Church of One Tree, Gothic church building in Santa Rosa, United States
The Church of One Tree is a Gothic wooden church in Santa Rosa built from timber sourced from a single ancient redwood. The structure features a prominent spire and eight stained glass windows along Sonoma Avenue.
In 1873, the church was constructed using timber from a single 84-meter-tall redwood tree. This use of one entire tree for a complete building was an unusual approach for the time.
The name refers to the single ancient redwood tree that provided all materials for the structure, a choice that reflected the builders' connection to the forest landscape around them.
The building is managed by the city's Parks and Recreation Department and can be visited or rented for private events. Its location on Sonoma Avenue in central Santa Rosa makes it easy to reach.
The timber came from a tree with a diameter of about 5.5 meters that was estimated to be over 3,000 years old. Using the entire tree for this single building made it an unusual monument to the scale of California's ancient forests.
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