Lyman Estate Greenhouses – Waltham, Massachusetts - Atlas Obscura
Places near me Random place

Lyman Estate Greenhouses

Waltham, Massachusetts

These beautiful garden buildings are among the oldest surviving greenhouses in the United States. 

View all photos
42
209
Top Places in Waltham
A mechanical collage at the museum.
Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation
Waltham, Massachusetts
Fernald State School
Waltham, Massachusetts
Usen Castle
Waltham, Massachusetts
 See All

The rest of the Lyman Estate can be visited once a month for a small fee, but you should know that the true belle of the ball is free to everyone. From the parking lot take a left and enter the greenhouses. 

The greenhouses at Lyman Estate are some of the oldest ones left in the country, and though it’s not officially on the map, you can visit Theodore Lyman’s first attempt at horticulture, the bark-pit greenhouse from 1793. Since then, he and his family have added different structures: a grape house in 1804; a place for growing camellias in 1820; an old sales house in 1840; and an orchid house in 1930. You can still see all the old heating pipes and water tanks, giving the place a perfectly picturesque vintage look. 

Today, the greenhouses are still functional and grow everything from succulents to pomegranates to pineapples, to the orchids and air plants you can purchase at the end of your visit. Make sure to bring a camera! 

Know Before You Go

 Open Thursdays and Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

greenhouses estates horticulture flora plants
Community Contributors
a
Added by
andismith
Published
February 7, 2023
Edit this listing
Make an Edit Add Photos
Nearby
Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation
0.76 miles
Metropolitan State Hospital (MSH)
1.71 miles
Usen Castle
1.77 miles
Want to see fewer ads? Become a Member.
Near This Place
A mechanical collage at the museum.
Waltham, Massachusetts

Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation

A steampunk wonderland that preserves America's history of industrial innovation.
The Dr. William F. McLaughlin Administration Building today.
Waltham, Massachusetts

Metropolitan State Hospital (MSH)

Once the largest public hospital for the mentally ill was also surrounded by controversy.
A light on in one of the top rooms of Usen Castle. On the left is the new dormitory for which part of the castle was demolished.
Waltham, Massachusetts

Usen Castle

This castle constructed in 1928 was crafted from drawings of Lismore Castle in Ireland.
Star Market jutting out over the highway
Newton, Massachusetts

Star Market

This supermarket is suspended 25 feet above an interstate highway.
Related Places
Orihuela, Spain

Palmeral of Orihuela

The second largest palm grove in Europe was planted during Moorish times and has been largely unchanged since then.
The rhododendron garden in May.
Portland, Oregon

Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden

Nestled between a college and a golf course, the garden is home to more than 2,500 rhododendrons.
Inside one of the tropical greenhouses.
Brest, France

National Botanical Conservatory of Brest

Admire endangered plants in a verdant garden that looks straight out of a Monet painting.
Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden.
Los Angeles, California

Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden

This “living museum” at UCLA exhibits thousands of plant species from all over the world.
In partnership with KAYAK

Plan Your Trip

From Around the Web