Meet Your Neighbor: Lisa Huntington-Kinn

Continuing our series of interviews with our Southern Gables neighbors, to help us get to know and appreciate each other. I visited with Lisa in the sunny front room of her spacious and tastefully decorated home in the Valley View section of Green Gables. Interviewed by Bruce McDonald.

Bruce: Let’s start with my favorite opener: how long have you lived here in the Southern Gables area?

Lisa: Someone asked me that the other day, and I really had to think about it. By matching it with other events I came up with 8 1/2 years. It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long.

You’re so involved and well-established in the community, I would have thought it had been longer too. Did you grow up in Lakewood, or what was it that drew you to this area?

I grew up in Washington State. After graduating from the University of Oregon my first job was in Portland. While I was working there I met my future husband — in church actually — and he had connections in Denver. We lived in Lakewood, Morrison, and Littleton. A time came when I was doing pretty well financially and decided I wanted to “move up.” When we saw this house it needed a lot of work but I loved the layout of the house itself, and the neighborhood.

What are some things you like most about the Southern Gables community? 

Well, starting with the houses themselves, there is a lot of variety. Everyone keeps them up with care, and the views are terrific. My neighbors are all very sociable, which fits right in with the way I like to live. The location is convenient, 20 minutes to downtown. I love Southern Gables!

Do you have a favorite memory with your Southern Gables neighbors?

I’m a party girl. I like to entertain. When we first moved in, we invited neighbors for a housewarming party. All the nearby neighbors came and right away we got to know each other. That never happened in places we had lived before. These friendships have lasted and grown. People are very “neighborly” here. We watch out for each others’ homes or take care of pets when neighbors are away, things like that.

Tell us about what interests you: hobbies, work...

Skiing and gardening are big interests, in their seasons. And bike riding! I love getting out on my road bike. I also like to think of myself as an amateur chef — that goes well with entertaining, and I make a killer margarita! Oh, and golf. I want to devote more time to improving my game, but it is difficult while I am still working.  I probably won’t be the golfer I want to be until I retire, which is still a ways off. Travel has always been a passion of mine, and now that it is coming back there are lots of places on my bucket list. I just got back from a wonderful trip with friends to Italy, spending time in Sicily and the Aeolian Islands.

I know you’re in real estate, and you contribute your time and talent to the Neighborhood Association. You are really a prime mover in getting our business supporters involved, though that has been hit hard by the past COVID year. This year’s Neighborhood Night Out will be a downscaled event. Will you be there?

You bet! Friday, September 24. I’ll be there! That’s a wonderful event that takes a lot of work and it brings lots of neighbors together. Kudos to Doug for all he is doing this year to bring it back. I hope we’ll be able to do it full-scale next year.

Hope to see you there. In closing, can you leave us with a favorite quote or saying?

Yes, I remember it from the movie Moulin Rouge. “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.” One of the things that this means to me is that we can allow people to believe what they believe, even if we don’t agree, and still love them. I think that could go a long way toward relieving the tensions we feel all around us these days. It’s what the world needs to know.

Indeed it is.

Contact [email protected] to nominate a candidate for the “Meet Your Neighbor” series.