When Dr. Jennifer Kemp and Nick Kemp bought their current mid-century home, they knew they were going to undertake a massive renovation. What they didn’t realize is that the home would continue to require a decent amount of upkeep and problem-solving—and could ultimately impact the time that they’d rather be spending together.
“I was working full-time at hospitals,” says Dr. Kemp. “And asking Nick, ‘Did you do this? Do that? Call that person?’”
For anyone in a relationship, this is a very familiar refrain, especially if one of you has been trying to call an electrician for a week and hasn’t heard back yet. Or if you can’t find anyone to take on a very small ceiling patch job. Or if no one can figure out why your upstairs is at least 78 degrees, no matter the outside temperature.
As two people who love their home and take a lot of pride in their space, the Kemps knew they needed help and reached out to their network to see if anyone had a solution. Finally, some trial and error, lots of Googling, and an interview led them to Willow, a home concierge service that provides high-end care through a single point of contact, bridging the gap between the realities of long-term homeownership and the limits of traditional general contracting.
Or as Dr. Kemp says, “Let’s just call Elizabeth.”
Elizabeth Poisson is the Home Concierge responsible for the Kemp’s home. She’s incredibly detail-oriented, curious, and a true problem solver—and she will stop at nothing to fix the mysterious HVAC issue that has been plaguing the Kemps and their sub-tropical second floor.
When she’s not in the attic crawl space trying to get to the root cause of that issue, she’s noticing small details before they become problems and adding a sense of ease to the Kemp's life, keeping track of regular maintenance for them, and coordinating larger projects.
“Elizabeth just schedules it,” says Nick Kemp. “And we don't even have to be here.”
There’s a lot of trust required in the relationship, both ways, and Poisson has clearly earned it. Within days of beginning work with the Kemps, she’d coordinated a warranty claim with their roofing company to have shingles replaced. She also replaced a toilet seat that previous contractors had called impossible, and she turned a $20K pool cover estimate into a $2K welding project. When the dryer started squeaking, Dr. Kemp didn’t even think to mention it, but Poisson heard it right away, took videos, and had it repaired the next morning.
“I have trouble sharing Willow,” says Dr. Kemp. “We love how intentional they are about how many clients they have.”
“If you have kids, you never want to share a babysitter's number,” adds Nick Kemp. “This is that.”
They are, of course, speaking to the value of finding—and sometimes gatekeeping—people who make your life better and easier. In founding Willow, Nick Karas knew he wanted to work with an intentionally limited client model with a hospitality-driven concierge approach, so they have no need to worry.
Together, Nick Karas, Elizabeth Poisson, and the other Home Concierges have cultivated a network of trusted and vetted contractors who show up on time and do good work. Poisson is there to get to the heart of the issue(s) and make sure the right people are lined up to take the home apart and put it back together even better.
“We stay three steps ahead to coordinate with the vendors and put them in order,” says Poisson. “Always advocating for better solutions to seamlessly manage evolving project scopes.”
With Poisson, nothing feels impossible. Together, they’re exploring other long-term projects, like a fireplace that hasn’t been operable since 2013 and stucco covering their original brick exterior. One day, the Kemps know that the to-do list will zero out and everything will be done, thanks in massive part to Poisson and the rest of the team at Willow.
That’s not to say home maintenance ever truly ends. As we head into spring, the Willow team is scheduling AC tune-ups, gutter and downspout cleaning, window washing, and sprinkler system audits and activation.
“Every home is different,” says Nick Karas. “But spring kicks the dormant season into action.”
Outside the home, they focus on coordinating exterior painting and landscaping, getting ahead of the growing season by fertilizing trees and doing pest prevention. They’ll even power wash and organize the garage, detail the car, and swap winter tires.
They’re always thinking of ways to support the homeowners they work with and tailor the scope of each relationship to the owners and the home. They are proud of the work they do, managing everything from routine maintenance to large-scale renovations, emergency response, and even art handling.
To learn more about their work and get on their membership waitlist, head to WillowHome.co.