Baldasare Forestiere, Underground Gardens
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Location:
Fresno, California, USA (Map)
Status:
Extant
Artist:
Built:
1904 to 1946
Materials:
stone
Visiting Information
The Forestiere Underground Gardens are located 2 blocks east of Highway 99 at the Shaw Avenue Exit.
Central courtyard circa 1975.
Courtyard side view circa 1975.
Interior room circa 1975.
Interior tree through passage circa 1975.
Interior tree through passage circa 1975.
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Photograph by Seymour Rosen. ©SPACES
Photograph by Seymour Rosen. ©SPACES
Photograph by Seymour Rosen. ©SPACES
Photograph by Seymour Rosen. ©SPACES
Photograph by Seymour Rosen. ©SPACES
Used with permission of the photographer, Pedro Zaro
Used with permission of the photographer, Pedro Zaro
Used with permission of the photographer, Pedro Zaro
Used with permission of the photographer, Pedro Zaro
Used with permission of the photographer, Pedro Zaro
Used with permission of the photographer, Pedro Zaro
Used with permission of the photographer, Pedro Zaro
Used with permission of the photographer, Pedro Zaro
Used with permission of the photographer, Pedro Zaro
Used with permission of the photographer, Pedro Zaro
Used with permission of the photographer, Pedro Zaro
Used with permission of the photographer, Pedro Zaro
Used with permission of the photographer, Pedro Zaro
Used with permission of the photographer, Pedro Zaro
Used with permission of the photographer, Pedro Zaro
Used with permission of the photographer, Pedro Zaro
Used with permission of the photographer, Pedro Zaro
Used with permission of the photographer, Pedro Zaro
Used with permission of the photographer, Irene Rible
Used with permission of the photographer, Irene Rible
Used with permission of the photographer, Irene Rible
Used with permission of the photographer, Irene Rible
Used with permission of the photographer, Irene Rible
Used with permission of the photographer, Irene Rible
Used with permission of the photographer, Irene Rible
Used with permission of the photographer, Irene Rible
Images
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About the Artist/Site
A Sicilian immigrant, Baldasare carved out a 10-acre Underground Gardens in Fresno with pick and wheelbarrow, a living space which included conical-shaped rooms, courts, winding passageways, and even patios boasting fruit-bearing trees. Benefiting from the stable underground temperatures, he worked on the three-level subterranean site for over forty years. The site is currently maintained by the family although threatened on all sides by urbanization. California Historical Landmark #916, National Register of Historic Places.
~ Jo Farb Hernández
SPACES Archive Holdings
3 folders: clippings, correspondence, images, pamphlets, nat’l historic places nomination forms
Related Documents
Timeline for Underground Gardens
Letter to Lorraine Forestiere from SPACES/Cynthia Pansing, 12/17/1987
Letter to Lorraine Forestiere from SPACES/Cynthia Pansing, 12/17/1987
Letter to Fresno City Hall, 10/30/1987
Letter to SPACES/Seymour Rosen from Rene di Rosa, 8/8/1983
Timeline of Baldasare Forestiere’s life, 12/18/1987
Diagram of Underground Gardens. 1975
pamphlet for Dedication of the Forestiere Underground Gardens, 10/12/1979
Letter to Lawrence D. Harris from Bill Pfeif, Underground Gardens Conservancy, 6/7/1994
Business card for Aaron Gallup, CA Dept of Parks and Rec
Info about termination of Underground Gardens lease, 1986
Letter to James Stockton & Associates from SPACES/Seymour Rosen, 9/30/1986
Letter to John Grey, Preserve Bottle Village Committee, 2/8/1983
note from Lindsay Kefauver, 7/18/1985
postcard to SPACES/Seymour Rosen from Lindsay Kefauver, 7/15/1985
picture return record, 8/28/1985
Letter from SPACES/Seymour Rosen, 7/22/1985
Letter to Rene di Rosa from SPACES/Seymour Rosen, 1/4/1983
invitation to dedication of Underground Gardens, 10/12/1979
Letter to Bill Sugaya, National Trust for Historic Preservation from Rick Forestiere, 8/30/1979
Letter to Rick Forestiere from Philip C. Fullerton, Fullerton, Lang, Richert, & Patch, 8/15/1979
Letter to Carolyn La Ron from Lorraine Ruth Forestiere, 7/7/1979
Letter to Ricardo Forestiere from SPACES/Seymour Rosen, 7/18/1979
Letter to Ricardo Forestiere from SPACES/Seymour Rosen, 10/23/1979
Letter to Edith Wyle, Craft and Folk Art Museum from Leo Gould, 5/17/1978
Letter to SPACES/Seymour Rosen from Rick Forestiere, 5/15/1977
Letter to Lorraine Forestiere from Galen Cranz, UC Berkeley, 3/18/1977
Letter to Aaron Gallup, CA State Historic Preservation Office from Rick Forestiere, 5/5/1977
Letter to Rick Forestiere from SPACES/Seymour Rosen, 2/15/1977
Letter to SPACES/Seymour Rosen from Rick and Lorraine Forestiere, 1/20/1977
Letter to Underground Gardens from Ludwig Glaeser, MoMA, 6/21/1976
postcard to SAPCES/Seymour Rosen from Rick Forestiere, 4/29/1976
Letter to Rick Forestiere from SPACES/Seymour Rosen, 3/24/1976
note to SPACES/Seymour Rosen from Lorraine Forestiere
Letter from Lorraine Forestiere
possible contacts for Underground Gardens
Letter to Rick Forestiere from Philip C. Fullerton, Fullerton, Lang, Richert, & Patch, 5/13/1981
Application for Registration of Historical Lnadmark, 10/12/1977
Letter to Bill Watkins, District Representative from RR Forestiere, 6/4/1979
National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form, 3/28/1977
Application for Registration of Historical Lnadmark-Architectural Supplement, 10/6/1977
Letter to SPACES/Seymour Rosen
Outline Program Analysis, 1/1980
preservation recommendation for Underground Gardens
Map and site information
5021 W Shaw Ave
Fresno, California, United States
Latitude/Longitude: 36.808047 / -119.881843
Visiting Information
The Forestiere Underground Gardens are located 2 blocks east of Highway 99 at the Shaw Avenue Exit.
is a nonprofit public benefit organization created with an international focus on the study, documentation and archive of art environments and self-taught artistic activity.
Seymour Rosen
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