Forestiere Underground Gardens
Forestiere Underground Gardens | |
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Location | 5021 W. Shaw Ave., Fresno, California |
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Coordinates | 36°48′26″N 119°52′51″W / 36.80722°N 119.88083°W |
Architect | Forestiere, Baldasare |
NRHP reference No. | 77000293[1] |
CHISL No. | 916[2] |
Added to NRHP | October 28, 1977 |
The Forestiere Underground Gardens in Fresno, California are a series of subterranean structures built by Baldassare Forestiere, an immigrant from Sicily, over a period of 40 years from 1906 to his death in 1946. The gardens are operated by members of the Forestiere family through the Forestiere Historical Center, and can be considered a spectacular and unconventional example of vernacular architecture.[3][4]
History
[edit]Baldassare Forestiere (Italian pronunciation: [baldasˈsarre foreˈstjɛːre]; July 8, 1879 – November 10, 1946) was born in the hamlet of Filari, near Rometta on the northeastern tip of Sicily.[5] He immigrated to the United States in the early 1900s after a conflict with his father, and after time on the East Coast purchased land in Fresno. He found the hardpan soil unsuitable for citrus trees, and the weather punishingly hot during the summer.[6]
Baldassare dug a small cellar to escape the summer heat. He was likely influenced by Roman catacombs and wine cellars he had seen in Italy. Finding it effective and comfortable, he carved a series of attached rooms and took up residence there. Baldassare then began experimenting with growing trees in underground chambers with skylights, and found that with care they would grow well, and being below ground protected them from frost. Baldassare continued expanding and improving these underground gardens until his death in 1946, using hand tools and a pair of mules.[6]
The gardens were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 and registered as No. 916 on the list of California Historical Landmarks in 1978.
Design
[edit]There are 65 rooms in the Forestiere Underground Gardens.[7] It has a summer bedroom, a winter bedroom, a bath, a functional kitchen, a fishpond, and a parlor with a fireplace.[8] Interspersed amongst the stone walls and archways are grottoes and courtyards that allow for pockets of light. The intricate pathways were created section by section, over a span of 10 acres (4.0 ha), without the aid of blueprints.[9] There are three levels within the underground structure, one 10 feet (3.0 m) deep, one 20 feet (6.1 m) deep, and one 23 feet (7.0 m) deep.
The gardens have skylights and catch basins for water. The dirt that was moved to create the large structure was used elsewhere to fill planters, create stones placed within the catacombs, and to level out other parts of the land. The hardpan he excavated was reused as bricks for archways and supports. The pathways and rooms were constructed with various widths to help direct airflow by creating pressure as it moves through narrower portions and maintain movement as it bounces off the slants and curves of the cavernous walls. The conical skylights allow for the hot air to be pushed out more quickly and the cool air to remain below.
The plants and trees, some of which are over 100 years old, are protected from the frost in the winter months by virtue of construction. Each level was planted at different times, so they bloom in succession, in order to lengthen the growing season. It houses a variety of fruit ranging from citrus and berries to exotic fruits like the kumquat, loquat, and jujube. The trees have been grafted to bear more than one kind of fruit, allowing for a larger variety to be grown throughout the space. Trees and vines were also planted above the dwelling, acting as insulation and forming canopies that provide protection from the elements.
Depictions
[edit]![](http://178.128.105.246/cars-http-upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/88/Citrus_trees_at_Forestiere_Underground_Gardens.jpg/220px-Citrus_trees_at_Forestiere_Underground_Gardens.jpg)
T. Coraghessan Boyle wrote a fictionalized account of Forestiere, the short story "The Underground Gardens," which was published in The New Yorker in 1998.[10]
See also
[edit]- Burro Schmidt Tunnel is a 0.5 miles (0.80 km) mining tunnel dug with hand tools and dynamite over a 38-year period
- Ferdinand Cheval, a French postman who constructed an "ideal palace" out of rocks in his spare time.
- Hermit House, a residence located in Herzliya, Israel with mosaics constructed by one man over thirty years.
- House on the Rock Alex Jordan Jr. constructed "Japanese House" atop rock pinnacle in Spring Green, Wisconsin.
- Nitt Witt Ridge a house in Cambria, California constructed in a similar style.
- Watts Towers in Los Angeles, a collection of 17 interconnected structures, built by Italian immigrant Sabato Rodia.
- Hobby tunneling
References
[edit]- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
- ^ "Forestiere Underground Gardens". Office of Historic Preservation, California State Parks. Retrieved 2012-09-05.
- ^ Fiore, Teresa (2002). "Mid-Twentieth-Century Italian American Immigrant Spaces: Religious and Political Visions of Change in Architectural and Narrative Texts". Pre-Occupied Spaces: Re-configuring the Italian Nation Through its Migrations (Ph.D. thesis). La Jolla, CA: University of California, San Diego. p. 35. Document No.3064464 – via ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
- ^ Torchia, Joseph (1978). "The Underground World". In Baldwin, J.; Brand, Stewart (eds.). Soft-Tech: A CoEvolution Book. Harmondsworth, Eng.: Penguin Books. pp. 98–101. ISBN 0-14-004806-5. OCLC 4513768.
- ^ Manno, Silvio (2005). The Forestiere Underground Gardens: A Pictorial Journey. Ionian Publications. p. 3. ISBN 9780974491165.
- ^ a b "Forestiere - Forestiere Historical Center". 2021-07-20. Retrieved 2022-01-27.
- ^ "BURIED TREASURE : A Legal Battle Soils the Splendor of Subterranean Gardens". Los Angeles Times. Aug 13, 1989.
- ^ "Underground - Forestiere Historical Center". 2021-07-20. Archived from the original on 2013-04-14. Retrieved 2022-01-27.
- ^ "Forestiere Underground Gardens". Archived from the original on 2013-05-12. Retrieved 2013-04-27.
- ^ Boyle, T. Coraghessan (1998-05-18). "The Underground Gardens". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2022-01-27.
External links
[edit]![](http://178.128.105.246/cars-http-upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Official Website - Forestiere Underground Gardens
- Forestiere Historical Center and Underground Gardens
- Baldasare's Magnum Opus
- Thomas Curwen (January 29, 2004). "Dreams dwelled here". Los Angeles Times.
- Baldasare Forestiere's Underground Gardens
- "Under California- California's Gold (509)". Huell Howser Archive. Chapman University. 1994. Archived from the original on 18 May 2013. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
- Buildings and structures in Fresno, California
- Historic house museums in California
- Museums in Fresno County, California
- Houses in Fresno County, California
- History of the San Joaquin Valley
- Subterranea of the United States
- Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in California
- National Register of Historic Places in Fresno County, California
- Parks in the San Joaquin Valley
- Roadside attractions in California
- Underground cities
- Tourist attractions in Fresno, California
- Vernacular architecture in California
- Visionary environments