HGTV Dream Home

The HGTV Dream Home is the American cable network Home & Garden Television's annual project house and sweepstakes, held since 1997. The sweepstakes commences with a January 1 television special showcasing the fully furnished, custom-built home valued in excess of one million dollars; viewers are invited to enter online or by sending in a postcard. The 2007 contest drew 41 million entries [cite journal | last = Mansfield | first = Duncan | title = Retiree Wins HGTV Dream Home in Rockies | journal = Wall Street Journal | date = March 19 2007 | url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/19/AR2007031901561_pf.html | accessdate = 2008-07-04 ] .

Starting with the 2004 Dream Home in St. Marys, Georgia, public tours have been offered, with some of the ticket proceeds going to local charitable groups.

The 2006 Dream Home, located near Lake Lure, North Carolina in the Blue Ridge Mountains, is a 5,700-square-foot traditional-style mountain home. The total value of the prize package, which includes an SUV and $250,000 in cash, is more than $2 million.

Most of the Dream Home winners have sold their prizesFact|date=July 2008, largely because of the accompanying tax bills, and as of 2006Fact|date=July 2008, only two winners had lived in their houses. 2005 Lake Tyler winner Don Cruz initially planned to keep the house after having his plan to rent out the Dockhouse and Master Bedroom Suite on a nightly basis rejected by the City of Tyler; however, he decided to sell after receiving tax forms showing the house had a higher value than he originally thought. [cite news | last = Nelson | first = Christine | title = HGTV Dream Home Selling To The Highest Bidder | date = 2006-02-07 | url = http://kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4470750 | accessdate = 2008-07-04 ]

Dream Home locations

* 1997 - Jackson Hole, Wyoming
* 1998 - Beaufort, South Carolina
* 1999 - Rosemary Beach, Florida
* 2000 - Nehalem, Oregon
* 2001 - Camden, Maine
* 2002 - Sherwood, Maryland
* 2003 - Mexico Beach, Florida
* 2004 - St. Marys, Georgia
* 2005 - Lake Tyler; Tyler, Texas
* 2006 - Lake Lure, North Carolina
* 2007 - Winter Park, Colorado
* 2008 - Islamorada, Florida
* 2009 - Sonoma, California [cite journal | last = Charrier | first = Emily | title = Dream home under construction: HGTV builds dream home in Sonoma | journal = Sonoma Index-Tribune | date = July 03 2008 | url = http://www.sonomanews.com/articles/2008/07/03/news/doc486d7c38addb4000736756.txt | accessdate = 2008-07-04 ]

References

External links

* [http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/dream_home/ Home & Garden Television] ; includes current Dream Home and archives on previous houses, including [http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/dream_home_archive/article/0,1783,HGTV_11536_1898730,00.html what the first six winners did with them]
* [http://www.picturetrails.com/etexbill Photos from the 2005 Dream Home]
* [http://www.subzero.com/livingkitchen/lifestyle/hgtv.aspx Subzero.com: Kitchen Galleries of Past HGTV Dream Homes]
* [http://www.icwhen.com/hg-ol/dreamhome 2006 dreamHOME Tour]