Elinor Mead was born into New England’s social and intellectual aristocracy. President Rutherford B. Hayes was her cousin; an uncle was the founder of the “free love” Oneida Community. She graduated from Brattleboro (Vermont) High School. She married William Dean Howells in 1862. They had three children: Winifred, John Mead, and Mildred. The couple lived at first in Venice, where William held a consulship (1861–65), then in Cambridge, Massachusetts (1866–78). After a trip to Europe in 1882, the Howellses relocated frequently. Despite lifelong health problems, Elinor was an accomplished artist; she was the architect and interior designer for the Howellses’ first house, in Cambridge. Her husband valued her great intelligence and her exacting criticisms of his work.