ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- A fully-furnished HGTV dream house is now for sale in Asheville, months after a Washington woman won the home in an HGTV-branded sweepstakes.
The HGTV Urban Oasis home, at 17 Russell St. in West Asheville, is on the market for $490,000.
The winner of the sweepstakes, Crystal Harriman, of Poulsbo, Wash., decided not to keep it. Harriman has three children, so life in the 1,300-square-foot, two-bedroom bungalow would have been cramped.
“It’s a beautiful home, and we love it very much,” she said in a news release. “We had a hard time leaving it when we were in Asheville, but it would be really hard to uproot our children and our life.”
The 100-year-old home was fully remodeled by Asheville's Wilson Architects and JAG Construction as part of the HGTV project, and it comes with furnishings and decorations by designer Brian Patrick Flynn. It includes works by local artists, kitchen accessories, bikes and skateboards, art supplies and even clothes.
The house part of the prize package is exactly as HGTV awarded it, explained Mike Figura, owner of Mosaic Community Lifestyle Realty. HGTV valued the house at $490,395, so that's how Figura determined the list price.
Because the house is a TV star and it's fully furnished, he said he doesn't expect the sale price to affect home prices in Asheville.
“People who are concerned about affordable housing in Asheville, don’t panic about this," he said. "This house is being sold furnished, and it’s a famous house. That’s going to be taken into account in the pricing.”
He also said sellers should not get unrealistic expectations about selling 1,300-square-foot homes for nearly half a million dollars. This deal is a one off.
A two-bedroom bungalow in West Asheville costs in the low to mid $200,000s.
Figura said he has no way to predict who will buy the house, but if he had to guess, he would say someone from out of town.
"I would probably say it will be a second home," he said. “Most people in our market are who making a lateral move or moving up, they already have a furnished home."
He said it will not be a vacation rental because they are prohibited in the city limits.
At the open houses, Figura said he expects potential buyers and curious fans of HGTV's programming.
Asheville Mosaic Community Lifestyle Realty will facilitate the sale through a series of open houses on April 16-17 and 23-24, and a sealed bidding process that runs through the last open house on April 24.
