About Masonic Temple (Kent, Ohio)
Historic Architecture, Architecture, Interesting Places, Other Buildings And Structures
The Masonic Temple in Kent, Ohio is a historic building which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Built in 1876(http://portagecountyauditor.org/Data.aspx?ParcelID=17-025-10-00-167-000) in the Italianate style, it was originally the home of Kent namesake Marvin Kent and his family. Construction was performed partially by locals and partly by master craftsmen from afar: the architect was Isaac Tuttle of neighboring Ravenna, but interior woodworking was performed by woodworkers brought from New York City. Members of Kent's family lived at the house for slightly more than forty years before selling it to a Masonic lodge in 1923. Due to Marvin Kent's national prominence in the Republican Party, many political leaders visited his house, including Presidents Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William Howard Taft, and Warren G. Harding; the guest room in which every president slept has been named the "President's Room" and preserved in its late nineteenth-century condition.
