07/21/2026
Did you know one of the nation's pioneering women landscape architects helped shape one of our area's most iconic estates?
In 1897, Illinois became the first state to provide women with the opportunity to become a registered and licensed architect. And, in 1898, Marion Mahony Griffin passed the Illinois state exam, making her the first officially licensed female architect in United States history. She was also the first employee hired by Frank Lloyd Wright.
But women architects were a limited group, with only one other female in the licensed architect ranks through 1920. In fact, the other female architect in 1921, Elisabeth Martini, decided to run an advertisement in Chicago newspapers that read: Only girl architect lonely. Wanted—to meet all the women architects in Chicago to form a club.
Landscape architecture proved a much more open field, as “ephemeral” arts were considered a better place for women to hone their craft because gardens didn’t hold the same longevity as buildings did. And women moved into that field by the dozens, bringing with them innate skills, creativity, and a desire to work hard.
Ellen Biddle Shipman (1869-1950) was one of those women, and she built a decades-long career with numerous gardens in her portfolio in Lake Forest and Lake Bluff. Shipman was labeled by House and Garden Magazine as the “Dean of Women Landscape Architects” in 1933 because, not only was she prolific, but she also trained many landscape architects over her career.
Shipman designed more than 650 gardens across the United States that we know about. She designed dozens of gardens in the Lake Forest and Lake Bluff area. She was highly sought after by wealthy clients, including the Fords and Astors in New York and the McCormick and Blair families in Lake Forest and Lake Bluff.
Read the full story on Lake Forest Love: https://www.lakeforestlove.com/post/dean-of-women-landscape-architects-worked-on-crab-tree-farm-and-other-important-sites
