Fresno, California: Forestiere Underground Gardens

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.

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.

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.

This place is amazing! Baldasare, living in the heat of Fresno, California in the early 1900s without air conditioning, decided to dig himself a cellar where he could escape the stiffling heat. Apparently, he got carried away! You have to see it to appreciate it. We were there on May 2 1998 and our tour guide was Lorraine Forestiere. The family is trying to keep it open and, since it is prime property on a mail road, evil developers (vultures) are not far away. You have to see it before it's gone.

The Forestiere Underground Gardens were created by Baldasere Forestiere, a Sicilian immigrant who once worked on New York City's subway system. He built this primitive architectural marvel over a 40-year period using only crude tools. The gardens, recently opened to the public by the Underground Nature Conservancy, feature a labyrinth of tunnels connecting more than 50 rooms and 100 patios, courts and grottoes; all beneath a 10-acre parcel of land. Many of the skylit recesses are filled with exotic plants and fruit trees. Arches and stonework supporting the natural hardpan rooting were patterned after ancient Roman construction. Tours are available.