Ellen Biddle Shipman
Ellen Biddle Shipman (née Ellen Biddle; November 5, 1869 – March 27, 1950) was an American landscape architect known for her formal gardens and lush planting style. Along with Beatrix Farrand and Marian Cruger Coffin, she dictated the style of the time and strongly influenced landscape design as a member of the first generation to break into the largely male occupation.
Ellen Biddle Shipman | |
|---|---|
Shipman at Beekman Place, her NYC home. | |
| Born | Ellen Biddle November 5, 1869 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Died | March 27, 1950 (aged 80) Warwick Camp, Bermuda |
| Education | Radcliffe College |
| Occupation | Landscape architect |
| Known for | Landscape architecture, garden design |
| Notable work | Longue Vue House and Gardens, Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site |
| Children | Evan Biddle Shipman |
| Parent(s) | James Biddle, Ellen McGowan Biddle |
Commenting about the male dominated field to The New York Times in 1938, she said "before women took hold of the profession, landscape architects were doing what I call cemetery work." Shipman preferred to look on her career of using plantings as if she "were painting pictures as an artist." Little of her work remains today because of the labor-intensive style of her designs, but there exist preserved spaces, including the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University, often cited as one of the most beautiful American college campuses.
She is buried in Plainfield, New Hampshire, near Brook Place, her estate there.