HGTV Dream Home

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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. [1]

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 prizes, largely because of the accompanying tax bills, and as of 2006, only two winners had lived in their houses. The most recent, 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. [2]

1 Dream Home locations
2 Legal Controversy
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Dream Home locations

[edit] Legal Controversy

The HGTV Dreamhome Giveaway has been marred with controversy and confusion regarding its hard to understand rules. The rules clearly state:

limit one (1) online entry, per valid email address, per eligible person per day^[1]

This line of the rule text conveys a heirachry that multiple entries per person each day is valid as long as they use a different email address. Through practice it would appear that those who enter multiple times have been disqualified or multiple entries dismissed. This loophole while it is commonly exploited is not against legal rules. Ritway Inc. however has been altering results by removing these duplicate entries, while leaving them in the total count to inflate the number of entries HGTV reports.