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A lottery winner looks a gift house in the mouth
The prize: a $3-million Oakville mansion
Image credit: Courtesy of Princess Margaret Lottery
Elizabeth Brooks has played the Princess Margaret lottery ever since her late father was a leukemia patient at the hospital a dozen years ago. One morning last December, she was in her car when her cellphone began ringing incessantly; all of her radio-listening friends were wondering if she was the Elizabeth Brooks who’d just won the game’s top prize, a $3-million Oakville mansion, fully furnished right down to a $20,000 handmade Hästens bed. Brooks sped home, where a voice mail from the hospital confirmed her luck.
A teacher at Crescent School, Brooks has lived with her husband and their four children (with a fifth, this one adopted, on its way) in 1,000 square feet at Avenue Road and Lawrence for the past six years. The family was tempted by the 5,000 square feet of white oak and custom iron, brass and marble but are devoted urbanites. So they planned to sell the beast and find a new house in the city. Before liquidating their winnings, they did something that would be impossible in their uptown bungalow, inviting 350 family and friends over for an afternoon of bloody caesars and smoked-salmon canapés. Party-goers found themselves recipients of door prizes: Brooks gave away a Krups espresso machine, some vases, an enormous twig-like wall hanging and more.
The Oakville house was listed at $2.195 million in February. Taxes are about $2,000 a month, so Brooks isn’t waiting for the market to rebound. If it doesn’t sell in three months, she hopes to rent it out, fully furnished, except for that Hästens bed. The couple christened it the night of their party and have decided to keep it.
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