Media of the Feather River California Temple by LDS Temple News
The Feather River California Temple is the 184th dedicated temple in operation. Located at 1470 Butte House Road, Yuba City, California 95993, it was originally announced as a temple planned for Yuba City. It is the first temple built in Sutter County and the eighth temple built in California.
The two-story House of the Lord stands on 9.24 acres, at an elevation of 60 feet. It measures 41,665 square feet and reaches 135 feet in height. Its exterior finish is cream precast concrete panels, and its architectural design features a single attached end spire topped with a gold-leafed Angel Moroni statue. Inside are four instruction rooms, three sealing rooms, and one baptistry.
Announcement, design release, and dedication
The Feather River California Temple was announced to the public by President Russell M. Nelson at General Conference on October 7, 2018. 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 supplied details give two dates for the groundbreaking and dedication of the grounds. One states that they took place on July 18, 2020, with Paul H. Watkins, an Area Seventy, presiding. Another describes a small groundbreaking on Saturday, June 18, 2020, presided over by Watkins, with attendance limited under COVID-19 social-distancing guidelines. The details therefore contain a discrepancy in the date. 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 was held from August 19 through September 9, 2023. Elder Ulisses Soares dedicated the Feather River California Temple on October 8, 2023. In a statement about the temple, he said, “The temple is the house of the Lord.”
Art glass and grounds inspired by the region
Almond blossoms appear in the art glass throughout the temple’s windows. The arched windows on the second level and those in the ordinance spaces depict the blossoms, reflecting the area’s agricultural industry. The design celebrates 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, as well as the area’s history and biodiversity. Several mature native oak, redwood, and hackberry trees already on the grounds are incorporated into the plan. A notable feature is a collection of 100-year-old olive trees transplanted from a local orchard. They are arranged in groves in front of and behind the temple.
The temple grounds are enclosed by a six-foot-tall steel picket fence with a bronze-colored powder coating that matches other metal fixtures. Precast concrete pillars mark the gated entrances.
Interior details and materials
The general carpet pattern draws from early Christian architecture. Its green color represents the region’s rice fields and farming community. The carved carpet design incorporates almond flowers to coordinate with the art glass. Other rug designs evoke an open field of local wildflowers and California poppies, the state flower.
Stone flooring throughout the temple includes 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 references other buildings in the area, while the pattern around the baptistry draws from the art glass designs.
Feather River California Temple Paint, lighting, and decorative woodwork
Decorative paint is used simply along the patron path. In the ordinance areas, its design abstracts local flora and the geometry underlying those forms. It accents the architecture at key points and connections, drawing attention to the natural beauty of the area and the principles that contribute to that beauty.
The interior lights are brass, with crystal details added in the ordinance spaces. Each fixture features a shallow bowl. In the ordinance rooms, the bowl’s shallow curve contrasts with the vaulted ceiling above it, bringing together two complementary elements that complete the circle.
Decorative millwork appears on the altars, recommend desk, baptismal font, and doors leading into ordinance spaces. Its modified quatrefoil pattern draws on early Christian architecture and offers an abstraction of the four-leaf clover.
Doors, wallcoverings, and vaulted ceilings
The font railing is designed as an abstraction of tall reeds growing along the edges of bodies of water. Its form also recalls the rice plant, which is grown extensively in the area.
The doors are made of cherry wood, reflecting cherries’ importance as an agricultural product in the region. Their hardware is brass and features 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 connects with the art glass and rug designs; its form comes from early Christian depictions of the olive branch. The ceilings in the ordinance spaces are vaulted, drawing on early Christian and local historical architecture.
Media of the Feather River California Temple by LDS Temple News