Feather River California Temple: History, Design, and Key Facts
Feather River California Temple by LDS Temple News
The Feather River California Temple is the 184th dedicated temple in operation and the eighth temple built in California. It was the first temple built in Sutter County. Its address is 1470 Butte House Road, Yuba City, California 95993.
The temple was originally announced as planned for Yuba City. President Russell M. Nelson announced it to the public on October 7, 2018, during General Conference. At the time, it was to become California’s eighth temple, joining 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). California was then home to more than 760,000 Church members organized into nearly 1,300 congregations.
The temple rendering was released on September 26, 2019. The groundbreaking and dedication of the grounds are listed as taking place on July 18, 2020, with Area Seventy Paul H. Watkins presiding. The historical details also describe a small groundbreaking event on Saturday, June 18, 2020, with attendance limited by COVID-19 social-distancing guidelines. Those two dates conflict: June 18, 2020, was a Thursday, while July 18 was a Saturday. In the dedicatory prayer for the grounds, Elder Watkins prayed, “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.”
A public open house took place from August 19 through September 9, 2023. Apostle Ulisses Soares dedicated the temple on October 8, 2023. A brief statement associated with his message captures its purpose: “The temple is the house of the Lord.”
At a glance
- Address: 1470 Butte House Road, Yuba City, California 95993
- Land area: 9.24 acres
- Interior area: 41,665 square feet
- Height: 135 feet
- Elevation: 60 feet
- Form: Two stories, with a single attached end spire
- Rooms: Four instruction rooms, three sealing rooms, and one baptistry
- Exterior finish: Cream precast concrete panels
- Spire feature: A gold-leafed Angel Moroni statue
Architecture and design
Art glass and grounds
Almond blossoms appear in the art glass in every temple window. The arched windows on the second level and the windows in the ordinance spaces feature the blossoms, reflecting the area’s agricultural industry. The design celebrates natural beauty and the rewards of hard work, using the almond blossom’s natural colors against a backdrop that fades from yellow to blue.
The landscape plan draws inspiration from the Sacramento Valley’s Mediterranean climate, regional history, and biodiversity. It incorporates mature native oak, redwood, and hackberry trees already on the grounds. Among its notable features are 100-year-old olive trees transplanted from a local orchard and arranged in groves in front of and behind the temple.
A six-foot-tall steel picket fence encloses the temple grounds. Its bronze powder-coated finish matches other metal fixtures. Precast concrete pillars mark the gated entrances.
Feather River California Temple Materials and interior details
The general carpet pattern draws from early Christian architecture. Its green color represents the area’s rice fields and farming community, while carved almond-flower details coordinate with the art glass. The rug designs recall an open field of local wildflowers and California poppies, the state flower.
The stone floor combines Crema Beige marble from Iran, Emperador Light from Turkey, Inca Gold from Pakistan, Verde Lichen from Iran, Rojo Alicante from Spain, and Vanilla marble from Turkey. The colors were chosen to complement the fabrics and reflect local flora. Stone patterns throughout the temple reference other buildings in the area, while the pattern around the baptistry is drawn from the art-glass designs.
Decorative paint is used simply along the patron path. In the ordinance areas, it forms an abstract design based on local flora and its underlying geometry. The paint accents key architectural points and connections, drawing attention to the area’s natural beauty and the principles that contribute to it.
The interior lights are brass, with crystal added in the ordinance spaces. All the fixtures have shallow bowls. In the ordinance rooms, the bowl’s shallow curve contrasts with the vaulted ceiling, bringing together two complementary elements that complete the circle.
Woodwork, furnishings, and finishes
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 recalls the shape of the rice plant grown extensively in the area.
The doors are made of cherry wood, reflecting cherries’ importance as an agricultural product in the area. Their hardware is brass, with arches, a reed-and-ribbon motif, and abstract forms inspired by flora.
Simple textured wallcoverings are used throughout the temple. A leaf pattern in the bride’s room echoes the art glass and rug designs and derives from early Christian representations of the olive branch.
Vaulted ceilings
The ceilings in the temple’s ordinance spaces are vaulted, referencing early Christian architecture and local historical architecture.
Feather River California Temple by LDS Temple News.