Home tour recruits sought

By WANDA CHOW
New Westminster News Leader

Organizers are looking for homeowners to participate in the annual, one-day event that draws people to New Westminster from around the Lower Mainland – the Heritage Homes Tour.

This year’s tour, the 24th, takes place on Sunday, May 25, one week before a similar event is held for the first time in Vancouver, said Catherine Hutson, a member of the New Westminster tour’s organizing committee.

“It’s important we really shine because Vancouver is starting its own heritage homes tour and sometimes I think little New Westminster gets lost in the shuffle. It’s one of the community events that does make the Royal City quite special.” Hutson said that for some people in the rest of the region, it’s the only time they pay a visit to New Westminster.

She should know. Hutson and her husband, Jim, were both born and raised in Vancouver and never imagined living anywhere else. That is, until they attended the New Westminster tour for the first time in 1988.

“We were so impressed, we really got to know New Westminster that day. A year later we bought a house anyone in Vancouver would’ve torn down,” she said with a laugh.

That was the William Lane house at 422 Third Street, a 1908 prairie box-style house for which the couple received the city’s Heritage Shield award for restoration work in 1992.

That house was included on the Heritage Homes Tour in 1993. “At the end of the day I had such an incredible feeling of pride, not just for my house but for my city. We didn’t hesitate the next time they asked [in 1997]. Everyone comes away quite tired, but they’re floating at the end of the day.”
Wanting a new challenge, the Hutsons moved to another fixer-upper, a 1911 arts-and-crafts-style house across the street. Called the Cheyne house after its first owner, it was also on the tour last year, when the couple also won the Heritage Shield award. “We feel good about saving two houses that may have seen a sad fate.”
Interestingly, two other families on their street have also moved from one side of the street to the other. It’s that love of their community which the Heritage Homes Tour exemplifies.

All together, the tour organizers, the New Westminster Heritage Preservationist Society, need 10 to 12 homes for the tour. Participating homeowners receive six free tour tickets (worth $25 each), a free housecleaning either before or after the tour, and a plaque recognizing the house’s participation. Organizers also do historical research on the homes, often telling the owners something they didn’t know before. The houses are usually named after the first person who lived there, Hutson explained, and the “fun part” is in calling up the owners and letting them know what their home is called.

And while there may be 1,200 tour tickets sold to the public, those numbers are spread throughout the day and there are 300 volunteers who help with everything from crowd control to the tea included with the ticket, she said. In the months leading up to the event, organizers prepare participants for what to expect.
The tour organizers’ wish list is not specific, she said. Homes can be anywhere in New Westminster, from just about any period and at any stage of restoration, preferably with some period detail, of course. Recent participants have included a “spectacular” 1957 house in Massey Heights which was reflective of the owner’s personality.

“You don’t have to have the perfect Victorian mansion,” Hutson said.

Anyone interested in having their home on the tour can call 604-525-6142 or 604-524-9502 for more information.