Jackson Free Press

Like a fine wine or a vintage roadster, some things just get better as they mature. At the age of 53, Lisa Palmer has a youthful vitality and modest confidence about her.

"When you can look back and see what you've done and you're proud of it, confidence does seem to grow," she says.

Palmer holds bachelor's in interior design from the University of Southern Mississippi and has been living in Jackson since 1971. She has three sons: Brian Fuente, 29; Max, 22; and Sam, 17. Palmer also owns SummerHouse (1109-D Highland Colony Parkway, Ridgeland, 601-853-4445). The idea and name for the store came to her while she was on vacation with her husband, Mike, who is an ophthalmologist at the VA Hospital.

"I remember talking to him about how cool it would be to live in a community where everybody was on vacation ... happy all the time," Palmer says. "I said, 'If I ever opened a store, that's the way I would want people to feel.'"

Palmer opened SummerHouse in 2003 in the former Herb's Frame Shop office in Fondren. However, in 2005, a fire in the building forced Palmer out of the location.

"Luckily, my computer was saved in the fire, thanks to Ron Chane, who was my neighbor. He busted my door down when the fire was going on and single-handedly picked up my desk and my computer, bringing it out the front door," she says.

Even a fire couldn't keep Palmer from what she loved. Temporarily, she set up shop in her dining room and continued working. The next year, she opened the store at its current location in Ridgeland with about 8,800 square feet of space. What started as just a retail store has blossomed into a full-service interior-design showroom.

With a staff of degree-qualified interior designers, the store is all about client service.

"That is huge at SummerHouse, and I preach it from the minute my designers come on board," Palmer says. "Client service is number one."

The SummerHouse approach to design is to first get to know their client's needs. Once the staff is able to determine exactly what the client wants, the process flows from there. They can help with something as small as paint color to a project as large as advising on the building process from start to completion.

"Everybody is treated the same, no matter how small a job is or how large the job. Today they may only need a paint color, but in four years, they will remember that they got that kind of client service and they'll come back to us," Palmer says.