A number of special events are held throughout the year including an annual sheepshearing festival and a summer concert series.

In this house the Gores entertained various notables including the Marquis de Lafayette, Daniel Webster, and James Monroe.

Educated at Harvard,[3] Gore made a fortune speculating in American Revolutionary War debt in the 1780s, becoming, according to John Quincy Adams, the wealthiest lawyer in the country.

[10] In 1796 Gore was appointed by President George Washington to be a commissioner in London dealing with maritime issues pursuant to the Jay Treaty between the United States and Great Britain.

In October 1802 Gore sent some of her sketches to his friend Rufus King, who was vacationing in Paris, requesting that Legrand draft plans from them.

[12] Although there is no definitive evidence that Legrand drafted the plans used in construction, the house as built has details that are part of his architectural vocabulary.

[2] Many of the mansion's construction materials, including the bricks, were shipped from England and rafted up the Charles River to the Waltham site.

The stable area had seven stalls, and includes distinctive features to facilitate the removal of waste and the supply of food to the animals.

The tack room separated the stalls from the central area, also serving to isolate the smell of the stables from the rest of the building.

They entertained numerous high-profile guests, including President James Monroe, Daniel Webster, and the Marquis de Lafayette.

Lyman made a number of changes to the landscaping of the estate, including the construction of a formal garden area to the north of the main house.

[15] In 1935 the bank that took the property planned to sell off the estate for housing, but preservationists from the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (now Historic New England), the Trustees of Reservations, and the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts organized a drive to preserve the property.