Historic New England's Lyman Estate

Directions Website Contact the organization

Historic New England's Lyman Estate The Lyman Estate is open with guided tours available on the first and third Saturdays of the month year-round. Last tour is at noon.

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-round, 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.

George Lyman was an active director at two major Lowell mills during the the Strike of 1836. That October, 1500-2000 mil...
10/12/2026

George Lyman was an active director at two major Lowell mills during the the Strike of 1836. That October, 1500-2000 mill girls at various factories in Lowell left their work and went on strike. This was in response to a hike in their boarding costs with no corresponding increase in their pay.

Company housing was very common for New England mills and the cost of boarding was taken out of wages. At the Lyman Mills in Holyoke, board was set at $5.50/month in the 1850s and around $12/ month by the early 20th century. Mill workers with families were set up in tenement housing and individuals, often unmarried women, shared rooms in the dorms managed by boarding housekeepers. You can see housing on the left and the factories on the right in this historic image of the Lyman Mills.

Hear more about the mills and other working-class stories this Saturday, Saturday, October 17th at 11:30 a.m. on our Working-Class History Tour of the Lyman Estate.

Does this garden feature look familiar? It was originally the front portico to the mansion. (Check the image on our last...
10/08/2026

Does this garden feature look familiar? It was originally the front portico to the mansion. (Check the image on our last post.)

Catch the last landscape tour of the year on Saturday, October 17 at 9:30 a.m. to learn more!

Where can you find this map of Waltham published in 1854 that includes a drawing of the Lyman Estate? At the Waltham Pub...
10/01/2026

Where can you find this map of Waltham published in 1854 that includes a drawing of the Lyman Estate? At the Waltham Public Library! "Geo W. Lyman" is at written on the top left corner of the map detail shown here, indicating the estate's location.

By 1854, George Lyman had owned the estate for 15 years. He made some modern upgrades to the mansion, including gas lighting and an improved heating system. But the real changes were happening outside where he expanded the farm and garden ventures on the property.

If the mansion looks a bit different to you, that's because major alterations took place after George's ownership in the 1880s.

Thanks for stopping by, North Bennet Street School! Here, preservation carpentry students examine the Victorian fireplac...
09/28/2026

Thanks for stopping by, North Bennet Street School!

Here, preservation carpentry students examine the Victorian fireplace with William De Morgan tiles.

The grounds of the Lyman Estate that we see today are only a small fraction of the estate during the 19th century. The ...
09/21/2026

The grounds of the Lyman Estate that we see today are only a small fraction of the estate during the 19th century. The map below shows the boundaries of the estate when it was at its largest. 400 acres! During this period, the estate included extensive farmlands and wooded areas, in addition to the gardens and greenhouses we see today. The current boundary of 37 acres is outlined on the map in red.

This double portrait by Benjamin Curtis Porter captures Ella (7) and Susan Lyman (4) in 1873. Ella grew up to be an infl...
09/15/2026

This double portrait by Benjamin Curtis Porter captures Ella (7) and Susan Lyman (4) in 1873. Ella grew up to be an influential philosopher and educator. She also compiled her family's history in a series of three books.

Susan, with blond hair, sadly died only 5 years after this portrait was completed. Ella later wrote, “All our lives were changed by Sue’s death. I think no one of us was ever quite the same again.”

To learn more about the lives of the Lyman's and to see this piece in person, visit the Lyman Estate this Saturday!

The porcelain in the pantry and parlor are a pink and white set made in Meissen, Germany, one of the oldest and most fam...
09/11/2026

The porcelain in the pantry and parlor are a pink and white set made in Meissen, Germany, one of the oldest and most famous producers of porcelain in Europe. A closer look at the figurines reveals pink floral patterns, gilded details, and cascades of flowers.

Lyman Estate and Browne House guides enjoyed a tour of Gore Place earlier this month! Did you know a Lyman once owned it...
09/07/2026

Lyman Estate and Browne House guides enjoyed a tour of Gore Place earlier this month!

Did you know a Lyman once owned it? Or that it once also had a brick garden wall too? Rebecca and Christopher Gore's first home in that location was even built the same year as the Lyman Estate mansion!

Address

185 Lyman Street
Waltham, MA
02452

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Historic New England's Lyman Estate posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Historic New England's Lyman Estate:

Shortcuts

Share

Category