There’s an old adage that the family that plays together stays together. In the Gipsons’ case, the family that also works together remains close.

 

John and Tess Gipson have lived in Historic Brookhaven for 44 years. They were first in a home on Winall Down Road and then moved to their current house on West Brookhaven Drive when their two sons, Jay and Grant, were teenagers.

 

When Jay married Laurie in 1991, he and his bride also chose to live in Historic Brookhaven. They had three children, raised them here, and are now enjoying an empty-nester lifestyle from their home on Club Drive. Grant and his wife Jenny live nearby in the Meadowbrook neighborhood off Roswell Road.

 

John started The Gipson Company, a commercial real estate development firm, in 1973. Now, 51 years later, both Jay and Grant as well as Jay and Laurie’s youngest son Brendan all work at the company. Recently, the Gipson Company developed both medical buildings at the intersection of Peachtree Road and Colonial Drive just across from Historic Brookhaven.

 

It’s most well-known project in the last few years is probably Assembly Atlanta, a production studio located at the old General Motors assembly plant in Doraville. The Gipson Company partnered with Atlanta-based Gray Television on the 135-acre site, which had been vacant for decades. As part of an effort to be environmentally conscious as well as work with Georgia subcontractors, the Gipson Company and a local grading firm found a way to crush and reuse 88 acres of concrete in the new development.

 

Tess says it’s John’s dream come true to work each day with his sons and one grandson. “They’re all close and for that we are blessed,” she says.

 

Jay echoes that sentiment. “It’s not often that you have three generations working side-by-side on a daily basis,” he notes. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for Brendan to experience both the wit and wisdom of his granddaddy and to learn the company’s multifaceted operations with his dad.”

 

Even the Gipson Company logo was created by a family member. Laurie and Jay’s daughter-in-law Amelia designed the emblem in 2022. Amelia is married to their oldest son, Ian.

 

While they still live nearby, when their kids were young Laurie and Jay used to be 10 houses away from Tess and John on West Brookhaven Drive. At the end of almost every workday, John would drive home in his convertible with the top down and pass his grandchildren swinging on their front-yard tire swing. “The kids would run down to the street to say hello,” Laurie says.

 

Now Laurie and Jay are on Club Drive with their Border Collie/Labrador mix Belle in what Laurie calls their “quiet, master-on-the-main, forever home.” They enjoy hosting Ian, his wife, and Labrador when they are in town from Tennessee and spending time at the home with their adult “intown” kids Brendan and daughter Eliza (co-founder of Magnolia Arthouse, an Atlanta-based production design and fabrication studio). You might find all sitting on the screened porch or in their cozy wine room – or participating in a family pickleball “grudge” match at nearby Capital City Club.

 

A former Delta flight attendant, Laurie now teaches spin classes at Cherokee Town & Country Club. She enjoys walking Belle around the neighborhood and keeps a constantly full water bowl next to the mailbox at the end of their driveway. She also has a cooler of treats and drinks on the front porch for delivery, yard, and service people.

 

The Gipsons are a house divided when it comes to sports teams and alma maters. Jay graduated from the University of Alabama and Laurie from Auburn University. Their first two children didn’t attend SEC schools: Ian graduated from Washington & Lee University and Eliza attended the College of Charleston and SCAD. It took their third child to break the tie. Brendan is also an Auburn Tiger. Laurie was born in Meadville, Pennsylvania, and attended high school in Vero Beach, Florida.

 

John is also a Bama supporter. Tess says he’ll watch anything involving a ball while she reads a book. Tess attended junior college at Young Harris College and then entered the University of Georgia. She is a native Atlantan and grew up in Peachtree Park. She is still close to her classmates from the North Fulton High School class. In fact, the group is about to have its collective 80th birthday party. Tess is also in a Bible study with four friends from her grammar school.

 

According to Tess, their home on West Brookhaven is their happy place. Once her boys married and had kids, she loved sharing the home with her grandchildren. From the time each of their granddaughters (Eliza as well as Grant’s girls Avery and Arden) was in Kindergarten, Tess hosted a Christmas holiday tea for each girl’s friends, female classmates, and their moms. The tradition continued through each granddaughter’s senior year and even Avery’s freshman year of college.

 

All four Gipsons say their favorite holiday tradition is reading ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas together on Christmas Eve. The entire family first attends Christmas Eve service then gathers at either Tess’s or Laurie’s house. After a candlelit dinner, the five grandchildren sit on the sofa while John reads the Christmas tale. He reads from the same copy Tess’s dad read to her and her sister since Tess was one year old.

 

Tess and John have been in their West Brookhaven home for 40 years, but it was long before that when the home first caught John’s eye. He had first discovered the house and neighborhood shortly after graduating from college. When he and Tess first married, he showed her the house and said he wanted to buy it. “Every night after dinner we drove by and stood at the bottom of the driveway and said: ‘We have to have this house,’” Tess notes.

 

The house was not for sale, but one day Tess reached out to a realtor friend who was close to the owner. The realtor called on the Gipsons’ behalf and the owner agreed to show them his home as friendly neighbors but not for purchase. After their visit, Tess and John told the realtor they wanted to make an offer. The owner countered, and they went back and forth until the home was finally theirs. “We did not take ‘no’ for an answer,” she says.

 

When asked what she likes most about living in Historic Brookhaven, Tess says: “It’s the people. I love my neighbors.”

 

SIDEBAR TO FAMILY SPOTLIGHT

HEAD = The Gipsons’s Favorite Things

 

 John and Tess Gipson

 

Restaurants: Valenza, La Fonda Latina, Taxco, OK Cafe

 

Sports Teams: University of Alabama football!

 

TV shows: John watches sports while Tess reads a book

Vacation destinations: Sea Island, St. Simons Island, Lake Burton

 

Music: “John loves all music – I love rock and roll from ‘50s and ‘60s,” says Tess

 

 

 

 

Restaurants: Valenza, Jalisco, Village Burger, Vintage Pizzeria, Taqueria del Sol, Marcel, Southern Custard

 

Sports Teams: University of Alabama football, Auburn University football, Atlanta Braves

 

TV Shows: Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy; The Reluctant Traveler; binge watching espionage, spy-thriller, and comedy series

Vacation destinations: Italy, Napa Valley, Cap Juluca in Anguilla, One&Only Palmilla in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico

 

Music: Rock, country, jazz, and BPM on Sirius 52 for upbeat “spin-spiration” for Laurie