Sign up for TPR Today, Texas Public Radio's newsletter that brings our top stories to your inbox each morning.
A castle-like home on Grayson Street across from Fort Sam Houston has joined the San Antonio housing market. The Lambermont at 950 East Grayson is for sale.
Dona Liston, the current owner, explained in 2022 that the home was "built in 1894 by Alfred Giles for Edwin Terrell. He was the U.S. ambassador prior to building this house."
The limestone mansion has four floors plus a basement. The limestone was quarried a little more than a mile away, at the quarry that was then turned into the San Antonio Zoo.
“The craftsmen that it took to put this house together ... is just amazing,” she said.
As most homeowners do, the first ones planted trees. “I have pictures of the original house with the very first tree that went up. So, 129 years ago,” Liston said.
Over time those two trees grew to be huge — about 70 feet tall, branches meeting in the center above the sidewalk.
But then in early September 2021, one of the trees, a red oak planted in the late 1800s, partially collapsed. It had fought fungus for years. The rest of the tree was cut down to prevent it from possibly injuring anyone nearby or damaging the home whenever the remainder collapsed.
Liston hired a tree service to come and take it down. “And they have to start from the top, work their way down," she explained in 2022, "and as they were doing that, they got to the point of ‘Now we've got this trunk, and we've got to dig it up.’ And I just …” Liston said, recalling what she said. “‘You know what? Just leave it.’”
That emotional bond with her dead tree didn’t allow her to let it go. And the way the remaining limb stumps flared out, she began to see something.
“I just kept seeing these angel wings. And I love angels. I've collected angels for years,” Liston said.
She researched online how other people had turned their tree stumps into angel-shaped sculptures. She hired a chainsaw artist, and within two weeks, the work was done.
Both the home — already a popular venue for weddings and other festive events — and the angel became popular spots for photos, including from drivers slowly cruising down the residential street.
Now in 2025, Liston and her husband are ready for a change. They both have aging parents in the Valley that need them nearby, so they've decided to move.
“[M]y husband and I purchased this house 17 years ago, spent three years restoring it, getting it back to as original [a] footprint as possible, obviously, updating bathrooms and things like that to run it as a wedding venue. And that's what we've done for the last 15 years,” Liston said.
The listing explained that the "13,952 SF structure boasts grand architecture with original woodwork, hand-carved details, soaring ceilings, and 8 fireplaces. It includes multiple entertaining areas, 9 spacious bedrooms, and 9 bathrooms. The estate is set on over 1 acre of manicured grounds, with gated access, private parking, a wraparound porch, and mature oak trees that frame the castle-like façade."
