Lodge Waimarino is a symbol of the strength of Raetihi in the early twentieth-century and is historically significant as the first Lodge in the Ruapehu region. Freemasonry is a ritual-based, male, benevolent organisation that promotes ethical conduct and provides social security for its members. It was first practised in New Zealand in 1842 and, by the early twentieth century, most towns had their own Masonic Lodge. In Raetihi, a saw millers' town first settled in 1893, the push to establish a lodge began in 1909. In that year James Crockford Goodger, then the owner of the local livery stables, purchased section 184 in Ward Street with the intention of using the site for the town's first Masonic lodge building. In July 1910 locals began collecting funds and planning for the building's construction. Arthur Drury, a future Grand Master of the Lodge, was paid £1 to design a suitable building for the site. Douglas Wallace, a carpenter and early Lodge member, was commissioned to construct the building. Completed in late 1910 at the cost of £200, the single storey, 'L-shaped' structure was made almost entirely from timber and had a corrugated iron roof. The entrance to the otherwise plain exterior was emphasised by a peaked roofline, visually supported by four rectangular timber columns, and by the porch, which mimicked Grecian temple architecture favoured by Lodges. The Lodge Room, the sacred centre where Masonic rituals were enacted, was distinguished by its grandeur. It featured a high, barrel-vaulted ceiling and polished wooden panels and battens along the walls. Designed as a space apart, the room had no windows and was lit by candles. Arranged to reflect the status of the members, the room had a raised platform and canopy at the far end, where the elaborately carved chairs of the Master and his senior wardens were located. Simple wooden seats for the remaining brethren faced in towards each other along the walls in the main body of the room. The carved wooden altar where initiates took their oaths marked what was the most ritually significant space in the room. The remaining rooms in the building included the anteroom, where the Tyler and his sword guarded the Lodge during meetings, the entrance hall, the supper room, and the kitchen. These last rooms were used for eating, relaxing and enjoying the company and were markedly plain in comparison to the Lodge, to reflect the comparatively 'everyday' nature of their function. The Lodge was constituted and dedicated on 11 October 1910 by the Most Worshipful Brother C. J. Griffiths. The first ten members of Lodge Waimarino were officially initiated and Abraham Thomas Harris, a solicitor, was installed as its first Worshipful Master. The following year, James Goodger was initiated, and he transferred the land to five members of the Lodge. Meetings were held in the Lodge once a month and the Lodge numbers grew steadily. Members were recruited from towns throughout the Waimarino district and the men came from a wide range of backgrounds. The recruitment lists included station owners, saw millers, plumbers, shopkeepers, clergymen, service men from Waiouru, doctors, teachers and solicitors. The Lodge provided its members with a moral code and male companionship, and importantly, a form of social security. The Lodge held funerals for deceased members, and funds donated each meeting were used to provide for Lodge members and their wives and children in times of need. Lodge members were emotionally and often financially supported during major disasters such as the 1918 Raetihi fire and the Hawke's Bay earthquake of 1931. During the First and Second World Wars, when a number of members left to fight, provision was made for widows and orphans and lump sums were donated to the government as part of the war effort. Other groups also made use of the facilities offered by the Lodge building. The Royal Arch and Rose Croix Chapters of Freemasonry used the Lodge Room for their ceremonies for the majority of the period in which the Lodge was in use, and in 1975 a cupboard was built in the anteroom to store their equipment. Between 1917 and 1941 the Oddfellows, a friendly society with similar aims to Freemasonry, also used the building. The supper room was used by a variety of groups including the Education Board and the Raetihi Anglican Church whose vicar, John Charles Abbott, was an early member of the Lodge. In 1920 the Trustees arranged to purchase the Lodge building for £650 plus interest from its five early members. The transaction was completed in 1958. The building continued to serve as a centre for Freemasonry in the Waimarino area until October 2003, when declining membership forced its closure. Over the period of its use, very few changes were made to the structure. The key change, the boarding up of the windows with fibrolite in 1970, is reversible and the structure remains in a condition close to its original design. The fate of this structure, a key part of male social and ritualistic activity in the Waimarino area, is currently unclear.

Sited on a large, flat section in Ward Street, Lodge Waimarino is an excellent example of early twentieth-century Masonic architecture. It is constructed almost entirely from timber. The single storey building is clad in rusticated weatherboards and has a roof of corrugated iron. The roof is peaked, and has a wide overhang, which is supported by regularly placed eaves brackets. The only visible windows are located in the rear of the building. The windows in the front façade were covered over with fibrolite in 1970, following the malicious damage to the windows on this side by locals. The focus of the exterior of the building is the entrance. It is emphasised by a peaked roofline, which is visually supported by four rectangular timber columns. Between the two central columns is the entrance porch. The entrance porch roof mimics the roofline above and is intended to create the impression of a Grecian temple, a style favoured by many Lodges in the early twentieth century. It features two smooth, round timber columns at the front, which give a visual impression of stone. The columns support a pediment with an entablature embossed with the Masonic symbol. The narrow door surround is decorated with regularly placed circular impressions. The interior of the rectangular building consists of a large lodge room, an anteroom and entrance, supper room, a kitchen and bathroom, and a storage area (see plan in Appendix 4 of the registration report). The importance of the Lodge Room is physically represented and emphasised by its comparative grandeur, which contrasts markedly with the other rooms in the building. The rectangular Lodge Room features a barrel-vaulted ceiling, which culminates in a large, elevated oblong area which has been painted blue. The walls have a polished wood dado, and regularly placed, polished wood battens, which emphasise the curve of the ceiling. The floor is carpeted, but in the centre of the room are the black and white checked tiles that are common to all Lodge Rooms. In the Lodge Room, the location and style of seating indicates the status of Lodge members, and at the far end room, on a raised platform are the chairs of the Worshipful Master and his senior wardens. These elevated ornamental seats are further distinguished by a wooden canopy, which reflects the design of the entrance porch on the outside of the building and serves as a physical symbol of the Master's importance. Plain, wooden seating for other Lodge members line the walls and face the centre of the room. A beautifully carved, yet simple altar stands at the edge of the tiled area, while the walls feature the portraits and records of Lodge members. The entrance foyer, entrance room, supper room and kitchen are markedly plain in comparison. Each room is severely simple in shape and there are no elaborate ceilings or wall decorations. The walls are unlined, painted boards unrelieved by skirting boards, architraves or picture rails. Apart from the entrance foyer, which is now carpeted, the rooms feature exposed timber flooring. The rectangular supper room was originally warmed by a fireplace (now boarded over) and the remnants of the boarded over windows on the street side are still evident.