Ellen was born in Petersburg, Virginia and moved to Camden, SC as a child when her father, an engineer for DuPont, was transferred there. She graduated from the Ashley Hall School in Charleston, SC and Converse College in Spartanburg, SC. While living in Houston, TX, Ellen worked as a real estate appraiser. She returned to South Carolina to care for her father and became interested in appraising decorative arts from attending Charlton Hall auctions and later completing the Certificate program at George Washington University. After her father's death she returned to Virginia in 2015 where she had a lifelong friend and many cousins.
She has two grown children.