Mason-Foster House

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Mason-Foster House in Val Verde County. Now settle in, because this one's got layers. A New Yorker by birth, James H.

Mason arrived in Del Rio and made himself a local businessman. In 1887, he purchased a site and put up a home right there on it. Four rooms, frame construction.

Nothing fancy, nothing elaborate. But James Mason was a man with ideas, and he wasn't done with that property yet. He developed a spring on the land, and that spring became something more than a water source.

Mineral baths. A medicinal drink. A man born in 1835 who lived all the way to 1916 had plenty of time to watch that little spring become something people came to.

Then in 1905, the house changed hands. John J. Foster, a Del Rio attorney and civic leader, born in 1867, bought the residence.

And here's where that modest four-room frame structure started growing into something grander. Major additions were made during Foster's ownership. The place expanded, took on new character.

And the interior, well, that's where the story gets its soul. Foster's wife Mary, born in 1868, was an artist, and her work went right up on the walls of that home. Artwork by her own hand, woven into the house itself.

The residence stayed in the Foster family until 1962. Three quarters of a century of lives lived inside those walls, from Mason's spring water dreams to Mary Foster's art still hanging there in the quiet. Some houses hold their stories tight.

This one did.

What the marker says

A native of New York, local businessman James H. Mason (1835-1916) constructed his home here shortly after he purchased the site in 1887. He later developed a spring on the property for mineral baths and a medicinal drink. John J. Foster (1867-1935), a Del Rio attorney and civic leader bought the residence in 1905. During his ownership major additions were made to the home, originally a four-room frame structure. Interior detailing included artwork by Foster's wife Mary (1868-1958). The residence remained in the foster family until 1962. (1980)