Indiana grandma wins Whitefish Dream Home

HGTV this week announced the winner of its 2019 Dream Home grand prize package, located in Whitefish and valued at over $2.3 million.

Beverly Fulkerson of Osgood, Indiana, received the news that she’d won Wednesday after 20 years of consistently entering the annual sweepstakes, according to HGTV’s online announcement.

HGTV designer and host Tiffany Brooks ambushed Fulkerson with a surprise celebration along with Fulkerson’s family.

An avid fan of the giveaway since 1998, Fulkerson entered this year’s sweepstakes twice a day, every day during the entry period.

Her name was randomly drawn from over 135 million entries.

A mother of two and grandmother of three, Fulkerson said that although she’s never traveled to Montana before, she was drawn to the Whitefish mountain home when she saw the views from the back porch and back deck hot tub featured in photos online.

Designed by Kevin Richardson of Timber Forge Design and built by Tyler Frank and Bear Barinowski with Malmquist Construction, two local Whitefish companies, the two-story, 3,700-square-foot house contains three bedrooms, three and a half baths and comes fully furnished.

Special features include stunning views of Whitefish Lake, layers of mountain ranges, access to a private ski lift and a plethora of modern amenities clad in classic Montana style with a luxury twist.

The grand prize package also includes a new 2019 Honda Pilot and $250,000 in cash.

HGTV first started its annual Dream Home giveaway in 1997 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and it has grown to become one of the most popular and highly entered sweepstakes in the nation.

Fulkerson and her husband will get the chance to see their new home for the first time in the next few weeks.

To view Fulkerson’s reaction to the surprise announcement and to the home, watch the HGTV Dream Home 2019 Giveaway Special premiering at 1 p.m. Friday, May 24, Eastern Time on HGTV.

Reporter Mary Cloud Taylor can be reached at 758-4459 or mtaylor@dailyinterlake.com.