Back in 1934, Leonard Frewin was a young mechanic from Vancouver who was courting his sweetheart, Emily Leitch. While Emily’s father didn’t think that Leonard was set up in the world, and so opposed the match, fate had other ideas.
It was the inaugural year of the PNE Prize Home Lottery and Leonard bought his ticket for the “Dream Bungalow” on the last day of the fair for 25 cents.
Later that night he heard on the radio he’d won the house, built on-site at Hastings Park, and the rest, as they say, is history!
After waiting outside Emily’s house all night, Leonard proposed the next day, and the two later moved into their PNE Prize Home – which included the lot on Renfrew Street and $500 worth of new furniture from Eaton’s Department Store – including a state-of-the-art electric stove!
The whole thing was worth a whopping $5,000 – big, big money in those days – and the Frewins would go on to raise a family in their dream home, living there for more than 60 years until they both passed away within months of each other in the 1990s.
Modern dreams come true too
The long-running PNE Prize Home tradition continues to make dreams come true today.
For the first time in the 87-year history of the Prize Home, organizers are breaking with tradition and purchasing a Prize Home in the Lower Mainland instead of building on site and moving the house later.
“The PNE Prize Home is always one of the most popular programs at the Fair, and to do it differently with a home built off site for the first time in the history of the program was very different for all of us in the organization, but what we found was that people want to support the PNE during this time in a variety of ways, including purchasing Prize Home tickets, but they also really loved the location and being able to see the house in the neighbourhood,” says PNE Vice President of Operations Jeff Strickland.
“The combination of prizes within the Grand Prize Package as well as the variety of vehicles from General Motors has proven to be one of our most popular set of prizes in the history of the PNE lottery. We’re excited to be offering electric vehicles, trucks, a Harley Davidson motorcycle as well as cash early bird prizes for 2021, and there is no doubt that the South Surrey location of this years Prize Home is very, very popular.”
The beautiful, 3,600 sq. ft, three-level, four-bedroom, four-and-a-half bathroom home was built by Distrikt Homes of Langley, in a new subdivision in South Surrey, a short distance from the area’s famed beaches.
The magnificent, energy-efficient home boasts an open-concept living area with walk-out access to a private backyard on the main level. Upstairs features a large primary bedroom with ensuite and walk-in closet, plus two additional bedrooms and a laundry room. Downstairs has a spacious home gym, media room, guest bedroom and bathroom. It features clean-energy technology, premium appliances, indoor furniture from Yaletown Interiors and outdoor living package from Coast Spas Lifestyles.
A modern masterpiece, it has a total value of $1.8 million.
More chances to win
In addition to the chance to win the amazing Prize Home, ticket purchasers could win one of five vehicles from Chevrolet, $100,000 in cash prizes, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle from Trev Deeley Motorcycles, and a $10,000 Yaletown Interiors gift certificate. Four bonus draws will take place over the summer with ticket purchasers eligible to win additional cash prizes and a Tofino vacation package.
Choose from three ticket options:
- bundles of two tickets for $30
- six tickets for $60
- 15 tickets for $125
PNE Prize Home tickets are available online at pneprizehome.ca or via phone at 604-678-4663 or toll free at 1-877-946-4663. The call centre is open Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and weekends from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.