Fresno, California - Forestiere Underground Gardens

We just took a tour with our homeschool group. It is still a marvel to visit. We went while it was still cool in Fresno, but visits during the heat of summer are more awesome due to the temperature change below.

They have a website: http://www.undergroundgardens.info

The price has gone up a little, and the grandson doesn't do all the tours, if any. We were led by a college age student. He was informative and friendly.

This is truly a unique experience if you have never gone. I went in high school, when my son was about 12, now my daughter is 12 so we went again, and took my now 21 yr son. He and I still enjoyed it even though we had visited before. [Danielle, 05/08/2009]

Forestiere Underground Gardens are a must see for anyone who is interested in architecture, unusual gardens, and unique road trips. The surrounding Fresno area gives no hint as to what's beneath the fenced in an overgrown lot off the freeway. As you make your way beneath the earth's surface into the tunnels and rooms, you are transported to another country, with its Mediterranean and Old World charm and feel. The ballroom is simply amazing with its stained glass basement windows, terrazzo marbled floors, wrought iron work, and washed aqua-green beamed ceiling.

The guided tour is lead by Baldasare Forestiere's younger brother's great grandson, Andre Forestiere, who is very polite, welcoming, and informative. The tour is very informal and relaxing. Andre enthusiastically tells the story of Baldasare Forestiere and the creation of his gardens, and reveals Baldasare's personal meanings and artistic expressions behind specific planters, rooms, and so on. He raises questions about the auto drive and why the cellar was built next to it. He points out and gives background into other family member's contributions and additions over the years to the gardens, such as the ballroom and aesthetically pleasing arbors built over the skylights. Using a bit of humor, Andre gives hints and glimpses into what he has in store for the gardens in the upcoming years. Unlike other tours, Andre actually encourages the touching of walls and rock/brick work. [Kim and Diane, 06/08/2005]

Still there, still wonderful. We've driven by a million times whenever we're in Fresno, but finally were able to stop in while they're open. Marvelous.

This project is clearly a labor of love. There is nothing slick or too-polished about the tour or the grounds. They will not pester you to buy stuff after the tour, and the nephew's wife and their son will be the ones leading you around. I am sure there are few questions they haven't heard, but you'd never know that by the gracious way they answer each and every one.

Go a couple of times -- your admission is good for a year, they told me -- once for the tour, and once with a nice book. On that second trip, return to that nice spot you found on your first trip, enjoy the currents and cross-currents designed by Baldasare, the lovely scents borne on those breezes, and let your mind wander a bit. You may not get much of your book read, but you will have your soul refreshed.

We plan to make this a stop whenever we're in Fresno. [Shannon Smith, 08/02/2004]

The Underground Gardens are fabulous. BUT BE WARNED! The real hours of the attraction are 10 am -- 4 pm. But, these are semi-guided tours. And the last one leaves at 2 pm. When we went, we were allowed in by begging, but please, please, get there by 2. Also, the 10:00 tour does not always happen. You might want to call before you go. [James, 05/13/2001]

My friend Linda and I just returned from a 2 week tour of northern CA. Many thanks to you, we made a special point to visit Forestiere Gardens and we were warmly welcomed by (Alex I believe) Baldasere Forestiere's grand or Great-grand (nephew?... Baldasere was Alex's Great Grand Father's or Grand father's brother) just a half hour before closing and 45 minutes after the last "scheduled" tour. I would not recommend getting there late as we did, but Alex stayed later for us. He lives there, is truly in awe himself of the building, and is currently surveying the whole house.

We were enlightened with copious information, the why's and wherefore's, etc. The biggest treat was the coolness of the house (we were told approx. total 10,000 sq. ft!) and just imagining it being carved with simple tools. And the unique way Baldasere designed his fruit trees to be harvested at ground level w/o the need for a ladder. The other unique item was the tree that was grafted with seven or eight different species of fruit, neither of with intermingled with the other. [Al Worrell, 08/12/2000]