![\"Culture](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/NRQITU2PQFCG2WA5A4F3U2ADDM.jpg\")
Culture House Operations Manager Phoebe Wong.Finn Gomez for the Boston Globe<\/p>\n\u201cIn the shoulder seasons, sometimes our public spaces can look a bit a bit drab,\u201d said Aaron Greiner, executive director of CultureHouse, the Somerville-based group behind the project. \u201cSo we thought, what could encourage people to be out of their home, meet a neighbor, have a conversation, and bring some color and light to our daily lives?\u201d<\/p>\n
The result is City Greens, a project they hope will some day include as many as nine holes in other public spaces around Somerville, Cambridge, and Boston becoming a sort of diffuse mini golf course built into the urban environment of the three cities.<\/p>\n
Culture House Operations Manager Phoebe Wong.Finn Gomez for the Boston Globe<\/p>\n
To test out the concept, they built and paid for the first one themselves and, with a city permit, plunked it in Union Square, on Somerville Avenue.<\/p>\n
It comprises a few square feet of turf with some obstacles. In a bucket, a trio of putters and an array of golf balls are available for anyone to use, night or day.<\/p>\n
The hole\u2019s centerpiece is a miniature triple-decker, which has PVC pipes inside that lead to a hole.<\/p>\n
![\"Culture](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/YXAXC7XURZSUW6QGLW52425RB4.jpg\")
Culture House Operations Manager Phoebe Wong and Executive Director Aaron Greiner with their pop-up mini-golf hole in Union Square, which they hope is the first of many.Finn Gomez for the Boston Globe<\/p>\n
Players can launch a ball up one of two ramps toward this chest-high structure. Hitting it into the porch on the second floor, per the instructions, saves you one stroke. Firing it onto the top porch saves you two.<\/p>\n
Or, you can simply hit the ball through an opening in the building\u2019s basement \u2014 in the parlance of some local real estate brokers, the \u201cgarden level\u201d \u2014 for the fastest route to the cup.<\/p>\n
CultureHouse fabricated the hole themselves, making it out of nautical-grade plywood so it can withstand the elements.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s certainly a conversation starter, which its creators said is the point.<\/p>\n
Housing is perhaps the most hotly debated topic in Somerville these days, as rents continue to climb, and as the city\u2019s residents weigh the merits of projects like a 26-story residential tower<\/a> in Davis Square<\/p>\n In a market like this one, the jokes practically write themselves about what a mini-golf-sized apartment would fetch were it up for rent.<\/p>\n So CultureHouse staff said they were thrilled when they saw that the first big splash the pop-up made online came in the form of a tongue-in-cheek real estate listing<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201c1BR luxury microunit for rent in the heart of Union Square! Spacious (1k sq inch), MultiBalcony and UnderMarket $4800,\u201d one person wrote in post on social media that included pictures of the City Greens project and garnered lots of attention online. \u201cPRIVATE GOLF COURSE INCLUDED!\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond the sky-high cost of living in Somerville, the mini-golf hole\u2019s creators also hope to get people to reflect on the region\u2019s architectural heritage, and the widely shared experience in the Boston area of spending at least part of your life in one of these three-story buildings.<\/p>\n \u201cThe triple decker is historically significant, and a very important part of what makes Somerville Somerville,\u201d said Yilan Sun, the nonprofit\u2019s urban design lead. \u201cIt\u2019s a local commentary on what it means to live here.\u201d<\/p>\n Another perk of this triple-decker that you don\u2019t often get with the real thing, she noted, is that you can thwack golf balls against it as many times as you want, without catching hell from your landlord.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not gonna lose your security deposit,\u201d Sun said, with a laugh.<\/p>\n Spencer Buell can be reached at spencer.buell@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him @SpencerBuell<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/XG4YG7XXVQPCUW7LIRDRCID5EU.jpg\")
A placard on the side of the mini-golf hole indicates it’s a “par 3.”Finn Gomez for the Boston Globe<\/p>\n