Real Winner Story: From renovator’s delight to $2 million holiday home overnight

“The day I got the phone call I was scrubbing the house,” said Prize Home winner Kathryn from the western suburbs of Brisbane. 

“I had my daggiest workout gear on, and I had a sweatband on holding the sweat out of my eyes – I was a mess. If it was a video call, I think they would have deleted it!”

That phone call was from Endeavour Foundation Head of Lotteries, Kirsty Moore, to tell Kathryn she was the winner of a spotless and sparkling $2.2 million home at Little Mountain on the Sunshine Coast.  

Kathryn’s beautiful new home is a far cry from the house she currently shares with her husband and two young children. 

“Our current house is quite old, and we have to do so many renovations to it to make it nice. So, waking up and seeing a fresh coat of paint is amazing,” she said. 

“The luxuriousness of it and the finishes are just beautiful – it’s just more than you can imagine in photos. We’re still worrying about the kids touching things because we feel like we’re just borrowing it,” Kathryn laughed. 

But the young family is loving every minute they spend in their new Sunshine Coast home. 

“It still feels like we’re away on holidays. If it all got pulled away from us today, we would be sad, but we would still be so grateful for the weeks that we’ve spent in it.”

The spacious, family-friendly home couldn’t be a better fit for Kathryn and her brood. 

“It seems like a small thing, but as a Mum of young kids, being able to watch the kids play while you make dinner or to be able to keep everyone in your line of sight makes such a difference.”

“You still have to do your housework but somehow it feels lighter. Even doing the washing up there doesn’t feel as hard.”

The Prize Home’s spectacular pool area, complete with entertaining pavilion, and huge backyard also get big ticks from Kathryn and her family. 

“Swimming in the pool feels like we’re in a resort, and just being able to watch the kids swim and progress in their swimming in a couple of weeks is huge.”

“The kids have also been learning to ride their bikes on the driveway down the side of the house, because we know they have a safe place to be able to practice without being out on the road.”

Not to be left out, it seems that even Kathryn’s husband has also found his new happy place. 

“He’s a gardening freak and every weekend we’ve been there he’s probably spent 90% of the time in the garden. The most dangerous thing they did was putting that house within a five-minute drive of Bunnings,” Kathryn laughed. 

In fact, the young family love their new home-away-from-home so much that they’re considering making the Sunshine Coast their permanent address. 

“We’ve always said we would move there in a heartbeat. I would love to move there permanently and invite friends to come and visit, and my husband’s already there – he’s moved.” Kathryn laughed. 

While it’s a big decision and not an easy one for the couple to make, it’s a very welcome one. 

“It’s the best problem to have in the world!” Kathryn smiled. 

Kathryn chose to support Endeavour Foundation through buying Prize Home tickets because she knows “it’s an organisation that does make a difference.” 

“It makes you feel better knowing that when you enter the money does go toward something worthwhile. Plus, that there are actually people that win these things,” she said.

“But you’ve got to be in it to win it. One of our mates who heard we had won, was a bit jealous, but he said, ‘There’s no way I can be angry at you for winning it because I’ve never entered one.’”

Needless to say, Kathryn couldn’t be happier with her decision to enter the draw.

“It’s a dream to win. You want to win but you never expect to. You lie in bed, and you dream about what it might be like to win it. And the weirdest thing now is that when we wake up in the morning and open our eyes, it’s there. 

“That’s a pretty cool feeling.”