Legend has is that some time around the early 1900's, Baldassare Forestier left Italy to seek his fortune.
After a bit of meandering on both the east and west coasts of the U.S., he found himself in Fresno, wondering what great things he could do with many acres of land he'd purchased. His dreams of starting an orchard were quickly dashed when he put shovel to earth and hit hardpan -- a naturally occurring geological layer of rock-dense soil that meant "no orchard for you."
So he resorted to Plan B: painstakingly using hand tools to chisel bricks (just stop here to imagine and appreciate this for a bit) from the hardpan to create an underground castle/eco building. The dwelling, modeled after Roman catacombs, originally covered 10 acres. Its pared-down version still includes a summer and winter bedroom, a courtyard/sanctuary, a kitchen complete with stove, a cistern, a holding aquarium for the fresh fish destined for the dinner table, and naturally cool shelter from brutal Fresno summers -- no A/C required.
Even though the home has several subterranean levels, skylights keep the interior bright and airy, so we never felt as though we were underground. Or in a garden for that matter, because even though the plantings are numerous, the large stone rooms gives the interior a sparse look. The plants are indeed beautiful and eerie, with fruit trees grafted to produce more than one kind of fruit. One tree in particular had once produced seven different kinds of oranges, lemons, grapefruit.
The Underground Gardens is family run, and it gives tours daily as long as the weather permits; call ahead if the weather seems dicey. Weeks later, our family is still talking about the house, speculating about the man who built it, and cheering Fresno for reminding us city folk that agriculture actually exists and shapes lives on both large and small scales.
For more information, see The Underground Gardens of Fresno website.
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