Forestiere Underground Gardens

In 1923 and 1924, the Fresno Bee described a vineyardist who had excavated 50 rooms beneath his ranch, "working alone in his spare time." The rooms were skylighted and joined by passageways, lemons and grapefruit grew in them, and "a great tunnel has been excavated for automobile traffic." The paper's article of March 23, 1923, ran under the headline "Resort Underground" and reported that "no plans were made."

Hardpan and heat

Baldassare Forestiere came from Filari, in the province of Messina in Sicily. The family's history dates his arrival in the United States to 1901, and a 2007 profile by Kenneth Scambray in Accenti magazine gives 1902.

His land in Fresno lay on hardpan under a shallow layer of topsoil. The National Register nomination written in 1977 calls hardpan "a native sedimentary stone that is pervasive to the area." The nomination dates his work from 1906 to 1946 and says he began carving a "retreat to escape the excessive heat." The same document puts the valley's temperatures between the low 20s and more than 115 degrees. The SPACES archive of self-built art environments dates the start to 1904. The family's history adds that he modeled the rooms on catacombs he had admired as a boy near Filari.

He dug in the time left over from his work as a vineyardist and horticulturist, with a pick, a shovel, and a wheelbarrow.

What he dug

The nomination describes caverns, grottos, patios, and garden courts around his underground home, joined by passageways and an automobile tunnel some 800 feet long. The columns, arches, and domes are hardpan, and some ceilings are carved "like inverted tea cups." Over the living quarters, he cut skylights and covered them with window glass in winter.

Citrus, figs, olives, dates, jujube, and carob grew in hardpan planters. One tree, about 22 feet below the surface, carried eight grafts of citrus, and in 1977 seven of them still bore fruit. The family's history says many of his trees are still growing.

In 1977, the nomination also found a fish pond crossed by a small footbridge in the court off the kitchen and bedrooms, and a walk-under aquarium with a circular glass bottom. The Bee had reported that a small lake at ground level would be enlarged, with a tunnel rising into its center so visitors could "ascend from the depths and enjoy boating." The lake was filled in for a parking lot instead.

Later counts of the rooms vary. A University of North Dakota archive note gives 65 rooms on three levels, and Scambray gives more than 100 rooms and tunnels. The family's history gives no number.

The family's website says he "never officially opened the Mediterranean resort of his dreams." A roadside architecture website adds a love story, with no source given: he went back to Sicily to ask a childhood sweetheart to join him, and she refused. Neither the nomination nor the family's history mentions the story.

Forestiere died in 1946, at 67. He had wanted to be buried in the gardens. He lies instead in Holy Cross Cemetery, about 5 miles south.

The listing

The property passed to the family of his brother Giuseppe. By 1977, 10 acres remained of an original parcel of more than 70 acres, after blocks were sold and land was taken for irrigation ditches, streets, easements, and freeways. The gardens entered the National Register of Historic Places on October 28, 1977.

California registered them as Historical Landmark No. 916 on January 31, 1978. The state plaque, placed with the Rick Forestiere family in 1979, calls the work "a living monument to a creative and individualistic spirit unbounded by conventionality." The plaque and the nomination both spell his first name Baldasare, with one s.

The site now

The grounds remain privately owned. In August 2025, construction on the high-speed rail line between Madera and Fresno closed Shaw Avenue from Blythe Avenue to about Forestiere Avenue, for a grade separation that will carry Shaw over the tracks. Shera Franzman of the gardens told ABC30 that drivers were passing by on the assumption that the site had closed, in the peak season that pays for restoration work during the winter closure.

Tours last about 1 hour, in groups of up to 18, with short talks in the rooms along the way. The season runs from March through November. For October and November 2026, tours are scheduled Thursday through Monday, starting every 30 minutes from 9am, with the last at 3pm. Adult tickets were $25 in September 2026, with $23 for seniors, college students, and military, $14 for ages 5 to 17, and no charge for children 4 and under. Reservations online or at 559-271-0734 are strongly recommended, because walk-in visitors are not always accommodated.

Tours are canceled when the ground is wet or rain is falling, and they can end early on heat advisory days, since the rooms have no air conditioning. The operator puts the rooms at 10 to 20 degrees cooler than ground level.

The route runs over earthen paths with about 20 stairs, all with handrails. An alternate route takes standard wheelchairs up to 26 inches wide, though not motorized chairs or scooters. The alternate route closes at times for restoration or wet weather, so a call on the day of the tour is worth making. Strollers, backpack carriers, and pets are not allowed on the tour. Tours in Spanish can be booked by email in advance.

Parking is on the street, along Shaw Avenue and Forestiere Avenue, and there is no lot. Rail construction around the site has changed traffic patterns, and the operator asks visitors to arrive 20 minutes early. The fruit on the trees is not for picking; the gift shop sells it in season. Video and panoramic photos are not permitted.