Meet Your Hosts

Phil and Anne’s Story

“I started life on a Kansas wheat farm in the 50’s. Not a very prosperous place but having great family and community was more important. I had one advantage that few are so lucky to enjoy. Brother Tim was the youngest of six siblings and he had Down Syndrome. He taught me everything that that was important in life, and what was not, by osmosis. Few have such a gifted mentor.

In 1976 I had the chance to spend a month in Alaska as part of a 16 month walk about. The best part of the trip was transiting British Columbia twice. On my way south I picked up a hitchhiker in Prince George. He asked if I had been to the Chilcotin yet. He said to go to the Dean River and you will catch a fish with each cast. That sounded great so I bought $20 worth of groceries in Williams Lake and headed west. I was in love.

I returned to the real world, got a job at a startup that did well and fell into another kind of love. Enter one Anne Pettis. We have been married for 40 years.

Anne has two passions in life: her family and antiques. While five kids were enough a thousand antiques clearly isn’t. A member of AA (antiques anonymous) she has not taken the cure seriously. A dealer and appraiser for 40 years she remains an avid collector of the best from the past. Her interests include vintage costume jewelry, clothing, fine furniture, American pottery, artwork and lots more. Furnishing seven log homes was not a difficult task as she had a warehouse full of treasures.

Married with five kids we went nowhere for 20 years. In the late 90’s we returned to the Chilcotin and found a special place there, the Chilko Valley. We purchased an old guest ranch at Chilko in 2000. Not much, but a place to bring the family for two summers before we started a five-year build project in 2002. We have never had so much fun.

Today the family is long grown and we are hosting other families. The advantage of age is one knows what they wish to do. Connecting people to nature at the highest possible level is our greatest enjoyment. I still love to fish but helping a 10-year-old catch his first one is way more fun. A parent’s advice: ground your children with nature and you will have better kids. Mountains, glaciers, rushing rivers, pristine lakes, soaring eagles and wildlife have lifelong substance. Sharing it with friends, old or new, is really what life is all about.

Make the introduction”.

—Phil and Anne Huston