September 5, 2004 OUT-OF-TOWNER WINS 'DREAM HOME' By BARNEY McMANIGAL and SCOTT STEEPLETON
The sigh was audible. As more than 500 nervous ticket-holders converged on Santa Barbara's Alameda Park Saturday to see the winning stub chosen for a $1.25 million home, their hopes of a getting a new South Coast address collapsed when the raffle came up with one John Cripps of Santa Ana. "Who the hell is John Cripps?" one ticket-holder mumbled. Following the collective exhalation, the crowd quickly dispersed when the out-of-town winner was nowhere to be found. But as many sighed, one group declared victory: the Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, which will receive $1 million from the dream home giveaway. The group raised $2.7 million by selling 18,000 tickets at $150 each. In addition to the house, the forum awarded $150,000 in cash prizes to people from 45 out of 50 states. "This is a real boon for us," said CAF board member Joan Crawford, adding that the group would use the money on education programs for local schoolchildren and for the 24 art shows it hosts each year. "It gives us some freedom to bring in artists from all over the world." So far, the nonprofit organization has held art shows for, among others, Wayne Thiebaud, Ed and Nancy Kienholz and Yoko Ono. While some ticket-holders sighed because they lost, others were disappointed because the winner came from outside the South Coast, where a median home price above $1 million means many locals are never going to own a place of their own. "It's an important dream for the majority of us who have worked here for years and had to live somewhere else," said Jane Chancellor of Carpinteria, whose ticket-holder daughter, Johanna, runs the Chancellor Gallery in Santa Barbara's "funk zone." "If I won I'd have a place to put my mother so she wouldn't have to spend $1,500 a month in rent," said another ticket-holder. That the fires of South Coast home ownership burn hot in many hearts also was proven in that few, if any, of the 18,000 ticket holders had ever seen the object of desire beyond some photographs on the raffle's Web site. CAF has not revealed the location of the Spanish/Mediterranean-style home. The News-Press could have photographed the home — but only if the paper signed a confidentiality agreement barring it from revealing the address, which the paper refused to do.
What is known is that the home, valued at $1.25 million, was built as a single-family home in the 1920s. It has three bedrooms, one of which has been converted into a den, and is part of an eight-unit homeowners association. It's reportedly within an easy walk of Alameda Park. Rather than packing his bags for the South Coast, the winner can accept a cash prize of $1 million instead of taking the house. Organizers said the winner has 10 days to make his decision. While accepting a home worth more than a million might seem like an easy choice, taxes complicate the situation. Financial experts say the home option could cost several hundred thousand dollars in income taxes alone — not the kind of money a lot of people have on hand. The winner would still pay taxes on the cash, too, but at least would have the cash at that point to do so. Plus, property taxes will run about a thousand a month, approximately what it costs to rent a one-bedroom apartment in these parts. And even if the winner decides to move in, it's going to be awhile, because the rules state the exiting dream home occupant has a couple months before moving out. "Dream home" raffles have become increasingly popular fund-raisers with arts groups in recent years. The Palos Verdes Art Center raffled off a $1.3 million Palos Verdes home earlier this year, and one valued at $1.1 million in 2003. Last year's winner took the $800,000 in cash; this year's went for the house. |
© Copyright 2004 Santa Barbara News-Press