Pioneer Information
Born in San Francisco, Elizabeth Kellam attended Vassar College and Stanford University, earning her Master’s in Psychology in 1920. In 1925 she married landscape architect Lockwood de Forest III. That same year, Santa Barbara experienced a devastating earthquake. The de Forests joined with prominent artists, architects, planners, and philanthropists to form the Community Arts Association, ultimately rebuilding Santa Barbara in the Spanish Colonial Revival Style. Together, the de Forests founded and subsequently edited The Santa Barbara Gardener from 1925-1942, combining Elizabeth’s plant knowledge and elegant prose with Lockwood’s knowledgeable commentary on design. After returning from World War II, de Forest began the landscape design for the entrance to the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Following his death in 1949, Elizabeth completed the project as a memorial to her husband. She was licensed as a landscape architect in 1952. Two major commissions were residences for Wright Ludington in Montecito. She consulted with Thomas Church for his Montectio projects, and also served as supervising landscape architect for a new city park in Santa Barbara.
