HGTV Dream Home in Florida: Things to know and who won Anastasia Island oasis
Total package for 2024 HGTV Dream Home on Anastasia Island, Florida, is worth $2.2 million. Do winners keep the home? Yes, but it's rare.
Jennifer SangalangA New Yorker won the 2024 HGTV Dream Home in Florida! The home and garden television network announced May 22, 2024, that Marie Fratta from Hawthorne, New York, won the 2024 HGTV Dream Home.
Winning an HGTV Dream Home is like winning the lottery − the odds are slim, and only a handful of people have won in the history of the sweepstakes contest, this time a beautiful home on Anastasia Island, Florida, an "island oasis."
Below is information about the HGTV Dream Home and what to expect if you get the keys to this TV-genic Florida oasis.
Who won 2024 HGTV Dream Home on Anastasia Island in Florida sweepstakes contest?
The home and garden television network announced May 22, 2024, that Marie Fratta from Hawthorne, New York, won the 2024 HGTV Dream Home on Anastasia Island in Northeast Florida, described as "a grand coastal escape." Voting ceased for the sweepstakes Feb. 15, 2024, on HGTV and Food Network sites for the beautiful home that was designed by architect Michael Stauffer and built by local builder Glenn Layton Homes. The home's interior design was by Brian Patrick Flynn. The three-bedroom, four-bathroom home is about 3,300 square feet with views of the Matanzas River and the St. Augustine Lighthouse.
How much is HGTV Dream Home 2024 worth? What is total HGTV Dream Home grand prize package worth?
Value of the total Anastasia Island HGTV Dream Home package is estimated at just over $2.2 million. In total, the winner of the sweepstakes will receive:
- Keys to the fully furnished home, which, according to rules, includes home furnishings, fixtures, artwork and merchandise for an approximate retail value of $2,069,595
- A new Mercedes-Benz E Class sedan worth about $70,000, according to the rules
- $100,000 cash
Is there a lump sum or 'cash option' for HGTV Dream Home 2024 contest? Do winners keep the Dream Home?
The contest rules state: "In lieu of taking title to the HGTV Dream Home 2024 (and the contents of the HGTV Dream Home 2024), the grand prize winner will have the option of receiving $650,000 in cash (the "cash option"). If the grand prize winner cannot take possession of the HGTV Dream Home 2024 ... the grand prize winner shall receive the cash option. Total value of the grand prize is $820,000" if the cash option is selected vs. the HGTV Dream Home 2024.
When will HGTV Dream Home 2024 in Florida winner be announced? Can you sell the HGTV Dream Home if you win?
According to HGTV, the winner will be notified by April 30, 2024, and a winner's list will be published online by May 15, 2024. If you win the 2024 HGTV Dream Home on Anastasia Island, Florida, near St. Augustine, you can sell the home. Several past winners of HGTV's popular sweepstakes have done just that.
The home and garden television network announced May 22, 2024, that Marie Fratta from Hawthorne, New York, won the 2024 HGTV Dream Home.
Will the winner of 2024 HGTV Dream Home remain anonymous or will it be public record?
According to contest rules, there will be a winners list published "on or about May 15, 2024," at hgtv.com and possibly other websites. The names of previous winners in HGTV's annual Dream Home sweepstakes contest are public record. Marie Fratta from Hawthorne, New York, won the 2024 HGTV Dream Home.
How many HGTV Dream Home locations were in Florida over the years?
There have been five HGTV Dream Homes in Florida:
- Anastasia Island, Florida (2024)
- Merritt Island, Florida (2016)
- Islamorada, Florida (2008)
- Mexico Beach, Florida (2003)
- Rosemary Beach, Florida (1999)
List of HGTV Dream Home winners. When did HGTV notify winners of HGTV Dream Home contests?
Here's a look back at when the HGTV network announced who won the HGTV Dream Home sweepstakes contest. Note: Some dates were not available.
- May 22, 2024: Marie Fratta of Hawthorne, New York, won the 2024 HGTV Dream Home on Anastasia Island, Florida.
- May 1, 2023: Marie Davis of Rock Hill, South Carolina, won the 2023 HGTV Dream Home in Morrison, Colorado.
- April 21, 2022: Karey Wolstenholm of Overland Park, Kansas, won the 2022 HGTV Dream Home in Warren, Vermont.
- April 27, 2021: Jeff Yanes of Austin, Texas, won the 2021 HGTV Dream Home in Newport, Rhode Island.
- April 15, 2020: Susan O'Gorman of Perry, Georgia, won the 2020 HGTV Dream Home on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
- about March 21, 2019: Beverly Fulkerson of Osgood, Indiana, won the 2019 HGTV Dream Home in Whitefish, Montana.
- April 2, 2018: Emily Muniz from Nashville, Tennessee, won the 2018 HGTV Dream Home in Gig Harbor, Washington
- April 14, 2017: Anna Spangler of Kutztown, Pennsylvania, won the 2017 HGTV Dream Home on St. Simons Island, Georgia.
- about March 30, 2016: David Rennie of Shelton, Connecticut, won the 2016 HGTV Dream Home on Merritt Island, Florida
- April 1, 2015: Kathy O'Dell of Huntsville, Alabama, won the 2015 HGTV Dream Home in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.
- March 19, 2014: Laura Martin of Boise, Idaho, won the 2014 HGTV Dream Home in Lake Tahoe, California
- March 15, 2013: Carole Simpson of Columbia, Tennessee, won the 2013 HGTV Dream Home in Charleston, South Carolina.
- about March 17, 2012: Vicky Naggy of Pennsylvania won the 2012 HGTV Dream Home in Park City, Utah.
- March 9, 2011: Eric Makstenieks of Hinsdale, Illinois, won the 2011 HGTV Dream Home in Stowe, Vermont.
- April 30, 2010: Myra Lewis of New Orleans, Louisiana, won the 2010 HGTV Dream Home in Sandia Park, New Mexico.
- about March 16, 2009: Cheryl Smith of Lakeland, Florida, won the 2009 HGTV Dream Home in Sonoma, California.
- about March 18, 2008: Stephanie Dee of Solon, Iowa, won the 2008 HGTV Dream Home in Islamorada, Florida.
- March 18, 2007: Robert O'Neill of Brandon, Florida, won the 2007 HGTV Dream Home in Winter Park, Colorado.
- April 29, 2006: Donald P. Cook of Alum Creek, West Virginia, won the 2006 HGTV Dream Home in Lake Lure, North Carolina.
- March 2, 2005: Don Cruz of Chicago, Illinois, won the 2005 HGTV Dream Home in Tyler, Texas.
- March 3, 2004: Kathi Nakao of Sacramento, California, won the 2004 HGTV Dream Home in St. Mary's, Georgia.
- unknown 2003: John Groszkiewicz of Erie County, Pennsylvania, won the 2003 HGTV Dream Home in Mexico Beach, Florida.
- April 11, 2002: Milton O'Bryant of Midland, Texas, won the 2002 HGTV Dream Home in Sherwood, Maryland.
- unknown 2001: Kathy Hedrick of Gladstone, Missouri, won the 2001 HGTV Dream Home in Camden, Maine.
- unknown 2000: Mary Barker of San Antonio, Texas, won the 2000 HGTV Dream Home in Nehalem, Oregon, according to liveabout.com.
- unknown 1999: Belinda Brown of Kingston, Tennessee, won the 1999 HGTV Dream Home in Rosemary Beach, Florida.
- unknown 1998: Tina Carlson of Thousand Oaks, California, won the 1998 HGTV Dream Home in Beaufort, South Carolina.
- unknown 1997: Michele Rambo of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was the very first winner of an HGTV Dream Home, the 1997 HGTV Dream Home in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Who won 2016 HGTV Dream Home on Merritt Island, Florida?
FLORIDA TODAY reported David Rennie of Shelton, Connecticut, won the 2016 HGTV Dream Home on Merritt Island, Florida, along with $250,000, a 2016 Bryant Sperenza model boat and 2016 GMC Acadia Denali car. The 3,150-square-foot remodeled home had Indian River water views in its backyard. It was a three-bedroom, two-story home off South Tropical Trail. Features included water views, a grand staircase, luxury dog house, pool and private dock. It had outdoor lounging areas, Florida-inspired decor, bold colors, three bathrooms and two half-bathrooms. Rennie, HGTV said, was chosen from 127 million entries.
“I thought I won the lottery with the kidney," said Rennie, who received a kidney transplant a year before the HGTV Dream Home win. "That was life changing, but so is this. We just never thought it could get any better.”
How much were taxes on 2016 HGTV Dream Home in Florida?
HGTV valued the 2016 HGTV Dream Home prize package at $1.5 million, and with a top federal tax rate of 39.6%, David Rennie and his wife, Margaret, would have had to pay almost $540,000 just in 2016 federal income taxes on their win.
In a tweet, however, Rennie posted a photo of the 2016 HGTV Dream Home with the caption: "If only I had a spare $700K so that I could have paid the taxes! Well that is why they call it a 'Dream house.'"
What happened to 2016 HGTV Dream Home on Merritt Island, Florida?
Here's a brief timeline:
April 2015: Real-estate agent Rhonda Pavone helped the network find the home, built in 1990 on one acre and sold for $826,000 in April 2015 to an HGTV-affiliated company, to remodel as part of the network's 20th anniversary. Its 2015 property taxes and assessments, based on the value before the makeover, were nearly $7,500.
March 30, 2016: David Rennie of Shelton, Connecticut, was named the 2016 HGTV Dream Home winner.
April 2016: Rennie had to decide whether he would take the $1.7 million grand prize package or the $1.2 million cash option, which included $900,000 cash, the GMC truck and model boat. He visited the 2016 HGTV Dream Home on Merritt Island and blogged about it on Dave's Dialysis Diary. Rennie chose the cash option, and the house was listed at $1,530,000 later that month, according to 2016 story in FLORIDA TODAY.
June 2016: After David Rennie took the cash option instead of the 2016 HGTV Dream Home on Merritt Island, Florida, the house was listed on the market, and real estate sites show the 2016 HGTV Dream Home sold June 8, 2016, for $1.3 million. According to Realtor.com, back then homes next door to the 2016 HGTV Dream Home had a median listing of $570,000 and nearby neighborhoods had a median listing ranging from $200,000 to $4 million, and Zillow.com "zestimated" the mortgage at roughly $4,600/month, the FLORIDA TODAY story states.
Coincidentally, the HGTV Urban Oasis home in West Asheville, N.C., was sold June 11, 2016, to a North Carolina couple for $399,999.
Where is the 2024 HGTV Smart Home? Where are the past HGTV Smart Homes?
Though the HGTV Dream Home sweepstakes closed weeks ago, there is another contest going on now. The sweepstakes for the 2024 HGTV Smart Home. The 2024 HGTV Smart Home contest officially started April 19, 2024, with voting at hgtv.com. The Smart Home contest ends at 5 p.m. June 10.
According to HGTV's site, here's a list of HGTV Smart Home locations from the start of the contest to present.
- 2024: Atlanta, Georgia
- 2023: Santa Fe, New Mexico
- 2022: Wilmington, North Carolina
- 2021: Naples, Florida
- 2020: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- 2019: Dallas, Texas
- 2018: Palmetto Bluff, South Carolina
- 2017: Scottsdale, Arizona
- 2016: Raleigh, North Carolina
- 2015: Austin, Texas
- 2014: Nashville, Tennessee
- 2013: Paradise Key South Beach, Florida, aka Jacksonville Beach
- 2012: Serenbe, Georgia
- 2011: Stapleton, Colorado
- 2010: Plymouth, Massachusetts
- 2009: Port St. Lucie, Florida
- 2008: Hilton Head, South Carolina
Sangalang is a lead digital producer for USA TODAY Network-Florida. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @byjensangalang. Support local journalism. Consider subscribing to a Florida newspaper.