A Canadian woman will be offering her $1.7 million estate to the person who writes the most convincing essay expressing their desire to live in the home.
After a bad fall left her unable to enjoy her beloved home, which she lovingly described on Facebook as "a writer's or artist's paradise," Wagner decided to sell her house but failed to find a buyer despite five months on the market. This is when she turned to the writing contest.
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"We had to list our house because of my poor health, which has been especially bad the last 6 months or so. Being confined to only one (upper) floor is becoming unbearable and it is taking a toll on my work and life in too many ways," Wagner wrote in a post on her Facebook page.
Wagner is seeking responses to the question: "Why would moving to this lakefront dream home change your life?" and is charging $25 for each entry, with the hope of reaching 68,000 and raising the $1.7 million. She says she will return entry fees should she not meet her goal or should her home sell before the end of the month, when the property goes off the market.
Wagner is not the first to come up with such an unusual idea. In 2015, the owner of Maine's 200-year-old Center Lovell Inn gave the property away in an essay contest with a $125 fee. Wagner admitted she was inspired by that contest and also by the 1996 film The Spitfire Grill, which featured a $100-per-entry essay contest to find a new owner for the grill. Wagner also told CTV that she plans to donate five per cent of the net profit from the entries to the Calgary Women's Shelter.
Wagner's idyllic abode is described in an online real estate listing as an "exquisite country mansion designed in the Georgian Country Style." The three-level lakefront home also overlooks the Canadian Rockies. So, what are you waiting for? This could be the most important words you’ll ever write in your entire life!