Forestiere Underground Gardens, Fresno, CA

Take a subterranean journey to the Mediteranean--in the middle of California !

Baldassare Forestiere
and his world-renowned Underground Gardens

Forestiere Underground Gardens are an unusual manmade creation. The extraordinary life’s work of Sicilian immigrant Baldassare Forestiere began in Fresno, California in 1905 where he had bought 80 acres of land.  Despite his Mediterranean background he found the 105 plus degree temperatures unbearable.  Then he remembered the cool underground wine cellars back home in Sicily.  Inspired, he began to dig using pick, shovel and wheelbarrow.  A few inches below ground he hit between three and five feet of hard pan (sedentary rock) before he finally discovered fertile soil and decided to create an underground home.  There are 3 levels within the underground structure.
Level one: 10 feet deep, Level two: 22 feet deep and Level three: 23 feet deep.

It had a summer bedroom, a winter bedroom, a bath, a functional kitchen, a fish pond, and a parlor with a fireplace.  Interspersed amongst the beautiful stone walls and archways are grottoes and courtyards that allow for pockets of light. The intricate pathways were created section by section, over a span of 10 acres, without the aid of blueprints.
 The gardens, while subterranean, have many skylights and catchbasin for water. The dirt that was moved to create the large structure was utilized elsewhere to fill planters, create stones placed within the catacombs, and to level out other parts of the land. The pathways and rooms were constructed with various widths to help direct airflow by creating pressure as it moves through narrower portions and maintain movement as it bounces off the slants and curves of the cavernous walls. The conical skylights allow for the hot air to be pushed out more quickly and the cool air to remain below.













100 year old grape vine




Our tour guide was excellent.  You could tell she loved her job.




Bathroom

Kitchen table minus the orange tree that used to grow out of the center.




In the winter to keep the warm air in and the cold air out, he placed sheets of glass over the skylights.  To cover off drafts, he installed glass doors and windows.  For even more warmth he lit the fireplace. 
In summer he removed the pieces of glass, thus allowing the cool underground air to circulate more freely throughout his home.

Kitchen

Summer bedroom

Winter bedroom

The sign reads 
"Some men see things are they are and say why
I dream things that never were and say why not"



 Fish pond which can be viewed from above and underneath.