Changes in Store for Dream Home Winner

John Groszkiewicz already was thinking about leaving his job in chilly Lake City, Pa., where he's been a computer programmer for nearly 15 years. But he never thought he'd have a million-dollar home beckoning him from the coast of Florida's Panhandle.

Groszkiewicz, 41, was chosen from more than 28 million entries Wednesday to become the seventh winner of the annual HGTV Dream Home Giveaway.

This year's prize is a custom-built, fully furnished home on three acres of waterfront property near Mexico Beach, a town of 1,200 that bills itself "the quiet alternative" along the Panhandle's famous sugar-white coastline.

An 18-foot fishing boat awaits the Groszkiewicz family off the home's dock on East Bay. A 2003 GMC Envoy SUV sits in the driveway.

Groszkiewicz had been expecting Lake City's mayor at his doorstep around 6:30 a.m. concerning a presentation about a state grant for his subdivision's trees. Instead, HGTV host Joan Steffend was there, delivering the good news.

"I'm just overwhelmed at the moment. It hasn't sunk in," Groszkiewicz said Wednesday morning after his wife opened the door to the HGTV cameras. Karen Groszkiewicz initially slammed the door shut, thinking it was the mayor's
camera and not wanting to be filmed for the tree presentation.

They quickly realized what was up.

"I was like, no way!" John Groszkiewicz said.

He and his wife decided to enter the contest after they saw pictures of the Dream Home on the HGTV Web site. They had been looking for remodeling ideas for their home, which is in northwest Pennsylvania near Lake Erie.

John Groszkiewicz would eventually enter 19 times, but he never saw the Home & Garden Television special about the house.

"My coworkers know more about the house than I do," he joked. And already, he said, "They've been calling for dibs on the guest room. They're even offering to stay in the dog house," which HGTV refers to as its Doggy Dream Home.

During the six-week sweepstakes, hundreds of hopeful contestants filled Internet chat boards on the Web sites of HGTV and the town of Mexico Beach to talk about what they would do with the house if they won. Hundreds even traveled to Mexico Beach unannounced, wanting to tour the house. They were bitterly disappointed.

"I don't know who led the general public to believe there'd be tours, but our community has been inundated," said. J. Patrick Howard, president and CEO of the Mexico Beach Community Development Council, Inc.

John Groszkiewicz said he would explore employment options in or near Mexico Beach after he goes to see his new house in April.

For now, though, nothing is certain.

"Everything's going on right now," said a flustered John Groszkiewicz while being readied for his morning press conference. "It's kind of hard to keep track."