The three-story brick and stone Pythian Castle, with its visually arresting façade, is one of the best surviving examples of Romanesque Revival architecture in the city of Portsmouth. Designed by local architect and builder Edward Overman, Pythian Castle was constructed in 1897-98. Typical of the period’s fraternal lodges, the exotic edifice housed the meetings of the Knights of Pythias, a secret organization. It, and similar fraternal societies, were normally the chief patrons of such stylistically conspicuous late-19th-century buildings, usually the most elaborate structures in their communities. The “Castle” is located in the Downtown Portsmouth Historic District.