Limestone Castle on Government Hill
950 East Grayson Street, San Antonio, TX 78208
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$
Lambermont Events operates the property for weddings, private events, and occasional ticketed parties. Overnight bed-and-breakfast lodging is no longer offered.
Access
Limited Access
Multiple floors, original staircases, no elevator.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1894 · Alfred Giles Architecture · Government Hill Historic District · Diplomatic Residence · U.S. Ambassador's Estate
Edwin Holland Terrell, a Texas attorney who served as U.S. Ambassador to Belgium under President Benjamin Harrison, commissioned the castle after his diplomatic posting in Brussels. Inspired by the chateaux of northern Europe, he hired English architect Alfred Giles, then practicing in San Antonio, to design a limestone residence at 950 East Grayson Street in the Government Hill neighborhood.
During Terrell's lifetime, the building was known as Lambermont, a tribute to Baron Auguste Lambermont, the Belgian diplomat with whom Terrell had worked closely. After Terrell's death in 1910, locals began referring to it as Terrell Castle. The two names have coexisted ever since.
The property passed through several owners across the twentieth century. From the 1980s through the early 2010s, it operated as Terrell Castle Bed & Breakfast, a popular boutique lodging known for its architectural features and the family stories told by docents. The bed-and-breakfast operation has since closed.
The building today operates as Lambermont Events, a wedding and private-events venue with a maximum capacity of 300 guests. The venue includes five private guest rooms used in conjunction with weddings rather than as standalone lodging. Public access to the building is restricted to events and scheduled appointments.
Sources
The longest-standing paranormal account at the castle concerns a female presence sensed in the library, frequently identified by guests and former bed-and-breakfast staff as the original lady of the house. Witnesses describe a sudden change in the room's atmosphere and an impression of being watched while alone in the space.
A second pattern involves children playing on the main staircase. Housekeepers and overnight guests during the bed-and-breakfast era reported the sound of small footsteps on the stairs and occasional glimpses of figures moving along the landing. The children have not been historically identified.
Local folklore connects the more dramatic accounts to Edwin Holland Terrell himself. According to multiple accounts, Terrell shot himself in the master bedroom and died ten days later in 1910; his second wife, Lois, held the funeral on the first floor of the residence. A separate folkloric account, less well documented, describes a contractor falling from the upper balconies during construction.
Guest accounts collected during the bed-and-breakfast years include a couple who watched a small television slide off a table and onto the floor without contact, and multiple housekeepers who reported phantom footsteps in hallways while alone in the building. Investigation activity has been limited since the property transitioned to event-venue use.
Notable Entities
Tour the limestone castle commissioned in the 1890s by Edwin Holland Terrell, U.S. Ambassador to Belgium under President Benjamin Harrison, and designed by English architect Alfred Giles. Tours cover the building's transitions from private residence to bed-and-breakfast to its current operation as Lambermont Events.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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