My New Home: At home in Porter Farms in Collierville

Emily Adams Keplinger
·4 min read
Cyndi and Keith love their new home.
Cyndi and Keith love their new home.

Cyndi Garner and Keith Williamson both work in the trucking industry. They met online three years ago after he was intrigued when he saw a picture of an accountant (Cyndi) wearing a safety vest sitting in the cab of a truck.

“Neither of us are from Memphis,” explained Cyndi. “I’m a military brat so I’m not really ‘from’ anywhere. With that being said, I was born in Mississippi (Hurricane Camille chased us out of there), raised traveling, and spent 20 years in Washington state before I moved to Memphis. Keith is from Alabama.”

Elevation
Elevation

Cyndi has been here 11 years now and is assistant corporate controller at IMC Companies. Keith is a logistics manager for Intermodal Cartage, the original company in the IMC family of companies.

The couple recently moved to be closer to the new IMC Companies’ headquarters in Collierville. They knew they wanted a home with a garage, at least two bedrooms and two bathrooms, a laundry area, plenty of storage, a yard and a short commute to work. To begin their house hunt they contacted Alex Turner, an agent with Hobson Realtors.

Comfortable furniture, plenty of shelves on both sides of the fireplace and a pleasing color palette add up to a much-enjoyed living room.
Comfortable furniture, plenty of shelves on both sides of the fireplace and a pleasing color palette add up to a much-enjoyed living room.

“I met Alex in 2020 when she helped me purchase a condo in Downtown Memphis,” recalled Cyndi. “She was the agent who responded when I was looking at one of the real estate websites and I wanted to see a property. I think that was between Christmas and New Year’s Eve 2019. I do know it was late one evening and I wasn’t actually expecting a response at that hour. But respond she did! When I started looking into selling the condo this past summer, I knew she was the agent I wanted to handle it. And then Alex helped us find our new home. Overall, we looked at 10 properties, not counting the others we were scheduled to see but were sold before we could get there.”

The former dining room has been repurposed as a reading room. No electronics of any kind are to be found here.
The former dining room has been repurposed as a reading room. No electronics of any kind are to be found here.

Cyndi and Keith found a property in Porter Farms that gave them everything they were looking for in their new home. The single story, traditional style brick home had three bedrooms and two bathrooms. It was only three years old, so everything was in working order and still very much en trend. They paid $455,000 for approximately 2,250 square feet of living space. And one of the things they liked the most about the house was that the layout provided a central gathering area while providing privacy between the master and guest rooms.

Art is on every wall in the home, with a concentration on folk art. These shutters are a great example of turning familiar items into interesting wall hangings.
Art is on every wall in the home, with a concentration on folk art. These shutters are a great example of turning familiar items into interesting wall hangings.

“Our new home differed from our former home in that it was a house rather than a condo,” said Keith. “It still had an open feeling to it, but with more space, plus a back-loading garage and a yard. We have two dogs, Nola and Maggie, so the yard space was important to us. Since moving into our new place last month (December 2021), most of our time has been spent just getting the house in order. Being a relatively new build, there wasn’t anything that really needed to be done. However as we settle in we plan to make cosmetic changes — paint, lighting, etc., to suit our tastes.”

The kitchen’s island provides a comfortable spot to eat.
The kitchen’s island provides a comfortable spot to eat.

The house had an abundance of curb appeal with a wide front porch. And there was a more private sitting space provided by a screened porch in the back. A living room, adjacent to the dining room, also flowed into the eat-in kitchen. And the living room seemed all the more cozy due to a gas fireplace. A large island in the kitchen added ample storage, as well as an informal dining space. Gleaming hardwoods ran throughout the house, except for the tiled floors in the bathrooms and the laundry room.

A vintage bookcase, along with some pleasing folk art, decorate the front entryway of the home.
A vintage bookcase, along with some pleasing folk art, decorate the front entryway of the home.

“Truly this house had everything we were hoping for — and more,” said Cyndi. “We liked that this was a quiet neighborhood, yet it was located close to everything in Collierville. When we’re not working, most of our time has gone to the dogs. Also, we both read a lot. In fact, we’ve converted the dining room into our reading room. But once the weather warms up this spring, we’d like to take rides on Keith’s Harley and explore our new area.”

Cordova home: My New Home: Fit for a Prince in Cordova

Tanglewood Terrace: My New Home: Updated Tudor in Tanglewood Terrace

Emily Adams Keplinger is a freelance reporter who produced this feature for the Advertising Department.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: My New Home: At home in Porter Farms in Collierville