A NEWLYWED couple have been given the ‘best wedding present ever’ – after winning a £5 million home.
Hillary McManus, 30, and Franco McManus, 34, have won the expansive four-bedroom property in the heart of Victoria Park village, London – which comes with a gym, games room and spa facilities, including a jacuzzi and sauna.
The couple, both originally from London but currently living in Nottinghamshire, won the latest Omaze Million Pound House Draw.
Their prize also included £250k cash and is the most valuable property ever to be won in a UK prize draw.
Hillary, who bought the winning entry for just £20, said: “One minute we were sitting at home gearing up for just another Friday night, deciding what we were gonna have for dinner and watch on telly, then before we knew what was happening, we’d won a £5 million house in London and our lives had changed forever.
“It turned out to be anything but your average Friday night!
“My husband thought they must’ve got the wrong door at first, thank goodness they hadn’t – the whole thing is just bonkers, we feel like the luckiest people in the world.
“We only just got married a couple of months ago, and that was the best day of our lives, we never thought we’d top it – but all this is running it a very close second – it’s certainly the best wedding present ever!”
The stunning property comes mortgage free, with all stamp duty and legal fees covered.
Hillary, who has worked as an English teacher at a local secondary school in Nottingham for the past six years, married Franco in March this year.
The couple had been together for eight years before tying the knot, and are going to be upgrading their honeymoon to Japan later this year.
They currently live in a new build, three-bedroom house in rural Nottinghamshire, which they bought for £250,000 last year after saving for four years for a deposit.
Hillary said: “The best thing about winning this house is that I get to share it with the love of my life!
“We’ve only been married a few months and were already looking forward to planning the rest of our lives together – but this win has changed our future forever – we never have to worry about money ever again – it’s an incredible feeling.
“We scrimped and saved so hard for four years to buy our first house – but it turns out all we needed was £20 and a bit of luck to land our second house – and what a house it is!
“I’m an English teacher, but you don’t need to be a maths teacher to work out that £20 for an incredible £5 million home is an exceptional return!”
The stunning East London home, based in Hackney, has been refurbished: with an atrium courtyard garden, reception area accompanying high ceilings, kitchen, dining room, utility room, guest suite, and cloakroom – just on the ground floor.
Heading upstairs, the feature staircase provides the perfect view of the show stopping reception space.
There is a study area on the landing as well as two further en suite bedrooms on the first floor.
The top floor is reserved for the main bedroom suite with a dressing area, bespoke cabinetry, additional seating area and en suite bathroom.
The prize draw also raised £4 million for London’s Air Ambulance Charity in just six weeks.
London’s Air Ambulance delivers life-saving hospital treatment and medics to the scene, when patients are so seriously injured that there is no time to reach hospital.
London’s Air Ambulance teams attended to more than 2,000 patients last year and are the only service in London who can perform life-saving interventions such as blood transfusions, and open chest surgery at the scene, whenever they are needed.
Each year, it costs London’s Air Ambulance Charity £15 million to provide a 365 day a year, 24/7 service.
London’s Air Ambulance Charity CEO Jonathan Jenkins said: “Two years ago, the charity launched its most ambitious ever fundraising effort, looking to raise an additional £15 million to replace its two current helicopters.
“It was a huge challenge, but we have been blown away by how people have shared our belief in our life-saving cause.
“Thanks to the record-breaking amount raised by the Omaze community, the appeal has now passed its £15 million target ahead of its September deadline, meaning the charity can continue to save lives across the city and be there whenever and wherever we are most needed.”
It will cost an additional £15 million to replace its two current helicopters, bring each new helicopter into service and keep them flying for years to come.
Draw entries for the latest Omaze Million Pound House Draw in Cornwall are available now at omaze.co.uk.
The Draw closes on Monday 26th August for online entries and Wednesday 28th August 2024 for postal entries.
