House of the Lord Feather River California Temple by LDS Temple News
The Feather River California Temple is the 184th dedicated temple in operation and the first temple built in Sutter County, California. It is located at 1470 Butte House Road, Yuba City, California 95993. The two-story temple stands 135 feet tall, at an elevation of 60 feet, and has 41,665 square feet of interior space. Its grounds cover 9.24 acres.
Announcement and milestones
The temple was announced to the public by Prophet Russell M. Nelson at General Conference on October 7, 2018. Originally announced as a temple planned for Yuba City, it became California’s eighth temple. At the time of the announcement, California was home to more than 760,000 Church members organized into nearly 1,300 congregations.
The other California temples then dedicated were the Los Angeles California Temple (1956), Oakland California Temple (1964), San Diego California Temple (1993), Fresno California Temple (2000), Redlands California Temple (2003), Newport Beach California Temple (2005), and Sacramento California Temple (2006). A rendering of the Feather River California Temple was released on September 26, 2019.
Groundbreaking, open house, and dedication
The supplied details give July 18, 2020, as the date of the groundbreaking and grounds dedication. They also state that Area Seventy Paul H. Watkins presided at a small groundbreaking event on Saturday, June 18, 2020. Attendance was limited under COVID-19 social-distancing guidelines.
In the prayer dedicating the grounds, Elder Watkins said: “As the temple foundation is poured, and the walls are placed, and the roof is formed, let us all revitalize our foundational faith in apostles and prophets with Jesus Christ being our chief cornerstone.”
The public open house took place from August 19 through September 9, 2023. Apostle Ulisses Soares dedicated the temple on October 8, 2023. A concise reminder associated with his message is: “The temple is the house of the Lord, and it is the most sacred place on earth.”
Feather River California Temple Exterior and grounds
The exterior is finished with cream precast concrete panels. Its architectural design features a single attached end spire topped by a gold-leafed Angel Moroni statue. The temple includes four instruction rooms, three sealing rooms, and one baptistry.
The landscape plan draws inspiration from the Sacramento Valley’s Mediterranean climate, local history, and biodiversity. It incorporates several mature native oak, redwood, and hackberry trees already on the grounds. A notable feature is a group of 100-year-old olive trees transplanted from a local orchard, arranged in groves in front of and behind the temple.
The grounds are enclosed by a six-foot-tall steel picket fence with a bronze-colored powder coating that matches the other metal fixtures. Precast concrete pillars mark the gated entrances.
Art glass and interior details
Art glass appears in every window. The arched second-level windows and the windows in the ordinance spaces feature almond blossoms, reflecting the area’s agricultural industry. The design celebrates the beauty of the blossoms and the rewards of hard work, using their natural colors against a background that fades from yellow to blue.
The general carpet pattern draws from early Christian architecture. Its green color represents the rice fields and agricultural life of the area. Carved into the carpet is an almond-flower design that coordinates with the art glass. Other rug designs evoke an open field of local wildflowers and the California poppy, the state flower.
The stone flooring uses Crema Beige marble from Iran, Emperador Light from Turkey, Inca Gold from Pakistan, Verde Lichen from Iran, Rojo Alicante from Spain, and Vanilla from Turkey. The colors were selected to coordinate with the fabrics and reflect local flora. The stone pattern throughout the temple refers to other buildings in the area, while the pattern around the baptistry takes its design from the art glass.
Craftsmanship and architectural references
Decorative paint is used simply along the patron path. In the ordinance areas, its abstracted local-flora designs incorporate underlying geometric forms. The paint accents key architectural points and connections, reflecting the area’s natural beauty and the principles that contribute to it.
The interior lights are brass, with crystal added in the ordinance spaces. Each fixture has a shallow bowl. In the ordinance rooms, the bowl’s shallow curve contrasts with the vaulted ceiling, bringing together two complementary elements that complete a circle.
Decorative millwork appears on the altars, recommend desk, baptismal font, and doors leading into ordinance spaces. Its modified quatrefoil pattern draws from early Christian architecture and abstracts the form of a four-leaf clover.
The font railing abstracts the tall reeds that grow along the edges of bodies of water and also draws on the shape of the rice plant, which is widely grown in the area. Cherry wood was selected for the doors, reflecting cherries’ importance as a local agricultural product. The doors have brass hardware with arches, a reed-and-ribbon motif, and abstract floral forms.
Simple textured wallcoverings are used throughout the temple. In the bride’s room, a leaf pattern recalls the art glass and rug designs and derives from early Christian depictions of the olive branch. The ceilings in the ordinance spaces are vaulted, referencing early Christian and local historical architecture.
House of the Lord Feather River California Temple by LDS Temple News