Regina Lythgoe is retiring from real estate at the end of December after 38 years of selling houses and living on The Mountain. But don’t expect that to slow her down.

She has an active lifestyle with a sense of humor to match. Asked how old she was, she said jokingly, “I’m on the smiling side of 70 or the other side of 60, but not 70.”

“If I could sit down long enough and write a book about my experiences there would be a lot of laughs and fun and good experiences,” she said.

Some of the things that have made her laugh over the years happened while showing properties to clients. Things like setting off alarms, walking in on somebody sleeping in a bedroom, getting stuck in the snow with people, and getting pulled over on the highway for driving with expired tags.

“That was embarrassing,” she said.

Retirement for Regina means more time to laugh with the people she loves doing the things she loves. She plans to stay busy in the community and with family and traveling the world.

Regina and her husband, David, share a love for the game of golf. Both are longtime members of the Mt. Hood Golf Club and live in a beautiful house on the golf course at Mt. Hood Oregon Resort in Welches. She also enjoys cooking, gardening and bicycling around the neighborhood.

Regina is an active member of the Hoodland Women’s Club, a community service organization which gave more than $16,000 in charitable donations last year.

After growing up in Southern California and going to Oregon State in Corvallis, she moved to The Mountain. That’s where she first met and bought a house from David, her future husband and business partner. A few years later, in 1985, she answered a newspaper ad he placed in the Mountain Times for a real estate agent. She got the job. They got married.

Regina has seen home prices skyrocket over the years in the Mount Hood area. When she started her career in real estate in 1985, three-bedroom houses went for $59,000, she said. In today’s market, they’re going for $559,000, and prices are holding firm.

“There’s no better place to live and to work and to raise a family,” Regina said. The Lythgoes raised two sons and a daughter in their Welches home.

Working in real estate offered them the freedom to spend more time with their family and attend their children’s after-school sports activities.

Regina said many of her clients have become her best friends. She said her co-workers feel like sisters to her.

When Regina and David sold their business to Keller Williams Realty about five years ago, they continued working for the company. Regina said they were happy with the sale.

Regina said a perfect day for her would be getting together with friends and family and cooking.

“I like to get creative cooking,” she said. “Just ask my husband. He’s my best customer. He complains about his weight.”