Full House offers a sneak peek
Three spectacular grand prize homes to be won in hospital draw If you’re the lucky lottery type, Alberta’s richest early-bird lottery prize could see you driving up to your new million-dollar-plus home in style.
But a 2014 Ferrari 458 Italia — capable of a top speed of 323 kilometres per hour — a trip to Italy and $10,000 cash is just the opening temptation as the 2014 edition of the Full House Lottery unveils three new, spectacular dream homes among a host of other prizes.
While the early-bird Italy package comes in at a value of $340,352, it’s dwarfed — hard as it is to see a new Ferrari take a back seat to anything — by the extravagance of the three grand prize homes, each of which features a golfcourse view and additional items, for prize bundles that are valued at a minimum of $1.5 million apiece.
For the 21st Full House edition, with proceeds going to both the Royal Alexandra and University Hospital foundations, the first grand prize home — the Augusta from Perry Built Homes — at 5,710 square feet is the largest ever given away in this annual lottery.
At 4,210 sq. ft., the third grand prize home — the Sapphire from Kondro Homes — is Full House’s biggest bungalow.
Meanwhile, grand prize Number 2 — the Mendelssohn II from Landmark Homes — is a net zero house that more than holds its own with its two neighbours.
These walkout homes, located right next to each other in Jagare Ridge in southwest Edmonton and which back onto the Jagare Ridge Golf Club, became available for the public to tour as of Thursday afternoon.
The first, the Augusta, is a three-bedroom, three-anda-half-bathroom home. A modern, contemporary offering with a 22-ft.-high arched window entry and a great room that is open to the full height of the house, this home provides stunning views, especially from the upstairs catwalk.
Modern decorative touches, including three artistic glass panels in the main entry hall, add colour and richness.
Downstairs—warning,you may not ever want to go back upstairs — includes a media room, a modern brushed chrome pool table in the bar and lounge, an indoor Jacuzzi, a fitness/massage room, and an adjacent spalike bathroom that doubles as a steam shower and change room.
With the included 2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA 250 Coupe, plus $25,000 cash, this grand prize package is valued at $1,977,392.
The second, the Mendelssohn II, with three bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms is best described as eco chic. This 3,971 sq. ft. net zero home, which will produce as much energy as it consumes, is an environmental wonder that includes a solar array on the roof and an Energy Monitoring Unit for the array that tells you what’s happening in terms of energy production and environmental benefits.
Then there are two selfcontained living walls that are both decorative and functional (the walls’ plants clean toxins out of the air), an urban cultivator in the kitchen — picture an appliance similar in size and appearance to a wine fridge — where you can grow your favourite herbs, and a charging station in the garage for the 2014 Infiniti Q50 Hybrid that comes with this second grand prize package.
But the fun doesn’t stop there — the walkout level includes a golf storage area that doubles as a perfect garage for your own golf cart.
Rounding off this package is $25,000 cash, for a total prize value of $1,549,699.
Last, and certainly not least, is the Sapphire, the three-bedroom bungalow with two full baths and two half baths. Grooved white oak hardwood floors and interior walls finished in half-inch slices of brick lend an upscale industrial warehouse look to this open concept home.
A modern kitchen and wine bar and the extensive adjacent backyard deck make this a perfect entertaining space. That is if you can draw your guests away from the walkout level’s Jack Nicklausdesigned indoor chipping and putting green framed by a Palm Springs wall mural.
Golf aside, the bedrooms and bathrooms are to die for, with a main floor master and an oversized ensuite that is second to none while the downstairs bedrooms (one is set up as a lounge) and a Jack and Jill bathroom with a chrome mosaic tile floor add an unexpected element of whimsy.
This prize bundle, which includes a 2014 BMW 320xi and $25,000 cash, is worth $1,536,982.
To date, Full House has raised $61 million for both the Royal Alexandra and University hospital foundations.
For this year’s edition, funds will go to the University of Alberta Hospital for the purchase of a Gamma Knife, new technology described as revolutionary.
“Imagine that surgeons here will soon conduct brain surgery to remove a growth without the need for even one small incision,” says Joyce Law, president of the University Hospital Foundation. “No blood loss, no risk of infection, no pain — truly an advancement in care.”
At the Royal Alexandra Hospital, funds from the lottery will bring robotic surgery to the Lois Hole Hospital for Women.
The da Vinci Robotic Surgical System is a precise surgical tool that can be used to remove complex gynecological cancers. “It’s much less invasive compared to traditional surgical methods and will prove to be a game-changer for women in Alberta who are battling cancer,” says Sharlene Rutherford, vice-president, Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation.