Architecturally significant in greater Los Angeles as a pre-PWA Classical Moderne building with distinctive decorative guardian sphinxes,[1] the Scottish Rite Cathedral is associated strongly with the social history of Pasadena[citation needed], in particular with the Scottish Rite, an appendant body associated with Freemasonry.

The building was designed and/or built by Joseph J. Blick and W.C.

[2] Joseph Blick is remembered for the Scottish Rite Cathedral and designed many homes in Pasadena.

[3] In 1984, the building was deemed eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places based on its importance and documentation thereof, but the building was not finally listed (NRIS reference number 84003894, decision date October 3, 1984).

[4] It cost approximately $300,000, was described as magnificently furnished and was dedicated at a ceremony on February 18, 1925 attended by approximately 1700 high-degree masons and their families.