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!