September October 2021, A House Finds Its Hero, feature on Keith Robinson by Kirk Reed Forrester | Photography by David Hillegas. Once a tractor barn, the pavilion is now arguably the most comfortable place on the property.
“A lot of people think of me as a man who dresses in high fashion and expensive shoes and lives in a loft in the city,” he says. “But the real Keith Robinson would rather greet you in mud boots, jeans, and a T-shirt.”
“I was always that kid who was asking, ‘Can I do this? Can I do that? Can I learn to play the piano? Can I join choir? Can I do theater? Can I paint in watercolor?” says Keith. “My parents never said no to me. They gave me my wings. Because of them, I don’t know what it’s like to have fear.”
September October 2021, A House Finds Its Hero, feature on Keith Robinson by Kirk Reed Forrester | Photography by David Hillegas
He started asking around, trying to find the owner of Redwine Plantation, as the place was known, but no one knew who owned the old, sprawling property. Then one day, fate interceded. A client mentioned in passing that his family was from Chattahoochee Hills and that his cousin still owned the very home that Keith admired. In fact, it had been passed down through one family since it was built in 1841. Soon Keith connected with the owner, Frank Redwine III, and made an offer. On July 1, Keith’s 45th birthday, he moved in.
For all its beauty, the long, complicated history of Redwine Plantation is not lost on Keith. “I know that for a lot of people, the word plantation has negative things associated with it—as a man of color, if I don’t get that, then there’s something wrong,” he says. “But frankly, for me this is a place where I feel so much love. All the ghosts of the past are gone. I have all the documentation of this home’s past—the ledgers and the tax valuations and documents on the 26 slaves who lived here. But that doesn’t dissuade me from wanting to see this place at its absolute fullest potential.”
September October 2021, A House Finds Its Hero, feature on Keith Robinson by Kirk Reed Forrester | Photography by David Hillegas. A view through the plane trees into the pavilion, where a prolific Lady Banks’ rose greets guests
As he walks the gravel pathways of his garden, Keith points out a clutch of tiger lilies he rescued from a ditch down the road and replanted. Once immature, the plants now flourish in their new home. “This garden is the result of a lot of happy accidents,” says Keith. Like the lilies, he is thriving too, reclaiming a home that seemed destined to him by fate—or by a happy accident—and giving it a new life, a new purpose, a new chance to throw open its doors and welcome people in.
SCENES FROM KEITH’S AUTUMN FETE
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For information on the Redwine Sessions, follow @redwinesessions on Instagram, or email redwinesessions@gmail.com
This story appears in Flower magazine’s September/October 2021 issue on newsstands August 31. Subscribe or find a copy in a store near you.