Alice Millard

Alice Parsons Millard (May 4, 1873 – July 15, 1938) was an American bookseller and promoter of culture in the Arroyo Seco region of Los Angeles County. She is widely known for commissioning Frank Lloyd Wright to build her house (La Miniatura) in Pasadena.

Millard was born in Jefferson City, Missouri. She had one sister, Emily. A romance ensued and in 1901, Parsons accompanied Millard on a book-buying trip to England. Parsons was 28 when she married Millard (age 55) in St. Bridge's in London. The couple had one child, a daughter born in 1904 whose disabilities meant an institutionalized life. Alice carried on with their book-buying business, along with antique furniture. She commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright. According to Ritchie, "Wright was not interested in doing a traditional house on the traditional flat lot in a respective neighborhood which Alice had already purchased. He searched the area and found a tree-covered ravine leading into the Arroyo which he persuaded Alice to buy. He snugly fit the house therein."

She died in 1938. Much of the Millards’ collection of books was given to the Huntington Library.