Neo-Egyptian columns and a winged disc decorate the 1903 home of the secret society Sphinx

Hanover, N.H. — Dartmouth College’s most intriguing secret society appears to be having some plumbing work done.

Sphinx, an all-male secret society believed to have been founded in 1886, occupies a windowless neo-Egyptian temple tucked in a copse of trees on East Wheelock Street, between a fraternity house and a dormitory (The Chronicle, June 19, 1991). The poured-concrete building, an architectural gem, was designed by William M. Butterfield and dates to 1903. It is known to members as the Tomb.

Little else can be said with any certainty, except that people have occasionally been observed entering the building through a nondescript side door. No signs of wear mark the front steps, which lead to a doorway surmounted by a winged disk, a staple of ancient Egyptian symbolism. Indeed, it was unclear for years whether there was even really a door at the top of the steps, rather than a blank wall.

But of course there were rumors, the best known of which was that the building once had the highest water bill in Hanover. That rumor got a boost from a pamphlet published after the building was reopened in the wake of World War II. “Miraculously all machinery functioned when reopening repairs started soon after Ground Hog Day (Cleopatra’s Swimming Pool took a little extra effort),” says the pamphlet, now in the college archives.

Even so, it was a surprise to walk by the building Thursday and find it surrounded by plumbers’ vans, orange safety netting, and earthmoving equipment. There’s even a bright-blue portable toilet out back. A fresh trench leading away from the side of the building holds a collection of pipes that snake down toward the street — three smaller pipes and one slightly larger.

A walk around the building revealed that now there really is a door, with hinges, at the top of the front steps, and that at some point a railing had been added around the perimeter of the roof. Even secret societies must be subject to the worries of insurers and the requirements of building and fire codes.

And then, too quickly to catch with the camera, the nondescript side door opened. Just for an instant — as a middle-aged guy in jeans and a t-shirt walked out — it was possible to see inside the mysterious little temple. But only to an equally nondescript wall behind the door. —Lawrence Biemiller

Among vehicles parked beside the temple Thursday was this van, labeled “ARC Mechanical Contractors” and “Plumbing Division”

A portable toilet stands at the back of the building

A man who did not seem to be a Sphinx member was seen leaving the side door (Chronicle photographs by Lawrence Biemiller)