Chicago-Area Stay at Home Dad Wins $2 Million Grand Prize Package In HGTV Dream Home Giveaway 2011

Chicago-Area Stay at Home Dad Wins $2 Million Grand Prize Package In HGTV Dream Home Giveaway 2011

HINSDALE, Ill., March 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A stay-at-home dad's dream of winning a new home for his growing family came true when Hinsdale resident Eric Makstenieks learned he was the winner of the 2011 HGTV Dream Home, a new, modern rustic mountain home nestled among the ski slopes of the magnificent Mt. Mansfield in Stowe, Vermont. An avid HGTV fan who entered the giveaway nearly every day during the seven-week entry period, including from the hospital the day his now six-week-old daughter was born, Makstenieks and his wife were at home with their children when HGTV's Monica Pedersen knocked on the door to surprise him with the news. Viewers can witness their emotional reaction during the national broadcast of the HGTV Dream Home Giveaway 2011 special on Saturday, March 19, 2011 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Makstenieks, his wife Catherine, and their two children look forward to making their first ever trip to the vacation wonderland of Spruce Peak at Stowe Mountain Resort in Vermont. "This is surreal," said a shaken Makstenieks. "This is too good to be true!"

Makstenieks, whose name was drawn from more than 76.5 million entries, the largest ever in the history of the giveaway, will receive the HGTV Dream Home 2011 grand-prize package with an estimated value of $2 million, pending final verification of compliance with official rules. In addition to the new, custom-designed and fully furnished home, the grand prize package includes a 2011 GMC Acadia Denali and $500,000.

Viewers can continue to enjoy a 360-degree virtual tour of the 15th annual HGTV Dream Home and read Super Fan Gail Fenton's enthusiastic blogs on HGTV.com/dreamhome. In addition, they will soon be able to see the location of the 2012 HGTV Dream Home at Dream Home Central.

About the HGTV Dream Home Giveaway

The most successful consumer promotion in cable TV history, the HGTV Dream Home Giveaway involves sponsorship from several national advertisers including GMC, Lumber Liquidators, Inc., The Procter & Gamble Company, BISSELL Homecare, Inc., Delta Faucet Company, The Sherwin-Williams Company, Sub-Zero, Inc. and Wolf Appliance, Inc., Ethan Allen Global, Inc., Rinnai America Corporation, AZEK, Lutron Electronics Co, Inc., The Walt Disney Company and Wellborn Cabinet, Inc..

About HGTV

HGTV, America's leader in home and lifestyle programming, is distributed to more than 99 million U.S. households and is one of cable's top-rated networks. HGTV's website, hgtv.com, is the nation's leading online home-and-garden destination, which attracts an average of 4 million unique visitors per month.

About Stowe Mountain Resort

The addition of a new slope side luxury hotel & spa, new base area, an inter-mountain transfer gondola, new lifts & trails, new mountainside restaurants, new mountain golf course, new winter & summer attractions and spectacular mountainside residences have reinforced Stowe Mountain Resort's position as an internationally renowned year-round destination. Visit www.stowe.com

SOURCE HGTV

HGTV

CONTACT: Emily Yarborough, HGTV, +1-865-560-4643, or mobile +1-865-803-3681, eyarborough@hgtv.com; or Eileen Campion, Dera, Roslan & Campion Public Relations, +1-212-966-4600, eileen@drcpublicrelations.com

Web Site: http://www.hgtv.com

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