Odd Fellows Building

This 2-story Italianate building was built in 1885. It has a brick façade and side and rear walls of randomly coursed stone. This building was designed by San Francisco architect, Albert Schropfer, and built by George Kennedy for a cost of about $20,000. The front is combined pressed brick, iron and terra cotta with a roof of heavy tin. The St. Helena Star reported, “the building is as nearly fireproof as can be built.” The three linked ovals on the pediment of the building stand for the I.O.O.F. motto “Friendship, Love, and Truth.” The St. Helena International Order of Oddfellows (IOOF) Lodge was organized in 1870, with seven charter members: three farmers, two physicians, a viticulturist, and a cabinetmaker/undertaker. By 1879, there were almost 90 members, enough to allow them to buy the property on Main Street for a new lodge. The ground floor was split into 2 sections, with the St. Helena Star as one of the first occupants, sharing it with the St. Helena Library Association and Free Reading Room. Eventually, Steves Hardware & Housewares (now located next door) occupied the lower floor. Upstairs, the first renter was a dentist. Today’s tenants are AErena Art Gallery and Martin Showroom. The Oddfellows Lodge has occupied the upstairs for over 130 years