Continuing the historic preservation, land conservation, and philanthropy ethos that the family had embraced throughout their lives, Mary Gilman Marston, the last family member to live in the home, deeded the Marston House and five acres of gardens to the city in perpetuity. She held a life estate on the property and died at age 107 in July 1987.

My sisters, Elizabeth Bade, Harriet Headley, and Helen Beardsley, join me in our pleasure in the prospect that the gardens and residence of our father, George W. Marston, will be part of the system of parks of the City of San Diego, and we are sure that our brother, Arthur Marston, if he were living now, would share our pleasure too. - Mary G. Marston, upon donating her family home to the city, July 1974.

Photo courtesy San Diego History Center