Wonderful place for exploration and run by Historic New England. They offer guided tours for people interested in historical houses. It has been used for the set of the newest Little Women movie (grand room and the front porch). Parking is sufficient and they have an extensive greenhouse with plants for sale. Bathrooms are available for visitors. It is also a great place for weddings. read more

The Lyman Estate is a beautiful historic property in Waltham, MA. Originally built/owned by Theodore Lyman in the late 1700's, the property is available for functions. The grounds are open to the public during the day, and there is a fee for admission to see the interior of the house. The most unique aspect of the property is the greenhouses, which are the oldest in the US. They house a multitude of different plants including orchids, camellias, & grapes grown from cuttings taken in England in the late 1800's. There is also a sale house where you can purchase houseplants, flowers, herbs, etc. It's worth the time to stop in on a nice afternoon to walk around the property, and especially to see the greenhouses. read more

I'm posting this now, because in the dead of winter, we all need to see a little green. The Lyman Estate Greenhouses are a great place to go during the dead of winter, to remind yourself that Spring is actually coming. They have a big Orchid Sale coming up in February, and the Camellias are starting to Bloom (it's the end of January, now). They sell a good assortment of Shade Perennials in the summer, too. read more

I am a long-time visitor of the Lyman Estate, particularly the greenhouses. I love it! I wish they had longer hours (they close at 4), but the greenhouses are spectacular. They have a lovely Camellia room, which, when in bloom, is a stunning display of oversized blooms and color. They also have a vast selection of varieties of orchids, many unusual and rare. In Spring/Summer they have a few herb/perennial sales, which offer a great opportunity to stock up on thyme, basil, rosemary, etc. They even had a curry plant at the last sale, which I'd never seen before! Really fascinating. Inside the main rooms of the greenhouse, they offer planting supplies, including a variety of cool pots, orchid mix, insecticides, and plant food. There are a ton of potted plants, many I never see elsewhere, like potted olive and jasmine, which smell amazing. I make contemporary terrariums, and often go to the greenhouse to purchase my plants, because the Lyman has a ton of tropicals and succulents (often including miniature ones) at affordable prices ($3-5 per plant). The selection can be hit-or-miss depending on when you visit, so you might have to visit a few times over time if you've got specific plants in mind. Additionally, I've purchased some orchids and potted plants from them that had bug issues (scale on the orchids, mealybugs on the succulents), so check your plants carefully before buying. The staff is really helpful, friendly, and not overly-attentive, so you can browse in peace. And just walking around the grounds at Lyman is a lovely way to pass some time, if you have it! read more

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My husband and I were thrilled when we found the Lyman Estate for our wedding. It is less expensive compared to o there venues in and around Boston, even during peak wedding season months, but with the whole house and grounds at our disposal, we did not feel like we were compromising anything. The house is absolutely beautiful with rooms for both the bride and groom and their attendants to dress and relax and tons of locations for pictures. The grounds were gorgeous as well, and we were lucky to have the perfect light and the perfect Fall leaves. Demi was wonderful to coordinate details with; we never worried about anything. And our coordinated the day of did such a wonderful job. We were glad that we used read more

Like many other COVID couples, we had to cancel our original large wedding plans with our original venue and find an alternate solution. We are so glad we decided to go with the Lyman Estate for our downscaled, socially distant 15-person wedding. Nicole Skarbek, the event coordinator at Lyman, was phenomenal: she is extremely knowledgeable, helpful, detail-oriented and creative in her work. You can truly tell that weddings are her passion and that she knows everything there is about how to plan a perfect wedding. Emails to her were always quickly responded to, and she went above and beyond to make sure our semi-DIY, rescheduled wedding we planned in 3 months was beautifully decorated, coordinated, and as safe as possible. We felt less stressed with her because we knew we were in good hands between her and Tastings (the exclusive caterer we used who was excellent). And the venue itself...Lyman is a truly STUNNING location which words can't describe. The first time we visited, our breaths were taken away, and every subsequent visit was awe-inspiring. During and after the wedding, our guests gushed about how beautiful Lyman was and how impeccably run our wedding was: one of our friends described it as being "like on a movie set" because of how beautiful it was and how incredibly quick and professional Nicole and Tastings were about setting up and transitioning during each part of the wedding. (Appropriate since Lyman was one of the film sets of Little Women as well.) We can't recommend Lyman Estate enough for weddings, especially for those who are looking for a venue that is respectful and extremely careful about safety protocols during the COVID pandemic. read more

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A wonderful hidden gem. A great house from the past. The green house has very unique plants. If you love orchid, citrus, jasmine, camellias go! The green house has a plant sale going on now and the prices are very reasonable. The mansion hosts movies in the summer. Four generations of Lyman's lived here ( 1793 Theodore Lyman was a shipping merchant). Samuel McIntire was the designer of the house. read more

Lyman Estate - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Waltham, Massachusetts

A nice place to go if you want to spend about 20 minutes in greenhouses. They have a very small but, for the region good, selection of orchids and camellias. And they have a wonderful old resident cat. I went here for the annual herb sale, which offered many varieties of herbs and perennials all in great condition. But, I was greatly disappointed, mainly because I had misunderstood that OLD varieties (i.e. from their historic greenhouses) had been propagated to raise funds for the estate and to share these plants with the public. Many plants were supplied from commercial nurseries... And these were not priced more favorably than Russo's. That said the orchids for sale inside one of the greenhouses, on a regular basis, are fabulous and an excellent value! This place may be 7 years older, but Winterthur or Fosters it is not. read more

Only was able to go through the greenhouse during our post-quad-blizzards lunch break. Was a very quaint, peaceful, pretty flowers/plants in a well heated, narrow, two tunnel greenhouse. Looking at the reviews, can't wait to see the rest as the weather warms up. BTW, it's free/public entrance. read more

Lyman Estate - Second part - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Waltham, Massachusetts

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The grounds of this estate are beautiful however I attended a wedding here and I can't say this would be my top choice for a wedding venue. For starters they didn't put enough chairs out for the amount of guests so some people were standing in the back. I feel like you know the number before hand and the venue should plan accordingly. Then dinner was literally all appetizers type food it really wasn't filling and they didn't have enough tables for the amount of guests either so we ate dinner on the ground outside with our plates in our laps. read more

This was the perfect choice for our ceremony and reception. Picture perfect estate in the Federal Period. An intimate setting; would recommend if you are searching for a venue that is different from a banquet hall or country barn. Elegant and beautiful. The grounds are perfect for cocktails and photographs and the large covered veranda was the perfect touch for guests who wanted to be a bit away from the dancing and who wanted to visit with each other. A lovely experience all around. read more

We had our wedding at the Lyman Estate last fall. The venue is absolutely gorgeous and makes for amazing photos! Melissa in particular was wonderful to work with on the day of our event. She was polite and calm, and helped guide us through the event. There were some snafus at our wedding, however the Lyman staff dealt with this very professionally and in the end the event ran very smoothly! read more

The Lyman Estate is the perfect venue for a wedding. Our wedding was on a cold, rainy day, and the Lyman Estate was breathtaking in spite of the less-than-ideal weather. The ballroom is a beautiful spot for a ceremony (we had 85 guests...might have been a bit crowded with more than that). The library is such an awesome room, and it makes for a very classy bar. Some of our older guests enjoyed chatting in the library away from the noisy dance floor, and the young and young-at-heart danced the night away in the ballroom. Demi and Mike are very professional and make everything easy. read more

The Lyman Estate was the perfect setting for our son's wedding! The grounds are beautiful with so many settings for pictures and socializing. The old mansion has so many rooms, including a ballroom, just perfect!! read more

On our visit, the estate was preparing to host a special event. So we only saw part of the ground and the front of the house. Never less we were impressed. read more

My partner and I were married at the Lyman Estate about a week ago. We could not have made a better choice in venue. Nichole handled our event and was absolutely fantastic. They were very open and friendly toward us as a queer couple and didn't make us feel uncomfortable in any way about the many nontraditional aspects of our wedding. Nichole was extremely helpful and it was truly the perfect wedding venue! read more

We had my daughter's wedding and reception at the Lyman Estate just the other day. Demi, the site coordinator, was exceptionally helpful to us throughout the planning process and at the event. The grounds and building are flawless. Everything went exactly as planned, and most importantly, my daughter said it was the best day of her life. What more can a dad ask for? read more

We had our daughter's winter wedding at the Lyman Estate. We were first concerned about the space but we comfortably had 116 people for a sit down dinner as well as dancing afterwards. The Estate is gorgeous and Demi was very helpful with ideas to help our day go smoothly. Both Demi and Michael were a great help in the wedding day planning flow and we couldn't have done it without them. Great place for a wedding- both winter and summer! read more

I got married at the Lyman Estate this past Friday, and I have to say, I would choose to get married there again 100 times over. Not only is the backyard garden and peach wall an absolutely perfect ceremony location, but the inside of the building is stunning as well - beautiful cheery wallpaper, HUGE windows, gorgeous hardwood floors and décor. It made for an amazing venue through and through. Even if it had rained, our ceremony would have been gorgeous indoors. You can't beat it. The staff was a pleasure to work with throughout the planning process. read more

After about 7 emails to 2 different event planners, and multiple phone calls, we have given up trying to have our wedding here. We can't even get someone to tell us if they have dates available or give us a tour! They have been completely unresponsive. If they can't even return an email in a week, how are they going to run our wedding? There are too many other beautiful venues in MA to deal with this. read more

My husband and I got married at the Lyman Estate earlier this month. We were very happy with our venue choice! We had originally planned to get married in our friend's magical garden in Maine, but had to change plans when our guest list landed around 80 people. We searched lots of Boston-area venues for a similar romantic secret garden feel. We selected Lyman because of its spacious and well-maintained outside space - a greenhouse, giant trees with soft sweeping branches, secluded forested spots with sunlight streaming in from above, brick walls coated with ivy. It was beautiful! Our ceremony was outside and we rented a tent for the reception. We personally didn't want to use the inside of the Estate, but it's also gorgeous and includes a study, ballroom, and several other rooms lined with floral wallpaper and old details. We did use two charming pink and blue rooms upstairs to put on our dresses and suits. Lyman included all of our white garden chairs and tables within their very reasonable price. The onsite coordinator Nicole was an absolutely crucial part of our wedding day. She was incredibly responsive to emails (usually within just 10 minutes!) and never made me feel silly for asking a million questions. From the big coordination tasks to the smallest details she helped our wedding day run smoothly. If there were any problems with other vendors or guests I never knew, which helped me to fully celebrate the day! read more

I noticed many of these reviews are not for the venue as a wedding location so here you go...the property is really beautiful inside and out. The grounds set up really well for our ceremony while the tent gave us a perfect spot for dinner. Dancing in the ballroom was the icing on the cake. Speaking of food we used Tastings as our caterer and they did a great job taking care of us from start to finish. Certainly recommended all around. read more