Waltham’s Lyman and Paine Estates

Waltham plays host to a number of fine old manors whose opulence, even though some of them (the Lyman Estate, 1793, for instance) were raised and landscaped in a period so far removed from today’s world that it’s easy to think nothing but rustic trading posts and Plimoth Plantation-like huts could have existed. Surprise! The Lyman Estate (“The Vale”), with its greenhouses dating from 1820, was a focal point for New World efforts to transplant wine grapes to this continent and a centerpiece of the frantic camellia growing and hybridizing craze for which eighteenth century New England was renowned. No less important, its expansive parking area is a perfect jumping off point for a look at the neighboring Robert Treat Paine Estate (“Stonehurst”) and the Storer Woods that surround it, between them amounting to 134 acres of woodlands and meadows. Paine and his wife Lydia, a Lyman, daughter, in 1884 hired H. H. Richardson (the architect of Trinity Church) and the Olmsteads (who else) to add an addition to “summer home” and landscape the environs. ‘Nuff said … but wait until you see the Richardson-signature Syrian arch and the first story’s massive glacial boulders! Not to mention, glorious in season, Olmstead’s rhododendron collection.

To get there via MapQuest ask for directions to 185 Lyman Street in Waltham. Or, if there’s no time for MapQuest, try this ….

From Route 128/95

Drive Route 128/95 to Exit 27A in Waltham, steering for Totten Pond Road/Wyman Street. Merge onto Winter Street, cross back over 128, and continue straight through the lights you’ll almost immediately encounter.  Continue 1.3 miles as Totten Pond Road (was Winter Street) descends past Prospect Hill Park and intersects Lexington Street at a set of lights. In anticipation of making a right turn at these lights, drift to the right side of Totten Pond Road as you approach them. Turn right and then … WARNING … stay left as Lexington Street bears off in that direction. Don’t get caught taking the right-hand fork onto Bacon Street. At the first set of lights after the turn, go left onto Beaver Street and drive it 0.4 miles to a rotary. Now things get a little tricky … the entrance to the Lyman Estate comes as a surprise on the right almost immediately after you enter the rotary but just past Lyman Street. If you miss it, keep going ‘round and ‘round the rotary ‘til you find it. Once on the Estate, stay to the right and follow signs pointing toward the parking lot. It’s a few hundred meters from the roadway just past the front of the mansion.

Other possibilities

From Lexington and points north an option is to take Waltham Street over Trapelo Road (where it becomes Lexington Street) and stay on it all the way to Beaver Street. Or, take Spring Street (becomes Smith Street as it crosses Route 2 and Wyman Street south of Trapelo Road) to Totten Pond Road, make a left, and then follow the “From 128/95” directions.

Note: Driving time from Bedford on a traffic-free Route 128 is 15 to 20 minutes.

*** Good Luck !!! ***