Visit HistoricNewEngland.org for more information. Lyman Estate, owned and operated by Historic New England, is a venue for private functions and weddings, a site for public programs, including our popular summer movie nights, and a museum open for tours on selected days. Our historic greenhouses are open most of the year for visits and plant sales. Public tours of the mansion run hourly year-roun
d, on the 3rd Saturday of the month, from 10AM-1pm. Groups of 10 or more are welcome to book a special group tour at times when the mansion is not normally open to the public. Our grounds are always open, and we encourage you to visit and enjoy them. History of the site:
Lyman Estate, also known as "The Vale," is one of the finest examples in the United States of a country estate following the principles of eighteenth-century English naturalistic design. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, large expanses of land and proximity to Boston made Waltham a popular location for country estates. Lyman Estate was the warm-weather retreat for four generations of the Lyman family. In 1793 shipping merchant Theodore Lyman commissioned famed architect Samuel McIntire to design and build a Federal-style house. The family enlarged the house in 1882 in the Victorian style and then remodeled it in the Colonial Revival style in 1917. The thirty-seven-acre property includes beautifully preserved gardens and historic greenhouses. Visitors hear the story of the Lyman family as they explore the elegant mansion. The mansion’s architectural features include an elegant ballroom and graceful oval parlor, both pristine examples of Federal design.
