CHIP PANKEY
An amazing trio of talented women: Robinson in the center with daughters Jackson at left and McKissack at right.
photography by Chip Pankey
This is the story of three Renaissance (and related!) women who together have created a wonderful downtown home on South Front Street.
Cheryle Jackson, the absentee owner of the house, was raised in Memphis but has been based in Chicago for a number of years, where she is president of AAR Africa Global Services. Fortunately, her mother, Earnestine Robinson, and her sister, Michelle McKissack, who both live in Memphis, have helped tremendously with planning and implementing the home’s interior design.
Jackson had not really intended to buy a house in Memphis — in fact it was the farthest thing from her mind — until two years ago, when during a family visit, she happened upon this charming, upscale zero-lot house in The Ivy at the South End. She loved the energy and feel of downtown and all its amenities and especially this particular location so near the Farmers Market. Before she knew it, she was in escrow for a three bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath house.
It was decided that Jackson’s mother would live in the home and look after the place, which was the perfect solution, as one of her sons, Todd Robinson, lives six doors down in the same complex. Her mother’s other daughter, Michelle McKissack, lives in Harbor Town and is “the almost neighbor” on the other side of Downtown. With this beautiful place awaiting her, Jackson tries to get home to Memphis as often as her extensive African travels to Johannesburg, Kigali, Nairobi, Abuja, and Lagos (among others) will allow.
I am calling these ladies “Renaissance women,” first of all because they have great taste and style, as you can quickly discern from the home’s photographs. All three attended Northwestern University (although Mother Robinson began her education at Fisk in Nashville) and have outstanding professional résumés. A senior executive for the leading provider of aircraft maintenance and supply chain solutions worldwide, Jackson also found the time and wherewithal to run in the 2010 Democratic Primary in Chicago to take over Barack Obama’s vacated senate seat. Amazing!
The décor of Jackson’s contemporary home is New Orleans French style.
An Emmy award-winning journalist with an extensive background in broadcast media, McKissack just happens to be my esteemed Contemporary Media colleague, serving as editor of Memphis Parent magazine, our “sister” publication. Robinson is an award-winning composer of oratorios which have been performed at Carnegie Hall and other places, who tells me that she can “hear music inside me,” though amazingly had no formal musical training. In addition, McKissack and Robinson are both the devoted mothers of large families — Robinson has five children and McKissack has four.
At the outset, it was decided that the décor of Jackson’s contemporary home would be New Orleans French style. Every piece that went into the house was agreed upon “by committee,” as the ladies like to say, which meant that when one of the three would find something she liked, it would be run by the others by text or FaceTime — often in the wee small hours of the night — for a thumbs up or down. The result is a sophisticated mixture of high/low furniture, gold and silver metallic objects, African artifacts, and vintage family furniture that has been tastefully reupholstered. Upstairs carpeting was pulled up and hardwood floors were installed. Local stores where treasures were found include Decadent Avenue, Palladio, La Maison, Worlds Away, Turkoyz Home, Ethan Allen, and At Home, and for flowers Jackson likes Garden District.
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The stylish living room is a mixture of old and new pieces and is enriched by metallic objects and the silver sheen of the drapery.
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One of Robinson’s fabulous original compositions, Magnificat, framed in gold takes pride of place on the living room wall.
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This handsome, streamlined kitchen is set off by a beautiful, modern light fixture, one of many selected to decorate Jackson’s new home.
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The luxe master bedroom is simply fit for a queen with its soft grey walls, mirrored surfaces, crystal chandelier, and that amazing bed!
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Jackson likes to call the powder room her “homage to Africa.”
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The guest room is a peaceful oasis with its monochromatic grey color scheme and with yet another elegant chandelier.
A few dramas happened along the way. The tremendous Restoration Hardware floor-length mirror ordered for the living room at first seemed just too big for the house. But after waiting two months for it, defeat was not an option, despite the delivery men saying, “Ladies, it’s not gonna fit.” Obviously they didn’t know this group! The problem was solved when the baseboard molding was cut so it would indeed fit … though just barely. Robinson likes to say that as a carpenter’s daughter, this was her idea!
Oh, and there was even more excitement when the bed purchased for the master bedroom was too large to get upstairs. McKissack took the problem to her engineer husband, John, to figure out a solution. As a result, a crane minus a driver was rented to hoist it over the balcony and into the room. Simple, right? If you are wondering who successfully operated the crane, this hair-raising job fell to brother Todd Robinson, a doctor by profession, and now crane-operator extraordinaire.
In fact, I got to talk to Robinson when he dropped by as we were photographing the house. He laughingly characterized the area as a Memphis version of television’s famous Mayberry. The neighbors are all a close-knit group, and he told me that Jackson’s house often becomes a three-ring circus full of family and friends. The cry routinely goes out, “Cheryle’s in town, come one, come all” and immediately Gus’s Fried Chicken is ordered! It so happens too that the previous owners of the house, Sophie and Bryan Duffel, just moved down the block and since have become good friends.
Fortunately there is a huge third-floor media room with an oversize black leather couch where Earnestine Robinson’s nine grandchildren, aged 2 to 20, can play, sleep, and just hang out. On the upstairs landing sits the family piano, and believe it or not, there have been recitals held there — with seating! Everyone also loves to sit outside on the patio the ladies describe as “le petit jardin” at the side of the house, which is attractively furnished with French-style bistro tables and chairs.
These three accomplished Renaissance women, sisters Cheryle Jackson and Michelle McKissack, along with their mother Earnestine Robinson, are beautiful people in every way with an inspiring devotion to family. I loved being in their warm company, and the good news is they have kindly invited us back for a party to celebrate the publication of this article.
Thank you and I accept with pleasure!
