Forestiere Underground Living 1920s in Fresno!

Underground Gardens

If you are EVER driving up Hwy 99 or even Hwy 5, it is WELL worth the detour to Fresno to se the Forestiere Underground Gardens! The man dug much of the complex by himself, water catchment, underground trees to escape the heat, dealing with hardpan, it has it all!

I did a search and the name didn't come up so I had to post this. I had heard about it and always wanted to visit but had forgotten all about it. I was teaching a class in Fresno, asked them what was cool to do there and the moment the guy mentioned this underground garden I got so excited as I remember it was there. VERY cool tour, very funky but inspiring what can be done!

Baldassare Forestiere must have been a complete madman, but he definitely was tapped into the same deep knowledge that the "permie canon" draw from.

There's a very colorful New Yorker article from 1998 that tells his story.

I have not visited the gardens, but I hope to someday. The two things that I want to do in Fresno are go to the underground gardens, and visit the farmer's market plaza that was designed by Christopher Alexander, my favorite architect.

nathan luedtke wrote: The two things that I want to do in Fresno are go to the underground gardens, and visit the farmer's market plaza that was designed by Christopher Alexander, my favorite architect.

OOOH, next time i am down there teaching, I will have to go the plaza, never heard of it but it looks amazing!

Wow! This is fascinating and beautiful. I hope to visit there sometime for some permie inspiration.

Howdy,

I grew up near here(Fig Garden area) and remember this family having "trouble" with fresno county building code enforcement etc...

As kids, and boy scouts, we got to go on field trips to the Underground Gardens, beyond amazing!!!