Walk into Lisa Palmer’s SummerHouse showroom and you may find yourself thinking you’ve entered your favorite beachside getaway. And that is exactly what the designer-by-day and singer-by-night intended.
“During a family trip to Seaside (Florida), I asked my husband, ‘Can you imagine if we lived here all the time,’” said Lisa. “Right then I knew I had to choose a name for my showroom that reminded people of what it felt like to be on vacation.”
The light and airy space, open from one end of the store to the other, offers customers an uncluttered, unfussy experience. “We are all drawn to natural light,” explained Lisa, who describes her furnishings as classic with a bit of modern funk. “Customers always tell us that they love the way it feels.”
Lisa is passionate about her new 6,900-square-foot SummerHouse, located in the fast-growing Ridgeland, Miss., community north of Jackson. “It is a lot of work, but it is so fulfilling,” she said. “Not only does it give people jobs (she employs 14), but it also gives us an opportunity to showcase local and regional artists.”
Coming from an artistic and musically talented family, Lisa chose interior design as a practical way to earn money and still have time to enjoy her other God-given talent – music. “I knew I didn’t want to become a starving artist,” she chuckled. She even helped pay her way through college by singing. After graduating from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1983, Lisa worked as an interior designer in Hattiesburg before moving back to Jackson in 1988 with her husband, who had just finished his residency. Her first SummerHouse was a quaint 1,000-square-foot boutique in Jackson’s Fondren art district. “I was on my way to market at 6:30 that morning when I received a call that the store was on fire,” said Lisa. That was in 2005.
“From the ashes rises the Phoenix,” said Lisa, who took her vision and ideas to the next level by opening a larger store in a growing community. “Home styles in Jackson were mostly traditional. I saw a need for modern, streamlined, clean traditional furnishings.”
“SummerHouse feeds her artistic passion. But singing feeds her musical soul. As members of Jackson’s Beth Israel since she was 11, Lisa and her sister, Nina Mabry, have sung with the volunteer choir most of their lives. “I feel that by sharing my music and singing with our Shirim Choir, I am able to give back to the community,” she said.
During the 1990s Lisa performed every weekend for two years with a Jazz Band. Now she and Nina perform at bar and bat mitzvahs and have work with Josh Wiener, the Temple’s choir director, at performances throughout the Mississippi Delta. Lisa also sings with a local Jazz Band that rocks Jackson’s nightspots and has performed with the Mississippi Symphony. She recently performed with the Shirim Choir and the Mississippi Mass Choir at Beth Israel’s 150th Anniversary Celebration with Joshua Nelson.
Lisa’s three sons have inherited their mother’s musical genes. Her 10th grader, who is also a member of the Shirim Choir, performs with his high school marching band. A son at the University of Southern Mississippi is a drummer and performs with three bands, and her oldest, singer, songwriter and up-and-coming Nashville artist, Brian Fuente, designed her new SummerHouse Web site as well as Beth Israel’s.
Mon. – Fri. 10am – 6pm Sat. 10am – 5:30pm
(except holidays)
1109 Highland Colony Parkway, Suite D
Ridgeland, MS 39157
601.853.4445
info@summerhousestyle.com
http://www.summerhousestyle.com/
