Forestiere Underground Gardens features sunken gardens and underground rooms from ten to 22 feet below the land's surface. And it was all the work of one man, with just a pick, shovel, and wheelbarrow! Baldasare Forestiere immigrated to America in 1901 and bought 80 acres near Fresno, California. The land turned out not to be great for farming, so he started digging -and kept digging for 40 years to create his personal Shangri-la.
Forestiere built nearly 100 rooms, passageways and courtyards with circular holes above to allow a variety of plants and fruit-bearing trees to take root in large planters and protrude through the openings at ground level. Over a period of 40 years, he excavated oasis spans over 10 acres (all in his spare time).
When Forestiere died in 1946, the gardens, which included his own underground living quarters, passed to his descendants, and are open for tours today. See plenty more pictures of the gardens and underground home at Messy Nessy Chic. -via Nag on the Lake
(Image credit: Flickr user Matthew E. Cohen)