Born in New York in 1861 as Matilda Lemon. MacCulloch studied art both at the New York Academy of Fine Arts and Julian Art Academy in Paris.  In 1894 she married a Scottish nobleman and moved to England where she lived for many years with her daughter Marguerite. In 1931 she returned to the United States and resided in Newport Beach, California. In Corona del Mar, she built a replica of Ye Olde Belle Inn at Hurley-on-Thames, reputedly the oldest inn in England.  The local version was called the Hurley Bell ‒ until it was sold to the owner of the Lawry’s restaurant chain in 1965 and renamed The Five Crowns.