If anyone is interested the builder's website http://infinityhomecollection.com/home-collection... has a virtually identical model (Lime Plan 2) which bumps our the long flat east wall slightly to make a few improvements (laundry on second floor, bigger master bath, real closet in mud hall, bike storage nook in garage). Overall I like the place too, but what is with nailing pallets to the master bedroom wall? Yikes!

If you want to see people jumping around like fools you should be watching "The Price is Right". This lucky couple showed real class. I don't know them but I'd wager they worked hard all their lives; in high school to get into a good college; in college to get a marketable skill; and in their careers to advance to where one could stay home and care for the kids. They have saved hard to afford a modest house in the suburbs where the streets are safe and the schools are good. They waited to have their children until they were in their late 20's or early 30's. This couple is the model of delayed gratification that characterizes the core of the successful mid to upper middle class in America. And being mid-westerners, I'd bet their excitement of winning was tempered by the sobering responsibility of being prudent stewards of the good fortune that has fallen into their laps. As far as I am concerned this is a rare win for the good guys and I could not be happier with the result.

I am grateful to HGTV for providing the dream home and all the work involved. Entering the contest is a load of fun. I just hope they disregard the tone of a great many of the messages here and realize the bloggers represent only a small portion of the HGTV viewing public. The majority of folks, if they happen to catch word of the winners name in the next few days, will think little or nothing of the early release.

Keep the contests coming HGTV. Thanks.

Regional accents and unique sense of style are both things I love to experience when I travel. And it rapidly disappearing, unfortunately.

Do natives in VT speak with that New England accent?......Like Vermonter is pronounce Vairmonta?

Some of my relatives call me a meshugenah (Michigander)

Did you know that if someone in VT wins and takes the house the VT tax alone is $180,000 but if someone in FL or TX or NV wins they pay no state tax unless they move to VT? If I win I will take the house but stay in MI until Jan 1, 2012 and then move to Stowe. That will save about $100k in state taxes. I hope the winner (if not me) also gets some good tax advice so he/she has the best chance to enjoy his/her win without any unexpected complications.

Patience everyone.....I take HGTV's "on or about March 12" at their word for the ambush date. I have to since they have not been to my door yet.

Just a guess but here is what I think....Doing an ambush is not rocket science......A few days ahead of time the producer uses the internet to find a relative or neighbor or co-worker an contact them to figure out if you will be at site of ambush are the appointed hour. A little finagling may or not be needed to make sure you are there. Everyone is sworn to secrecy to make it fun. The producer, camera and sound guys, and on-air talent fly into your city on the day of the ambush. The video equipment is small enough to check on the flight. They rent cars (GM of course) and van (for the equipment) at the airport and meet up at a local hotel (typical business class) or restaurant for a planning meeting and a meal. Then they pickup some pre-ordered balloons at a party store and maybe stop at a florist for some flowers. They drive right up to your ambush site and bingo. Cameras are rolling so act surprised!!!! So your best bet to know if you won ahead of time is to look for any action out of the ordinary by anyone you know. Best wishes to whoever gets so fantastically lucky.

2 solutions to ski-in problem..
A. Extreme Glade Skiing
B. Very creative Vermont / Yankee Engineering.......Put the Denali on blocks in the front yard.....take one shiny rim to the bottom of the road.....pound a stake into a 12-20" around maple tree...put a bucket underneath to catch the sap......hang the rim on the stake......unweave the rug from the living room and repurpose into tow rope......run the rope from the rim at the bottom of the hill back up to the rim still on the Denali.......ski the day away.....get back to the bottom of the hill......start the Denali with the remote start (a must for northern climes)....honk the horn with the key fob so the wife knows to stop baking pies and pancakes and come out and put the Denali in gear.......grab the sap bucket and tow rope and zoom up the hill to the front door....boil the sap down to maple syrup.. Eat pancakes....repeat until spring. dare the HOA prez to find specific rule against said plan in CCRs.

Ok so I will need a strategy to maintain my sanity if the impossible happens and I lose. (Somewhere in my brain I know this just might happen) So I need a list of all the reasons I didn't actually ever want the house in the first place. I can start and others please add to the list....it will be therapeutic.
1. Who wants a house with a busy road running through the back yard?
2. Someone will build a house on the lot to the west and your view from the bathtub will be into someones living room, not the chin.
3. In spring when the snow melts the ugly gash cut into the hill across the way will send mud flowing down the street, messing up your nice clean Acadia Denali and the car barn floor.
4. The roof will probably leak with all the snow buildup and no air space above the ceiling and strange roof gables and windows causing ice dams.
5. Winter is already too long where I live and Stowe is worse.
6. Too far to drive to the beach.
7. The house is only worth about 1.1 million and the other $400k is for furniture, rugs, appliances, dishes, artwork, decorations. So when you go to sell you may not get what you think.
8. 1.3 million buys 20 acres with pond and pool and 4000 sq ft house in Stowe (see local listings) so the house may value out at $800k. Gasp.
9. Ski-in Ski-out might be just a wee bit of exaggeration, given the actual proximity to the ski lifts.