I was days into Dry January when I got a call saying I’d won a £4MILLION mansion & £250k in cash – I had to have a drink
A LUCKY mum who won a £4 million mansion and £250,000 in cash has revealed how the news made her break her Dry January.
Hannah Drury, 42, received a call informing her of her spectacular win and immediately had to celebrate with a bottle of champagne.
The primary school teacher had entered Omaze’s Million Pound House Draw for just £25, as part of a subscription she’d only signed up to in late December.
Just three days into Dry January, she received a call informing her she had won a secluded mansion in the Lake District as well as £250,000 in cash.
Hannah, who’s also a trained operatic soprano, then broke her “Dry Jan” promise to celebrate with a bottle of bubbly.
The £4 million home, located at Coniston Water, had been redeveloped and redesigned and comes mortgage-free with all legal fees covered.
Hannah’s new spectacular home comes with reverse-level living, where the bedrooms and bathrooms are on the ground floor, and the kitchen, dining room, and living spaces are on the first floor.
Almost every room has views of the lake, surrounding mountains, and Grizedale Forest, with the property itself providing 200 metres of lake frontage.
The home also comes with a private wood-panelled jetty and six acres of natural woodland interspersed with free-flowing streams.
Hannah and her family will also have access to a spa house with a rainfall shower, a Himalayan salt wall, a therapy table, a gym, and a wooden in-ground hot tub on the elevated property’s terrace.
Hannah now faces the decision to either live at the mansion, which also has a standalone summerhouse, rent it out, or just sell it.
Local estate agents estimate that if Hannah were to rent out the property, it could achieve a long-term rental value of £4,000 per month.
Both Hannah and her husband of ten years Rupert, 49, work as music teachers and had met singing opposite each other in a production of Donizetti’s Elixir of Love 18 years ago.
Hannah has sung lead roles in over 25 operas nationwide and currently teaches at a local primary school while Rupert, an operatic tenor, teaches at a local secondary school.
The primary school teacher has worked as a music instructor for 20 years and currently lives with her husband, two girls, and a boy in a three-bedroom house in Frome, Somerset.
Hannah and Rupert recently celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary and said that winning the house “is obviously the best present we’ll ever give to each other”.
The primary school teacher originally thought it was a friend winding her up when she received the call informing her of the mega prize.
When Hannah was first contacted about her prize, she assumed it was a friend winding her up.
However, when she didn’t recognise the callers voice, she began to think she may have won a “little bit” of cash.
When it was then revealed she had won the £4 million mansion and £250,000 in cash, Hannah was left without words.
She said: ”I was speechless, and that never happens – my husband was flabbergasted as he didn’t even know I’d entered.
“I had planned to do Dry Jan this year, but that went out the window immediately.
“I lasted all of three days, but if you can’t have a drink when you’ve won a £4 million house when can you?
“We opened a bottle we’d been saving for a special occasion, but it had actually gone off and tasted like vinegar.
“Luckily we had a backup so popped that instead.”
‘THIS WIN HAS CHANGED OUR LIVES FOREVER’
One of Hannah’s kids, who are all aged between two and eight, came downstairs the next morning and said she’d had a dream that the family had been given a “big” home.
Hannah added: “Our daughter came downstairs the morning after and said she’d dreamt someone had given us a big house, we told her that on this occasion her dream had come true.”
She says the family have “barely” slept and “had butterflies all weekend” while trying to keep the news secret from friends.
Hannah described her new mansion as “simply spellbinding” and “spectacular”, adding it has “unreal” views of the lake and that her children “can’t wait” to use the property’s hot tub.
She added: “We’ll definitely enjoy the house as a family for a while.
“My parents currently live with us at the end of the garden, they’re ecstatic as they’ve now got their eyes on an upgrade.”
Hannah said that the additional £250,000 would allow the family to afford to stay at the new home for more than a decade if they wishes.
She described her winning ticket as “quite the stocking filler” after she had bought a set of them on 22 December for just £25.
The music teacher continued: “We’ve got so many options now—we could do some kind of opera masterclass retreat here, where we can combine all the things we’re passionate about, it’s so exciting.
”Whatever we decide to do long-term, this win has changed our lives forever.
“Our children’s future is secure no matter what, and they can live lives that are rich in experiences, it’s a wonderful feeling.”
Omaze’s Million Pound House Draw also raised £5,250,000 for Age UK, enabling the charity to “provide over 10 million minutes of vital friendship, social activities and practical support” across the country.
The fundraising company currently has entries open for its next Million Pound House Draw in Bath, with the deadline for tickets being 26 January for online entries and 28 January for postal ones.
Entrants can also choose to subscribe to Omaze to be automatically entered into every new Grand Prize Draw when their subscription renews on the first of each month.
Omaze subscribers receive four times the number of entries compared to non-subscribers and can cancel their subscription at any time.