For actress Maya Lynne Robinson, living comes front and center
Surrounded by a white picket fence beneath a canopy of palms and banana plants, actress Maya Lynne Robinson’s front porch is a sacred space reserved for time alone.
Being outside has always been important to Robinson, who grew up in Cleveland “in a loud family with a lot of people in the house,” she said.
“You just didn’t have a place that was quiet, so going outside always gave me that space I needed,” said Robinson, one of the stars of the CBS comedy “The Unicorn.”
So now peaceful mornings snuggled on her wooden bench, with the continuous, delicate burble of a nearby fountain, offer a similar serenity before a busy day on set.
“I come out here around 6:30 a.m. in a hoodie, sweats and my Uggs, with my glasses on and a cup of coffee, and sit here like a dork by myself,” Robinson said. “I say hi to my neighbors as they pass, think about my goals for the day, week and month, maybe do a little writing, but really I just sit and be, ’cause I’m always moving.”
Though usually gravitating to a monochromatic palette of black, white and gray — as displayed in her outfit and patio cushions — Robinson plays with a little color, including bright yellow and pink, in her collection of succulents that surround her front door.
“I match my furniture and decor, but I like that color is up on the porch with the amazing red door,” said Robinson, whose 500-square-foot bungalow is part of a small, gated community of quaint green Craftsman homes with matching crimson doors, inconspicuously hidden from the busy surrounding neighborhood near Thai Town.
“I feel like I live in a magical forest sometimes. You’re out in Hollywood then you walk through that gate, and the energy completely shifts,” Robinson said.
Why is your porch so special to you?
I’m a Taurus, an earth sign, and in my adult life I’ve never lived in a house with a yard — it’s always been an apartment — so it was really important for me to have a place where I could take my shoes off, be barefoot and become one with the earth.
You have quite a collection of succulents.
I’ve got 19 out here, which is a really important, spiritual number for me. One plus nine is 10, which is also one [in numerology], which means new beginnings. I try to walk through each day as a chance to be better, live lighter and make a difference. I wore the number 19 when I played volleyball back in high school.
I imagine sunsets are beautiful out here.
Gorgeous. The sun sparkles through the trees in my frontyard then fades behind my house. It is as calm, beautiful and peaceful at sunrise too.
Favorite memory?
The day after I moved here I sat outside and I got a chance to meet a lot of my neighbors. I’m an introvert that’s kind of masked as an extrovert, and I was like, “How am I going to meet everybody; is it going to be weird?” But everyone just started walking over and saying hi — they’re all extremely friendly. It was very magical. I just sat here and they came.
