The Where I Live series aims to showcase our diverse city and region by spotlighting its many vibrant neighborhoods. Each week a local resident invites us over and lets us in on what makes their neighborhood special. Have we been to your neighborhood yet? Get in touch to share your story. If your story is selected and published, you will receive a $250 stipend.

Last month, my husband Andrew and I stood outside our home with our newborn daughter. Nearly three acres stretch around our 88-year-old house. There are tall trees, an open sky and a quiet that feels rare in a growing city like San Antonio. As I held her, I kept thinking about how lucky it was to end up here and how grateful we are to have the chance to build our lives on this land.

In a lot of ways, being here feels like coming full circle.

My family moved to Ingram Hills in 1999 when I was 4 years old. I attended Villarreal Elementary School, Neff Middle School and Holmes High School. As I got older, I started to fully appreciate how unique this neighborhood was. The lots were big and filled with trees. It felt so different from other places in the city, like you were in the countryside, despite being inside Loop 410.

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Ingram Hills was always close-knit. As a child, my parents took me to every neighborhood meeting and event. One of my favorite memories is from when I was 13 years old, performing a song with two of my friends for the annual Ingram Hills Christmas party. I remember shakily singing Jingle Bells while our audience cheered us on. San Antonio Neighbors Together is another favorite event of mine. My parents have hosted it for several years now and it’s exciting to catch up with neighbors, new and old.

Moments like these are part of what makes this neighborhood feel less like a collection of houses and more like a community. 

Esme holds the cat Rosie as her husband Andrew holds their newborn daughter Rosie. Credit: Clint Datchuk for the San Antonio Report

That closeness continues today. My parents still live on the same street, just an eight-minute walk away. With the birth of our daughter last month, they get to see their granddaughter every day. Watching them step into their new role as grandparents, right here in the same neighborhood where they raised me, has been incredible.

I moved away in 2013 to attend school at UT Austin and I knew I’d find my way back home to San Antonio but never imagined getting the opportunity to buy a house in my old neighborhood.

Our dear neighbor, Suzanne, lived just down the road from my parents in a home she adored. She cared so much about what would happen to it after she was gone. It mattered to her that the property would go to someone who would honor it, create a future for it, and most especially, tend to her pet cemetery. The best part of the property is that it’s full of eccentric details.

Esme’s dear neighbors, Suzanne (left side) and Carmen. Suzanne passed away in December 2024. Credit: Courtesy / Esme Neumann

Before Suzanne passed away in December 2024, my husband and I were given an opportunity to purchase her home. She and I cried on the phone together talking about what this would mean to us. It felt like an enormous responsibility and an incredible gift. 

Suzanne’s trust in us changed the path of our lives.

We became owners of her home last May and not long after that, our daughter was born. She’s only a month old, but already this place feels like it was meant for her.

Andrew and I imagine her growing up here as I once did. We can already picture her climbing the trees, exploring the creek behind the property like I used to, and learning to love the nature all around her. In a world that often feels fast and crowded, this place gives our family something rare. It allows us room to breathe and a place to put down roots.

My husband and I feel that land should be shared in ways that help strengthen and grow the community. This belief is why we founded San Antonio Circuit Makers, a nonprofit focused on STEM education. We teach kids about how the technology around them works and host meetups for local industry professionals and tech enthusiasts. One of our dreams is to build a makerspace on this property where we can foster those kinds of experiences. 

At the same time, we want this land to support the nature around it.

Andrew showing off the bees during one of our San Antonio Circuit Makers meetups. Credit: Courtesy / Esme Neumann

When we moved in, we started building urban beehives. Watching the bees settle in has been a fascinating experience. Once spring officially arrives, the yard will be full of plants for butterflies, bees and other pollinators our ecosystem depends on.

Every small step feels like keeping a promise to Suzanne.

Two of Esme’s six cats lay in the pet cemetary in the backyard of her Ingram Hills home. Credit: Clint Datchuk for the San Antonio Report

We love Ingram Hills deeply. This neighborhood shaped my childhood and now it’s shaping the life we are creating for our daughter. We’re planting our roots here, building a home and dreaming about all the ways this property can serve the community we love.

We can’t wait to see what grows here next.

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