I bet it is. I would take one of the many cruises that are offered but they are overpriced imo.
Speaking of cruise........we didn't win Carolyn.......Bob Cruz and his family did......very nice people and deserving.
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HGTV Revives Family's Dreams
Dream Home 2005 awarded to Don Cruz of Batavia, Illinois!
After getting the news he is the winner of Dream Home 2005 from The Insider's Victoria Recano, Don Cruz can't believe it.
The "For Sale" sign in the yard says it all. Don Cruz is ready to move. And now he has a place to go — the $1 million HGTV Dream Home.
A television crew from HGTV surprised Cruz, a 40-year-old native of this West Chicago suburb, just before dinner at his home on Tuesday night to announce that he is the winner of the 2005 HGTV Dream Home Giveaway. Cruz' name was selected from the record 39.1 million entries in this year's sweepstakes, the network's ninth annual.
Now it's wife Shelly and son Donny's turn to be flabbergasted. Dream Home 2005 is yours!
"This is a miracle. It's a true blessing," Cruz said, explaining further, "I injured my knees several years ago and have not been able to work. My wife took a job to support us, but money is tight. We live paycheck to paycheck. That's why the house and property are up for sale."
Oh, the joys of winning HGTV's Dream Home 2005. Life is good!
Cruz's winnings include a fully furnished, custom-built home with more than 5,000 square feet of living area and a dockside guest house overlooking Lake Tyler in Texas. In addition, the HGTV Dream Home Giveaway includes a 2005 GMC Envoy Denali, $250,000 from LendingTree.com, one year of AOL Broadband service, and even a Doggy Dream Home that matches the architecture of the house.
Son Donny turns on the charm with HGTV's Joan Steffend and Victoria.
"I saw the Dream Home on television and told Don, 'This place is awesome. We have to enter,'" Cruz' wife, Shelly, said. "It's as if it was built for us, with what we need in mind, especially because of Don's injury." Shelly was referring to the Jacuzzi and two unique features in the rustic retreat – an elevator and swimming pool – both firsts for an HGTV Dream Home.
"Those could make such a big difference in Don's quality of life. The doctors just told him that he needed to do swim therapy," Shelly said. While Don and Shelly Cruz were overwhelmed with surprise at the news that their names had been selected from almost 40 million entries, their nine-year-old son Donny was not.
For the Cruz family, the incredible news is beginning to sink in.
"I knew we were going to win. I just knew it," Donny told HGTV's Joan Steffend, host of the HGTV Dream Home 2005 special and the person who broke the good news to the Cruz family. "Mom and I sat at the computer and looked at every room in that house and I knew it was our dream house."
Dream Home 2005 from the front entrance.
The annual HGTV Dream Home Giveaway has become a popular institution for the network and its website. The 39.1 entries this year sets a new record, up nine percent over the 2004 sweepstakes. One of the most successful consumer promotions in cable TV history, the Dream Home Giveaway involves sponsorship from several national advertisers including GMC Division, General Motors Corporation, Lumber Liquidators, LendingTree®, Inc., Nestlé Purina PetCare, 3M Company, America Online, Inc., BISSELL® Homecare, Inc., California Closet Company, JELD-WEN, inc., Moen Inc., The Sherwin-Williams Company, and Simplicity Pattern Company, Inc.
"The HGTV Dream Home is the perfect representation of the HGTV brand – giving our viewers, or in this case one lucky viewer, the experience of having the home of his dreams," said Burton Jablin, president of HGTV. "Though only one person wins the home, every HGTV viewer can take away ideas and inspiration from HGTV’s Dream Home 2005 special that can help them turn their own homes into the homes of their dreams."
For Cruz and his family, it means a new start. "Shelly and I had a lot of dreams when we got married 18 years ago. When I got injured, the dreams had to go on hold," Cruz said. "I guess that's why its called a 'Dream Home,' because it really does have that kind of impact on a life. HGTV has given us back our dreams."
Watch the trailer~!
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