Historical Marker · No. 916
Forestiere Underground Gardens
Fresno, Fresno County · California
Erected by State Department of Parks and Recreation; the Rick Forestiere family, 1979
The hardpan that ruined Baldasare Forestiere's plan is what his rooms are built of. He came from Sicily and bought land here for citrus, found a cemented layer no roots could pass, and from 1906 dug down through it with a pick, a shovel and a wheelbarrow, laying the removed hardpan into arches and walls. Over forty years he carved rooms, courts and planting pits under skylights without drawing a plan, and grafted several kinds of citrus onto one trunk. He died in 1946 with an underground resort unfinished; his family still keeps the place.
What the plaque says
Forestiere Underground Gardens Here, beneath the hot, arid surface of the San Joaquin Valley, Baldasare Forestiere (1879-1946) began in the early 1900's to sculpt a fantastic retreat. Excavating the hardpan by hand, he created a unique complex of underground rooms, passages and gardens which ramble throughout a ten-acre parcel. His work is being preserved as a living monument to a creative and individualistic spirit unbounded by conventionality. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 916 Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the Rick Forestiere family, October 12, 1979.
Where it stands
36.80800, -119.88164 · Directions