In Hidden Springs, where foothill light spills across winding trails and front porches still invite conversation, BJ Quinn and Tom Callos have created more than a home; they’ve built a way of life. One anchored in art, grounded in purpose, and sustained by a deep belief in connection.

Step onto their patio… framed by cheerful yellow curtains… and you immediately sense it: warmth, creativity, and an unmistakable spirit of welcome. It’s the kind of place where neighbors linger, stories unfold easily, and meals stretch long into the evening. At their feet, often happily underfoot, is Harri, their Welsh Pembroke corgi, “a well-adjusted, snack-consuming, nearly human dog of some local renown,” and very much the heart of the household.

BJ and Tom have lived in Hidden Springs for eight years, but their journey here spans decades, multiple states, and a shared willingness to ask life-changing questions. Chief among them: “If not now, when?”

Thirteen years ago, they met in art classes. Two people with full, independent lives behind them, discovering common ground through creativity. From the beginning, theirs was a partnership built not on coincidence but on alignment. “Teamwork is our creed,” they say. “Love is our foundation.” That ethos continues to shape everything they do.

Before moving to Idaho, they lived in Auburn, California. But instead of settling into routine, they chose something bolder. They put their belongings into storage, purchased a 25-foot Airstream, and spent six months traveling the American West in search of a place that felt right. Not just livable, but meaningful.

Boise captured both their hearts and their curiosity.

For Tom, the region carried echoes of family history. His grandfather, on his mother’s side, was from Pocatello, and Tom himself had spent time in Boise during hunting trips in his twenties. For BJ, however, it was entirely new territory. A Connecticut native who moved to Tallahassee, Florida, at 18, she spent 30 years there building a career and a life before eventually heading west. Boise, she says, was love at first sight.

Hidden Springs sealed it.

Today, their lives reflect a rare blend of accomplished pasts and evolving futures.

BJ Quinn’s professional story is one of extraordinary precision and achievement. As a court reporter, she rose to the top of her field and eventually owned her own agency in Tallahassee. Her work placed her in the courtroom for some of the most significant legal proceedings in modern American history, including the Gore vs. Bush case and the Ted Bundy case. It was a career defined by focus, composure, and mastery.

But BJ’s current chapter is driven by a different kind of calling.

Now a realist painter, her work centers on environmental awareness. Specifically, the alarming collapse of honeybee colonies. Inspired by her grandfather and brother, both beekeepers, she uses her art to educate and advocate, highlighting the essential role bees play in global food systems. Her paintings, along with her pet portraiture and landscapes, live primarily in private collections, quietly influencing those who encounter them.

Hidden Springs, she notes, is an ideal place for that message to resonate. It’s a community engaged enough to listen, and connected enough to care.

She also expresses her creativity in another beloved form: baking. BJ is known among neighbors for sharing homemade treats, small but meaningful gestures that reflect her instinct for generosity and care.

Tom Callos’s life has followed an equally rich and layered path. Born in California, he lived in Reno from 1969 to 1993 before moving to the Big Island of Hawaii, where he spent 15 years. For more than five decades, he has studied, practiced, and taught martial arts, shaping not just physical skill but a philosophy rooted in discipline, awareness, and human potential.

And yet, like BJ, Tom continues to evolve.

After moving to Boise at age 60, he enrolled at Boise State University to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts in printmaking. He has not yet graduated, and that, in many ways, is intentional. For Tom, learning is not a phase but a lifelong practice.

His artistic work is both ambitious and deeply human. Over the past eight years, he has created more than 500 individual portraits as part of an ongoing project to produce 1,000. His work can be found in respected institutions, including the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights in Boise, the Steinbeck Museum in Salinas, the Eudora Welty Museum, the Kurt Vonnegut Center, and the Ketchum Library.

Together, BJ and Tom are artists in both the literal and figurative senses. They create not only objects of beauty but also experiences of meaning.

Their home is a gathering place.

Holidays and special occasions are marked by abundance. Of food, of laughter, of people. Family travels from afar. Friends and neighbors fill the space. Meals are prepared with care and enthusiasm. Both self-described “foodies,” they love to cook together, often drawing on Tom’s Greek heritage, ensuring that Greek cuisine is always part of the celebration.

However, their commitment to community extends far beyond their own table.

Seven years ago, they started what has become a beloved Hidden Springs tradition: the Roving Christmas Party. Each year, neighbors open their homes as host houses, offering food, warmth, and cheer as people move from one gathering to the next. It’s a celebration not just of the season, but of connection.

They also helped initiate the 9th Avenue Block Party, where neighbors gather on good weather days, share dishes, and often enjoy live music from fellow residents. These events, like so much of what BJ and Tom do, are rooted in a simple but powerful belief: that community matters.

Deeply.

They are intentional about bringing people together from all walks of life, all backgrounds, all perspectives. They understand that strong communities don’t happen by accident… they are built, moment by moment, through acts of kindness, inclusion, and shared experience.

And so they show up. Daily. Quietly. Consistently.

Whether it’s a conversation, a meal, a piece of art, or a simple gesture, BJ Quinn and Tom Callos continue to shape Hidden Springs' culture in both visible and unseen ways.

In a world that often feels fragmented, their lives offer a different model: one where art and action, individuality and community, past and future all exist in thoughtful balance.

And perhaps that’s what makes their story so compelling.

Not just where they’ve been, but how they’ve chosen to live.

Together.