Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel in California

Thomas Aquinas College’s chapel and campus is surrounded by the orange and lemon orchards of the Santa Clara River Valley. To withstand California’s earthquakes, the building was constructed of steel, concrete, and rebar behind the limestone and stucco exterior. Courtesy of Thomas Aquinas College

The Topatopa Mountains east of the Sierra Madre range in Southern California serves as the backdrop for the most prominent structure on the campus of Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, California. With its Spanish mission-style terracotta tile roof and white façade, Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel is the visual anchor for other buildings on the small campus that serves about 500 students.

The private, four-year Roman Catholic college was founded in 1971. College officials and supporters took years to plan the chapel before starting construction. The goal was to focus on four characteristics—beauty, grandeur, permanence, and tradition—so that the chapel would be considered, in perpetuity, the college’s most aesthetically pleasing, as well as practical, building. Pope Benedict XVI blessed the chapel’s marble cornerstone on Sept. 3, 2008, and the building was dedicated in 2009.

Its architect, Duncan Stroik, is an author and professor of architecture at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. He worked with the planners to incorporate early Christian elements of a basilica, classical columns and arches, and a Renaissance-style dome.

Mr. Stroik explained his inspiration for the design of the 15,000-square-foot chapel on the college’s educational information website: “[The college wanted] elements of Romanesque and the Spanish Mission tradition in California, and we tried to look at where it came from in Spain.”

The chapel entrance faces the college green. Four classical columns surround the arched doorway of the front façade with smaller pedimented entrances at each end. The soft pink tiled steps gently balance the white walls trimmed in tan. Courtesy of Thomas Aquinas College

Above the main entrance, a classical temple face is adorned with four pilasters (engaged columns), a central quatrefoil (four-pointed) window, and a classical pediment topped by a sculpture of the Virgin Mary. Within the pediment is a bas-relief of the college's coat of arms flanked by two angels. Courtesy of Thomas Aquinas College

The bell tower rises to 135 feet. Three large brass bells ring three times daily over the rural landscape through arched openings within nested levels. Dental moldings surround the base of each level. Courtesy of Thomas Aquinas College

With seating for 700, the chapel reflects its classical roots with the 31-foot-high columns on each side of the nave. The columns support and accentuate the majestic barrel ceiling. For earthquake protection, full-length steel bars were inserted into nine-inch holes in the center of the columns. The decorative marble flooring features Latin phrases and coats of arms. Courtesy of Thomas Aquinas College

A majestic marble dome rises 89 feet above the center where the transept and nave cross. A 16-foot lantern can be seen from the outside through a row of 12 circular windows, representing the 12 apostles. Courtesy of Thomas Aquinas College

The centerpiece baldacchino, or canopy, traditionally placed over a church altar, is 34 feet high. Four Solomonic [referring to columns in the temple of Jerusalem during the reign of King Solomon] bronze columns are aesthetically curled to support a cover with elaborate and gilded details. The baldacchino’s design was inspired by one at St. Peter’s in Rome. Courtesy of Thomas Aquinas College

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