A California Historical Landmark and an artistic and architectural treasure, the Forestiere Underground Gardens is a miracle of folk art.
Akin to the Watts Towers and Nitwit Ridge, it is the vision of a man who could craft anything, and didn’t let a little problem like hard and unyielding soil destroy his vision of a California Eden.
An hour long tour takes visitors through the well-preserved tunnels and caves created by Baldassare Forestiere, a Sicillian immigrant. His underground rooms, courtyards, and passages include producing fruit trees and vines some now 90 years old.
Always a digger, Forestiere immigrated first to New York City where he excavated subway tunnels. He moved west in search of his dream of a perfect climate and a rich orchard; first to Orange County, then to Fresno, where he bought 80 acres for what was then $80 in the early 1900s. But the land he purchased was hard as rock, too difficult to break through the hard pan surface to plant, particularly in weather that in the summer could soar to 120 degrees.
So instead, he dug below, far below, creating an underground haven similar in temperature and construction to large wine cellars or catacombs. His dream evolved: he decided he wanted to create an underground resort with 50 rooms.
He dug for over 30 years; but his dream was unrealized in full: after surgery for a hernia he contracted pneumonia and passed away. His brother Giuseppe knew what the property meant to his brother and saved ten acres from development, opening it to tours and the public.
Today, viewers can explore the ballroom where a terrazzo floor was laid; Baldassare Forestiere‘s ingenious water piping and bathtub, his irrigation for underground fruit trees that are still thriving, his kitchen, with clever nooks and crannies, mosaic decorative work, and more.
It’s a wonderful place, full of smart touches from rotating cabinets to expandable tables; a glassed in pond that could be viewed from a lower level of the caverns and on the floor above.
Giuseppe’s now-80 year old son Rick and his children still work on preserving the gardens, and the rather magical memories Rick has of sleepovers at his uncle’s place have been passed through the generations.
It may not have become a luxury underground hotel, but it is a special luxury to visit the place, to see a wonderfully realized artistic vision. Think of it as installation art that has reached the highest pinnacle of success; something to be lived in, treasured, and preserved.
“To make something with a lot of money, that is easy; but to make something out of nothing – now that is really something.”
— BALDASSARE FORESTIERE
You want to see this brilliant space, it is art and architecture and crazy vision and faith realized all at once. Faith possibly above all.
Just get on the 99 and go. The tours are warmly given, the gift shop may have fruit available from Forestiere’s own trees.
On you way back to LA, stop at a Basque restaurant in Bakersfield and eat an inexpensive feast, and raise a glass of beer or wine in a toast to Forestiere – and the power of persistence, and the strength of a dream.
- Genie Davis; Photos: Genie Davis; and Forestiere Underground Gardens