Local builder Jon Basila, a lifelong Madera resident, has helped escalate the city through working in real estate, constructing homes and commercial buildings, and expanding his grape vineyards.
Basila was born in 1946 at the Madera Sanitarium. He attended local schools and graduated from Madera High School with the class of 1964. Following high school, he attended UC Davis for three years and finished his bachelor’s degree in accounting and business administration from Fresno State.
Basila married the former Marie Massetti in 1973. They have two sons, Paul and his wife, the former Margo Prosperi of Madera, and Daniel and partner David Pressman of New York. Their toddler-age grandchildren are twin boys Conrad and Ezra and granddaughter Marianna.
Following the death of his father in 1976, Jon and his brother Greg assumed the duties of the family farm, growing Thompson grapes on the ranch for their mother, Jon said...