Jim Hutson has lived in the Queen's Park neighbourhood for the last 25 years and has loved every minute of it.
Hutson grew up in Vancouver and developed such an interest in older homes that it would one day bring him to become a resident of New West.
"I loved old houses, I lived around Fraser and Kingsway in an older house," he said. "I was aware of New West, but I didn't know the neighbourhood super well, or the city that well."
All that changed when Hutson and his wife came out and visited some friends who had just moved into the area.
"I was blown away by the heritage homes," he said. "There were one or two homes on our block that were old and then in Queen's Park it was every house it seemed. I thought, 'This is the kind of neighbourhood I'd like to live in.'" So in 1988, when Hutson's daughter was one year old, his family put their house up for sale in East Vancouver and
went house hunting in New West.
Now he lives in a home that once housed a Royal Engineer's family and has been in the neighbourhood for more than 100 years.
"I was quite amazed when I moved there that some of the neighbours had been born there and they never wanted to leave, too," he noted. "Even in our neighbourhood, we moved from our house to our current house - originally across the street."
Hutson said residents who put their house up for sale in Queen's Park often end up moving to another house in the same neighbourhood.
"Once you're here, you find out how great it is," he added. "Then you need a bigger house, because your family's growing, but you want to stay in the neighbourhood."
Now Hutson has two daughters and is only the third owner of his home, which was built in 1912. He said when he bought the house it was still in fairly good condition, but upgrades were needed to bring the house into this century.
"We've been there for about 12 years now, it's been a ton of work," he said. "Everything had to be redone, (such as) the wiring, plumbing. The bones of the house were there, most of the work was done behind the walls."
He said the house had about one plug or outlet in every room.
"It hadn't been updated in probably, ever," he added.
Despite the work, Hutson said it was worth it because the neighbourhood is filled with committed residents.
Hutson himself is part of the Queen's Park Neighbourhood Association and is the director of the Heritage Preservation Society.
"It's a very neighbourly neighbourhood," he said. "I think it's great. We know lots of people, we've met lots of friends. My kids became friends with the neighbours."
He said when his family first arrived, he was surprised by how warm and welcoming his new neighbours were.
"I really felt good about the neighbourhood," he said. "We made lots of friends." When they first moved in, people they barely knew invited him and his wife to a party, down at the end of his block.
"They were having a big community, neighbourhood party," he said. "I thought, wow this would never happen in Vancouver when newbies to the neighbourhood would get invited to such a party."
Many friendships started that night for him and led to more party invitations.
"The strength of the neighbourhood is that small-town feel," he said. "And where we are on Third Street, we can walk up, shop ... we don't need a car, everything's there."
Hutson said it often feels as though time has stood still in his neighbourhood, which is why he and his wife have taken such an interest in sharing their passion for the area's history.
Together they have organized the heritage homes tour and have learned a lot about the neighbourhood as a result.
He said Queen's Park was orchards up until the 1900s and the houses really started to get built in the 1920s.
"Our house was built in 1912, and 1913 was a really boom year," he said. "Dozens and dozens of homes were built around that time. There are a lot of 100-year-old homes in Queen's Park."
Hutson laughs when he says he's still considered a newbie because he wasn't born and raised in the Royal City.
"I may not be an original New Westminsterite, but it feels like now I am," he said. "I do talk up New West. I'm always bragging about things. It's one of the best neighbourhoods in the Lower Mainland and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else right now."
