A grandmother-of-six has won a lavish mansion for £4.5 million after paying just £25 to enter an online draw.
74-year-old June Smith is the proud winner of the Omaze house draw, the biggest of its kind in the UK, after being handed the keys to the gorgeous Cornish waterfront property.
The six-bedroom mansion spans three storeys overlooking the picturesque Fowey Estuary in Cornwall. She's also been awarded £100,000 to help her settle into her new home, and the mortgage, stamp duty and legal fees all paid.
June, who bought her £4,500,000 winning entry for just £25 – sadly lost her husband of 43 years, Ron, last year when he suffered a heart attack aged 74.
June has three children - Katherine, Wesley and Rory - and six grandchildren, Katherine and Rory live in East Anglia with two children each, and Wesley lives on the Gold Coast of Australia with his wife and two children.
June has lived in her two-bedroom detached house in Essex for the past 17 years. She worked as a bookkeeper before she retired to have children. Ron had worked as an architectural designer all his life.
A stunned June said: “I was just settling in for a standard Friday night in front of the tele - then the next thing I knew I’d won a mansion, I couldn’t believe it. The first thing I did was call my children, the second was to open a bottle of red!
“My husband Ron died last year, but I’m sure he played a part in this win – he won it for all of us. Ron always wanted us to be financially secure as a family - and this house gives us that security.
“He spent his life working with architecture, he’d have absolutely loved this house – it’s a work of art.
“We used to come for family holidays in Cornwall and stay in a caravan, but now we own a £4.5m mansion – it’s just unbelievable!
“The house is truly stunning and the views are simply breathtaking, even the rain couldn’t dampen our spirits when we first came here, it was love at first sight.
“It has its own yoga studio, so maybe I’ll take that up, although my son says it would make a great bar too.
“I’ve got six beautiful grandchildren and have now got plenty of room for all of them to come and stay - we’re going to have the best summer holiday ever.
“Having spent some time at the house, I’m definitely going to keep it for a while, whatever I decide to do long term it’s a life changing win for our family.”
She added that her late husband Ron would have "absolutely loved the design of this house" and will be "looking down with an approving smile".
The dream home is the biggest ever house prize draw to be given away in the UK. June is free to either live in the house, rent it out or sell it.
The property, which comes with furnishings included, was described as an outstanding example of modern architecture and was designed by the highly acclaimed West Country architects Harrison Sutton.
The bright and airy entrance hall welcomes you into the property, with state-of-the-art kitchen and breakfast room with a central island and glazed sliding doors on two sides that lead out onto a cantilevered balcony.
A secondary kitchen pantry sits on the other side of the hallway, next to a stylish dining room with ample space for entertaining family and friends.
Upstairs, you'll find a large open landing, leading to the main bedroom, which has glazed walls on two sides and some of the finest estuary views the property has to offer.
The lower ground floor contains a utility room with a back door and playroom area that could be used as a seventh bedroom, again offering views of the estuary.
To top things off, a yoga studio sits at one end of the garden with yet more breathtaking estuary views thanks to the curved floor to ceiling window.
As well as making June a multi-millionaire - the Cornwall II House Draw also raised £2,100,000 for Marie Curie, an end-of-life charity that fights to make sure everyone gets to lead the best life they can, right to the end.
Matthew Reed, Chief Executive at Marie Curie, said: “Congratulations to June and her family on winning this beautiful home. We want to express our enormous gratitude to all members of the Omaze community whose individual contributions will collectively make a tangible improvement to the lives of people affected by terminal illness in the UK."
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - sign up to our daily newsletter here.
