aid to children and wartime survivors now shelter a Tibetan meditation center. Few buildings let you feel a century of a city's changing character quite so directly.
It makes a rewarding stop on an architectural walk through Berkeley, especially if you keep an eye out for other Ratcliff buildings around town — the marker notes there are many. Please remember the building now serves a religious community; admire it as the working, lived-in landmark it is.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · Walter H. Ratcliff, Jr.
Related events
- · 1906 San Francisco Earthquake
Themes & tags
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