In 1930, Alice Howland and Eleanor Brownell, known colloquially as the “Hownells”, commissioned local architect John Gaw Meem to design their second home in Santa Fe, NM. The two women were from Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, where they co-owned and operated the Shipley School for Girls. Alice was the niece of Shipley founders Hannah, Elizabeth, and Katherine Shipley. She and Eleanor purchased the school in 1916 and lived together at Gladwyn Farm, on the campus grounds, for many years. The couple worked as co-head mistresses of Shipley until 1932, when they retired, sold the school, and headed to Santa Fe full-time. In 1937, architect Meem designed another house for the couple in Tesuque, NM on the outskirts of Santa Fe. They lived in this home with their two adopted daughters, Sylvia Anne and Mary Sheffield Shipley. Unable to marry at that time, Alice and Eleanor gave their daughters the name Shipley, as a surname. In Santa Fe, the two women had many friends in the local art colony and were active in community affairs, including activism for Native American rights and the development of the Santa Fe Opera.
