‘I gained £3m Omaze home with infinity pool however handed keys again after simply three days’
Glen Elmy was left speechless upon winning Stealth House in Devon, which features an infinity pool and stunning ocean views – but the foundry worker was reportedly forced to hand the keys back
Omaze winner Glen Elmy initially thought he’d hit the jackpot, but his dream reportedly turned sour due to an unexpected issue. The stunning James Bond-inspired Stealth House in Devon, complete with an infinity pool and mesmerising ocean views, seemed like paradise.
However, in October 2021, the foundry worker was left stunned when he won this architectural marvel, and it’s not hard to see why. Speaking about his win at the time, a thrilled Glen, a family man, said: “I’m totally gobsmacked. The only thing we’ve ever won before was £3 at a Bingo night on holiday.
“We absolutely love the house-if I could have designed one from scratch, it would look just like this-it’s like something from a Bond film. We will be keeping it as there’s no other house like it in the country – so why would we want to sell it?
“My wife Debbie lost her father to Covid this year, and our youngest son was made redundant last week, so winning this house is just what the family needed – it’s life-changing for all of us. This house is so spectacular we’re going to enjoy our first family holiday for two years right here. I don’t think we’d find a better place anywhere else in the world!”
Glen, originally from Walsall in the West Midlands, only spent a brief three days at the property before concerns about coastal erosion reportedly prompted his decision to depart. Glen handed back the keys to Omaze and asked for the cash equivalent of the property’s £3 million value instead.
However, an Omaze spokesman aid: “As with all its properties, Omaze carried out extensive professional surveys, searches and inspections prior to purchasing the house in Devon. Omaze can confirm that none of these reports raised any material concerns with the property, including in relation to coastal erosion. The property is fully insurable.”
Since then, he has reportedly not returned to Stealth House on the North Devon coast, according to the Mirror. An insider told the publication: “I met Mr Elmy when he was here for the publicity. He was apparently planning to stay for a week but left after three days and that was the last we saw of him. The corner of the house goes almost to the cliff edge, it’s about two metres away from the edge.”, reports Devon Live.
A local person claimed that the house is now very quiet: “I never see anybody going in or out since the win. There is all sorts of speculation that it can’t be insured because of how close it’s been built to the sea and on the cliff edge. There is a problem with coastal erosion all along the coast here. There are signs around the beach warning about falling rocks.”
“It could just be local rumours, but the person who originally built the building was told it was too close to the edge, and mortgage and insurance might be a problem. When I moved in five years ago, it was on the market for £2.5 million, but nobody wanted it. When the competition was running, we saw cars coming and going, but soon after the winner was announced, that stopped, and there’s been nothing since.”
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