The Grade I-listed Georgian manor house was put up for raffle in Spring this year after the owners tried and failed to sell the property using conventional methods. Four months down the line and 500,000 ticket sales later, Melling Manor officially has a new owner.
Marie Segar, a finance worker from Warrington, has been announced as the winner of the £845,000 Lancashire manor house. Not only has she won the six-bedroom home, she has also won the title of ‘Lady Melling’ for a year.
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The winner was revealed this week, and Marie is reported to be in disbelief at her good fortune, which in entirely understandable! All 500,000 raffle tickets were sold, and Marie had bought just 20 tickets (worth £40 in total), so the odds were certainly against her.
Dunstan Low and his wife Natasha bought the beautiful home in 2011 for £435,000 and spent £150,000 on renovations before running into financial difficulties. The couple decided to sell the property, but when two years of house viewings and price reductions led nowhere, they opted for a slightly different strategy for shifting their home.
The raffle was publicised far and wide, and there were entries from as far away as New Zealand. Tickets were sold for £2 each, meaning that a total of £1million has been raised. Dunstan has pledged to donate £30,000 of the proceeds to St John's Hospice and £10,000 to the National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS).
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Now that the house has finally been sold, Dunstan and his family are planning to downsize to a smaller property. ‘We are looking for a new property, either a small house or a business opportunity such as a holiday let,’ he told Ideal Home.
‘We also plan to establish a turnkey platform to assist others wishing to raffle their properties, as we’ve had an overwhelming interest from property owners around the world.’