Alice Miller Richardson

Alice was Frank Miller’s sister, coming to California with her parents C.C. Miller and Mary Clark Miller from Tomah, Wisconsin, in 1874. Alice grew up in the Glenwood as her father, C. C. Miller, developed it into a hotel in the late 1870s. In 1880, her parents sold the hotel property to her older brother, Frank, who renovated and expanded it in 1882.

In 1885, Alice married Frank W. Richardson and shortly after, the young couple began to manage the Glenwood for Miller. In 1894, Frank and his sister attended a convention of the Southern California Hotel Association and both presented papers. Frank’s paper focused on the transportation of guests to and from railways stations, while Alice discussed management of the pantry and kitchen. Alice is often credited for the homelike qualities of accommodations in the hotel. Later, in 1897, Miller again left the Glenwood in his sister and brother-in-law’s hands.

In 1903, when Frank Miller completed his major renovation of the Glenwood and created his dream hotel, Alice Richardson is listed as the hotel’s buyer and her husband, Frank W. Richardson, is listed as manager. Frank Richardson died in 1906 and Alice stayed on in a management capacity until her death in 1938.