West Virginia Man Can't Afford Free House

MyrtleBeachOnline

LAKE LURE, N.C. - Donald P. Cook, who won HGTV's 5,700-square-foot Dream Home on April 29, plans to sell the house because of the high taxes and maintenance costs.

Cook, an auditor for the state of West Virginia who has been disabled since childhood by multiple sclerosis, said the electricity bill is more than 10 times what he now pays.

"I don't think there's any possibility I could afford to live there," Cook, of Alum Creek, W.Va., said in an interview posted on the Home & Garden Web site. "What we plan to do is live in the Dream Home for about three weeks, then sell it."

The home overlooks Lake Lure in Rutherford County and has been assessed at slightly more than $3 million with an annual tax bill of $19,396.64.

Cook, who was one of 40 million people who entered the Dream Home contest, plans to retire in October and stay in West Virginia. He said he'll use the money from the Dream Home's sale to buy another house.

"It's a dream that anyone would love to have - owning a house like the Dream Home," he told HGTV. "But then reality sets in."