Historic Houses of Waltham: Stonehurst, Lyman Estate, & Gore Place

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A striped header image reading Historic Houses of Waltham: Stonehurst, Lyman Estate, & Gore Place

Are you a fan of visiting multiple historic houses or museums in one day? Waltham, Massachusetts is an excellent city for this kind of adventure. With a rich history and a walkable downtown, not to mention plenty of free and inexpensive parking, a trip to this bustling Boston suburb is well worth the trip. I visited Stonehurst, Lyman Estate & Greenhouses, and Gore Place on my whirlwind tour of Waltham.

The side of a wooden shingled house with many windows. About half the shingles are missing, with a black tarp covering the area. A blue Victorian house with a large wraparound porch and three chimneys. The side of a red brick house with rectabular windows on the first floor and semicircle windows in the second floor

Stonehurst

The City of Waltham manages the Robert Treat Paine Estate, which contains the mansion Stonehurst, currently serving as a branch of the Waltham Public Library, and nearby Storer Conservation Land. This National Historic Landmark was not open for indoor tours on the day that I visited, but the grounds are free and open to the public from dawn to dusk.

A black metal sign reading in part Robert Treat Paine House National Historic Landmark 1989 A gray sign with a red seal depicting Stonehurst and reading City of Waltham STONEHURST THE ROBERT TREAT PAINE STEATE An icon of American design by Henry Hobson Richardson and Frederick Law Olmstead. A model of a three story, square shaped home with a plexiglas window. Below the model is a sign reading Waltham Public Library at Stonehurst Book Return Lift Roof to Open A wooden, three-story, Victorian era, light brown house attached to a stone tower.

Plenty of information on Robert Treat Paine, Jr. and his family is available on the mansion’s website. Paine was a philanthropist, whether providing housing and education to his employees working in the copper mines of the upper peninsula of Michigan owned by Calumet and Hecla Mining Company (now Keweenaw National Historical Park), or by funding affordable, single-family homes in the nearby Boston suburbs. Additionally, Paine supported the funding of working men’s and women’s associations, providing a space for libraries, gyms, children’s clubs, and union meetings.

The side of a long singled house with a stone foundation attached to a stone tower and a wooden Victorian style square house as seen from across a parking lot with jagged asphalt. A square-shaped, three-story, light brown, wooden Victorian style house attached to a stone tower with many windows seen from below a stone embankment.

Paine’s estate was co-designed by the best architects at the time, with Henry Hobson Richardson building Stonehurst and Frederick Law Olmsted creating the grounds. A “Walk Around Stonehurst” brochure, available online, provides further information about the design of the house and the family who lived there. Special features of the house include a sundial embedded in the outside wall, a beautiful stone arch with a shingled roof evoking a 17th century New England design style, and a massive glacier rock on the front lawn.

A reddish-brown stone sundial embedded in a stone tower. A shingle-sided house with windows of various sizes set atop a stone foundation making an arch over a shaded door, along with a stone tower with large, rectangular windows

This short, relaxing trip has plenty of seating areas, along with spaces for children to roam and pets to stay on leash. Picnics on the grounds are permitted as long as visitors carry out trash. The trails through the adjoining woods, well-maintained by Waltham Land Trust, have varying levels of difficulty, clearly marked on the trail directory sign near the entrance. Note that no restrooms are available when Stonehurst is closed, so please plan accordingly.

A trailside kiosk with a map with the title Storer Conservation Land Trail Directory A sign with a black top border with white text reading City of Waltham. Below is a red stripe. The remainder of the sign has a brown background, a red seal showing a detail of Stonehurst, and the words STONEHURST THE ROBERT TREAT PAINE ESTATE A solid wooden door with a large brass knocker set into a shingled wall between the metal National Historic Registar sign and the City of Waltham sign A red, brick patio edged with a short stone wall. Becond the wall are bushes, a long lawn, and trees.


Abby Epplett’s Rating System

Experience: 7/10

Accessibility: 6/10



Lyman Estate & Greenhouses

Down the street from Stonehurst and around a roundabout is Lyman Estate & Greenhouses, a property of Historic New England. Currently named for the five generations of the Lyman family, who owned the home throughout its time as a residence, the home is also known as The Vale. This National Historic Landmark is open for tours on the first Saturday of the month at 10:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., and 12:00 p.m., while the grounds are open daily from dawn to dusk. Adult admission is $15, seniors are $13, students are $7, and Historic New England members are free. Please do not bring your baby and let him run loose through the halls as happened on my tour.

A light blue wooden Victorian style house with white trim, many windows, and and four visible chimneys. A black, metal sign that reads in part The Vale has been designated a Registered National Historic Landmark 1871 An open front door of a light blue wooden Victorian style house with white trim at the top of a set of concrete steps with black, metal handrails. A gold-framed portrait of an early 19th century woman hung on a cream colored wall above a red and blue vertically striped couch and a colorful lamp set on a brown, wooden side table. A gold-framed rectangular mirror set atop a white, wooden mantel around a small, black fireplace A semicircular window above a wide open doorway leading into a hall with a red carpet over wooden floors and portraits lining the walls. A pair of curved, white, wooden doors in an elliptical yellow room. The face of a classic, 19th century grandfather clock with a dark brown, wooden case and a golden face. A room with white, green, and pink floral wallpaper, white curtains, white fireplace mantel, white doors, and white trim. A tall, pale gray painted room with tall windows which could open to become doors. A crystal chandelier hangs from the pale gray ceiling. An oil painting of two people in a golden frame hangs over the white, wooden mantel.

Currently decorated in a mid-Victorian era style, the house was initially built as a summer cottage for the Lymans by Samuel McIntire in 1793. The Lymans initially made their money in the Transatlantic shipping industry, then in the New England textile industry, and soon expanded into railroads, making, and insurance. Like many families of the time, each generation was large, and the land was divided between the sons and sons-in-law. One son-in-law was Robert Treat Paine, Jr., who married Lydia Lyman of the third generation. The Vale underwent major renovations and expansion at the turn of the 20th century, with additions barely distinguishable from the original architecture.

A light blue house with a long porch with white columns. A golden clock with a small white face. The clock sits atop a dark brown, wooden base. A tiny sculpture of a man wearing a silly hat and reclining on a chair leans against the clockface. A pale green kitchen with an original brick fireplace half-hidden by a table with three metal, catering stoves. An industrial metal refrigerator sits near an open door. A call box with a white wooden case, a black panel, and sixteen labeled buttons on the panel An early 20th century photograph of a dining room in a thin, golden frame with a white matte hung on a wall with orange, white, and blue geometric wallpaper An oil portrait of two young girls in mid to late 19th century dresses set in a golden frame and hung on a red painted wall above wood paneling and an overly bright lamp with a green shade. A portrait of a man in 19th century clothing set in a golden frame hung on a wall in orange, blue, and white geometric and floral wallpaper. Plum purple and white china set in a built-in white wooden china cabinet with glass doors Me sitting in a pink chair. A fireplace, oil portrait of a man, and a few chairs in a dining room. A fireplace surrounded by floral tile and a wooden mantel. A decorative clock and a pair of vases are set on the fireplace. A mirror is set in the woodwark above the fireplace. A fake pot in a white-and-blue floral planter sits to the right of the fireplace. Busts sit on either side of the fireplace. A pink stuffed chair sits on the far left. Windows are on either side of the fireplace. The previous scene from a wider angle. To the left of the pink chair is another wall. Against the wall is a book cabinet and a table with a white-and-blue pot beneath it and a model boat surrounded by plexiglass set on top of it. A naval print in a golden frame is hung on a red wall above the boat model. The rug is green, blue, and white in an abstract pattern.

The property’s distinguishing feature is some of the oldest extant greenhouses in the United States Theodore Lyman constructed the first greenhouse from from 1798 to 1804. Theodore’s son George transformed the greenhouse into a grapery in the 1870s, while the Camellia House, designed to protect a flowering tree from east and southeast Asia, was rebuilt in 1908. The fourth greenhouse was built by the Lymans in 1930.

A black and blue sign reading Lyman Estate & Greenhouses 1793 with the Historic New England logo in the lower right corner. A light blue, three story Victorian style house with white trim and six visible chimneys across an expansive lawn with four dabbling geese. A red brick wall set behind a flower garden and sparse lawn. A sign reading in part This greenhouse is an infill structure built to connect the Grape Houses and the Camellia House beyond. Inside a greenhouse with little trees in terracotta pots lining the red brick wall. Inside a greenhouse with a pair of white doors set into a glass wall. The room is filled with green plants in various sizes. A triangular brick building with a set of three black and white sets leading up to a black, wooden door. A pink rose in bright sunlight A massive old tree beside a red brick wall. A sparse lawn with a green tent with no sides covering a set of plants on the left, trees shading tables filled with plants on the right, and a brick greenhouse in the far away center.

The home is currently used for public programs and rented for weddings, along with offices for Historic New England. The reproduction furniture allows guests to have a rest during the tour. As an added bonus, cinefiles will recognize the porch and ballroom from the dancing scene in the latest movie version of Little Women. The second floor of the mansion is only accessible by staircase, but a 3D virtual tour is available.


Abby Epplett’s Rating System

Experience: 7/10

Accessibility: 7/10



Gore Place

With two houses under your belt, you are ready to visit Gore Place, another National Historic Landmark. Built by the Gore family in 1806, the mansion replaced another house burned in 1799 after the American Revolutionary War. Christopher and Rebecca Gore were living in London as diplomats during the fire but returned to rebuilt their estate. Christopher later served as Massachusetts governor and a U.S. senator.

A long, symmetrical, red brick, three-story building across a burnt lawn underneath a blue sky with perfectly puffy white clouds.  A metal sign reading in part Gore Place has been designated a registered National Historic Landmark 1971. A yellow and black butterfly, possibly a swallowtail, sitting on a cluster of small purple flowers The back of the red brick house. A plain, brown, wooden building with white trim and three large doors for carriages to enter into the building

Be sure to begin your trip to Gore Place with the excellent signage and audio tour. Even though I visited during the heatwave, most signs were placed in the shade, allowing me to stay cool. Calling the audio tour number listed on a sign was a great way to hear extra description of the sign and receive direction on navigating to the next section of the tour. The signs describe the history of Gore Place, the outer buildings, and both past and present animals on site. The museum is a member of Leicester Longwool Sheep Breeding Association and raises a flock of this 18th century English heritage breed. This effort reminded me of the Red Devon cattle herd found at Watson Farm in Jamestown, Rhode Island. Unfortunately, the weather was too hot for the woolly sheep, so they were staying cool in their barn on the day I visited.

A white sign with the Gore Place logo reading 1793 Carriage House Tours Start at Mansion with an arrow pointing tot he left. A light greeninformational sign with the title Welcome to Gore Place. A light green informational sign with the title Gore Place Society A light green informational sign with the title Audio Tour of Gore Place A sign reading Welcome to Gore Place Fifty Acres & Three Centuries with the Gore Place logo and icons indicating information, parking, bathrooms, and wheelchair accessibility A light green informational sign with the title The Perimeter Walk A light green informational sign with the title The Banyard A light green informational sign with the title South to the River A light green informational sign with the title 1793 Coach House

Photography is not permitted inside Gore Place, but the website provides images of all the best artifacts seen inside. My favorite pieces inside the house included a giant billiards table made in Boston around 1805 and several taper jacks, a metal device that curls a long coil of candle used to melt wax to seal letters. While the second floor can only be accessed by a narrow set of stairs, the museum has tactile models to interpret the house, further showing the organization’s commitment to accessibility.

Hour-long tours begin on the hour from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The tours begin on the half-hour from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Saturdays. Tours cost $16 for adults and $11 for students but are free for Gore Place members, current and former military members, New England Museum Association (NEMA) members, and possibly other people. Tour tickets may be purchased in advance on the website if the ticket system is working. Tickets also may be purchased in person. Gore Place was not busy when I visited, so tickets are unlikely to sell out. Email ahead if you need to clarify tour times and ticket sales.


Abby Epplett’s Rating System

Experience: 7/10

Accessibility: 8/10



Location: Waltham, MA, USA