New Omaze Cornwall House

[ShyMaryEllen]

https://omaze.co.uk/pages/cornwall-iv

What do we think?

It has a faintly Poirot look about it. I think it's gorgeous, but it's another one that would need a live-in window cleaner. Omaze do like a house with a lot of glass😀.

I'd love to eat breakfast on the terrace with that view of the sea, though - even if most of the year I'd be wearing a duffle coat.

There is a clause in the rules that says you only have to have your last name and county made public, and you can opt out of publicity in writing. But the rules also say that winners are required to participate in reasonable publicity. I don't know what that means in practice.

1. PUBLICITY: Omaze reserves the right to publish or make available information that indicates that a valid award took place for each of the Prize Draws – for example, the surname and country and county of residence of the Winner. Affected Winners have the right to object to all or part of this information being published or made available – in such event they should inform Omaze in writing. In such circumstances, entrants acknowledge that Omaze must nevertheless still provide the information and winning entry to the ASA or equivalent regulator on request.

Omaze will also require that winners participate in any reasonable publicity required by Omaze.

(ETA the formatting is all over the place, but the last sentence above is a continuation of their official rules, not added by me)

The guy who won - and then sold - the Scottish house will forever only be known as ‘Jon from Berkshire.’ I guess that’s the reasonable publicity to which he agreed.

That level of publicity would be fine by me 😎

Found it

Seahorses, West Bay, Maenporth Road, Maenporth, Falmouth, TR11 5HP.

Sold on 8 Jan 2013 for £660,000

Permission for demolition of existing property and erection of new dwelling and associated ancillary buildings granted on 22 Jul 2015.

Further permission for demolition of existing property and erection of new dwelling and associated ancillary buildings without compliance with conditions 2 and 3 of decision PA14/11869 dated 22.07.2015
granted on 01 Jul 2024.

Puff piece dated March 2024 when it was on sale with Knight Frank Exeter for £4.5 million.
https://www.greatbritishlife.co.uk/magazines/cornwall/24207699.seahorses-stunning-4-5m-home-overlooking-falmouth/

No details of who bought, applied for planning permission and sold it available

All the information is available on the Cornwall planning portal (ref PA24/03471). A couple of guys from Herefordshire/Worcestershire bought it and applied for planning in 2015 and then retrospectively in March 2024. Looks like some property developers/speculators who don’t appear, acc to the addresses on the paperwork, to have occupied the property.

Rightmove has some stuff on the address from when it was listed too. I kind of prefer the way it was done originally - it’s a little bit beige now the Omaze team have been through it!

That is really cheeky!!! How do you know this??

It’s not true it’s an internet myth. They wouldn’t have the money for a credit check for every entry and anyway they’d have to ask your permission.

I think the upgraded version looks better but I still don’t like it. Why locate the swimming pool away from the view and in the shadow of the house?

Perhaps to shield it from the rubbish weather that’ll invariably hit outside of August. It’s on a very choppy coast.

Fair point. I don’t care where it’s sited tbh if I could win it. 🤓

I think some of the ‘financial’ checks are to confirm that you are not related to an employee or any other party it states cannot take part? Otherwise, it would then look as though they were not running a fair lottery. Once they have done their due diligence they can verify with whoever it is that oversees lotteries that there is nothing untoward going on. And check they’re not a recently released multiple murderer, of course!

Yes, that's what I assume to be the case. What difference does it make to them who wins? Once the winner has signed the paperwork it's not Omaze's problem if they are a nightmare for the neighbours or run up a string of debts. So long as they are legally entitled to enter, it won't matter.

The new house is up! It's in Yorkshire, overlooking the Vale of Pickering.

https://omaze.co.uk/pages/yorkshire-ii?utm_content=cta1&utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=HO_YOR2H30_Launch_PaidSubs&utm_id=01J53JBGWAP7J2E7NCZ0F0P26V&_kx=5E_oZ0CxbPdqteKXGk0MCHyV2H5uhnOpCDFn4US1prSJuX_QwnRF7X4muKsKz-bn.NAdKub

It's gorgeous, and I'd love to win this one. I don't know what I'd do with stables as I'm scared of horses, but my winner's fantasy this time has me living there with my husband and both my (adult) children and their partners. One set can have the loft apartment (I wonder why they didn't show photos of that), and the other can have the second bedroom/bathroom and use what's now the dining room as their personal space. We can share the other rooms, although I might bag either the snug or the study so we have a private room too. I'm sure they'll all love the idea of family living as much as I do in my head😉.

They reckon it will take a bit over £3k a month for running costs, including maintenance (what's the gate charge for? The Cornwall one has this, too, and in both cases it's too cheap for a security charge), but between six adults we should manage that easily enough even if we all give up our current jobs and look for something locally. Maybe we can rent out the stables, or employ someone to run a riding school? I haven't had long enough in Fantasyland to work it out, but it'll be reet, as the neighbours will say😀. See - I'm fitting in already. Anyway, we'll have £250k to tide us over while we work something out.

I doubt the running costs incorporate the stables. I think this house will be sold very quickly - Omaze said that they ‘listened to’ their community and someone had wanted a place for their pony but I think they’re in the minority of subscribers…I’d love the Cornwall house - use it autumn > spring, then rent it out in summer. Take the 250k in the meantime and not need to work for five years.

The main house is absolutely lovely, but I can’t imaging anyone keeping this - it’s not within easy access of any main city for work. If you live in the south or even the midlands its a 3hr+ drive so you couldn’t keep it for weekend/holiday use. The stables is a real issue - my sister owns/runs one and is horse crazy, but running one as a business is a nightmare and if, like me, you hate are not into horses you’d have to find an alternative use. Conversion into holiday lets might work, but that £250k won’t begin to cover that, so it’s a money pit.

There’s a main access road to a property/farm behind the property running between the stables plot and the house plot so you have easement/access issues. You might be able to separate the main house/gardens from this, due to the road, and sell it as a separate plot (stables/10 or so acres) but I am guessing the previous owners/sellers must surely have explored that and not done it.

Not sure whey it’s so difficult to buy a beautiful property with a couple of acres within a reasonable commute of a few cites by road or rail?

Just noticed that the house near Bath, the one with 14acres of grounds, was put on the market in May. I rather fancied that one for my spaniels!

One of my top fantasy winner rules is No Responsibility For Livestock. The last thing I need in my life of luxurious idleness is to have to think about the welfare of critters of any description, and have to factor them in when I go away or want a lie in. The stables would have to go, or become the legal responsibility of someone else. The beauty of Fantasyland, though, is that any solution you dream up will work, so mine is to rent out the stables for someone to run a riding school, or as a place for locals to keep their horses (or both - it's not my problem 😎) and forget about them. I, meanwhile, will live a happy family life in the main house - a bit like the Waltons but with a five-oven range.

I pay my tenner a month subscription for the dream.

How do we you know where exactly the property is? Or am I missing something.

I too pay my tenner a month for the dream.

I'd convert the big stable block into a separate dwelling and keep the double. Would love to have some ponies. (In this fantasy I would also be able to quit work entirely and live a life of country pursuits)

I just go off the description for a vague idea, then someone clever comes along with a postcode and more details 😀. I don't know how they find out, but I love that bit, as it usually means you can nosy round the whole house as it was the last time it sold.

One has to go hunting for the location. I usually manage to find them but I'm having trouble with this house.

It's in "the hamlet of Ryedale" / "the Ryedale area", depending on which news outlet you read.

Erm... Look at the house in this newly announced competition.
https://omaze.co.uk/blogs/news/take-a-tour-of-the-yorkshire-house

Then look at the house won by Eliza Yahioglu from London in a previous Omaze competition.
https://omaze.co.uk/blogs/news/meet-the-yorkshire-house-draw-winners

Also in the Mail dated 11 August 2023, with photos.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/property/article-12396283/amp/Mother-scoops-2m-Omaze-farmhouse-100K-cash-day-turned-56-buying-25-ticket.html

Are you saying they are the same house? Where are the stables? The pool could have been added by the winners, I suppose, but isn't it more likely that the style is just popular in that part of the Yorkshire market?

I may be being naive, but Omaze has been running for ages now - if it were a scam they would have been hauled through the courts by now.

It’s already been marked on Google maps.

https://www.google.com/maps/@54.2263032,-0.8772407,598m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en-gb&entry=ttu

No idea by whom, but there is a super nerd out there who get’s them pinned within hours of a property going live… love it!

Yes, they could be the same style.

I remember seeing a farmhouse used as a location in a TV drama and it was so like a friend's home, I asked whether this friend had rented theirs out to a production company. No, but they knew who had - the owners of a house nearby with very similar features typical of the area.

I know what you mean @ShyMaryEllen in my head I have converted the existing outbuildings into living accommodation, added a few glamping pod-cabins and converted the stables into a couple of classrooms and cafe so I can run writing and artists retreats!