Meet Omaze winner who bagged £2m house and he or she determined to maintain it – this is why
A mum who won a £2m Omaze home has revealed the touching reasons why she kept the sprawling home.
Eliza Yahioglu, 57, received the best birthday present when she discovered she’d scooped the picturesque farmhouse near Harrogate in Yorkshire when she was away celebrating.
She had the option to either live in the house, rent it out or sell the beautifully renovated 17th century hillside mansion.
But she “instantly fell in love with it” and decided she was going to keep it, partly because she is planning to let victims of blood cancer stay in the house between treatments.
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The Omaze Million Pound House Draw also raised £1,950,000 for Blood Cancer UK.
(Image: OMAZE / SWNS)
She added: “It was very special to see how much was raised for Blood Cancer UK – it was such an incredible amount of money.
“We’re planning on having people and families affected by blood cancer to come and stay at the house in-between treatments – they can have the place all to themselves and just get away from it all.”
She has now revealed how ‘surreal’ it feels every day – and how they have enjoyed a big family Christmas of 16 people since the win last August.
(Image: OMAZE / SWNS)
The family let their pals use the house and Eliza says her kids also bring home their uni friends to enjoy the palatial property.
The house, located close to the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, came mortgage free with all stamp duty and legal fees covered.
Eliza was born in Yorkshire and is ‘over the moon’ to now own a home near her childhood roots after moving to London for work almost 40 years ago.
Eliza has been married to husband Gokhan for 30 years and the couple have two children, Carl, 24, who manages a bar – and Leyla, 21, who is studying biomedical science at the University of Sussex in Brighton.
(Image: OMAZE / SWNS)
Eliza said: “I was on holiday celebrating my birthday when we found out – so many thoughts went running through my head when we got the video call to say we’d won the house.”
On her new home she added: “The house is amazing, even nicer than it looked in pictures.
”As soon as I walked through the front door, it stopped being a house and immediately became our home.
On returning to Yorkshire, she added: “I’ve loved returning home to my Yorkshire roots, my accent definitely comes back stronger as soon as I hit the A1!
”It’s so nice that my children get to have a genuine connection to the area where I grew up – that’s been a wonderful experience.”
Eliza’s winning entry cost her just £25 as part of her monthly Omaze subscription.
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