Waterfall Garden

A lush, two-tiered, open-air room, no larger than a Starbuck's coffee shop, filled with a gushing waterfall.

by Contributor at Citysearch

The Scene
Waterfall Park offers an escape from downtown without leaving it. The park encompasses exotic greenery, including ginkgo trees, with several benches and small tables and a 22-foot crashing waterfall, all within four stone walls. Though hidden from street view, the park's roaring cascade reveals its whereabouts to passersby. At noon on warm days, nearby nine-to-fivers assemble at the four small iron tables for an alfresco lunch.

The History
Waterfall Gardens was built by eight Japanese stone masons in 1977, in the tradition of New York City's "vest pocket parks": small, rubble-filled vacant lots among downtown buildings transformed into self-enclosed squares and locked up at night. Per instructions from park developer and United Parcel Service millionaire James Casey, the Boston architecture firm Masso Kinoshita surrounded the property with a massive fence and gates.