EXCLUSIVE – ‘You couldn’t pay me to live in the Omaze house – it’s a goldfish bowl’: Locals joke buyer of grandmother’s £4.5m raffle mansion ‘will need money for curtains’ because ferry passengers can see ‘everything’

• EXCLUSIVE: June Smith, 74, has put the mansion up for sale after only one visit
• Local who has lived nearby for 23 years said it’d be like ‘living in a goldfish bowl’ 

A dream £4.5million mansion won by a grandmother in a prize draw is ‘like a goldfish bowl’ with people able to peer through bedroom windows from a passing ferry, MailOnline can reveal.

The stunning home which sits on the estuary in Fowey, Cornwall, was won by widow June Smith, 74, in a £25 Omaze raffle but she has put it up for sale after only one visit.

But Omaze’s description omits to mention the car ferry which passes the six-bed home’s floor-to-ceiling windows dozens of times a day.

A local who has lived nearby for 23 years, said: ‘You couldn’t pay me to move in there, it’d be like living in a goldfish bowl.

‘It has stunning views of Fowey and the estuary but that goes both ways. When you go across on the ferry you can see the bed and all the furniture through the windows.

A dream £4.5million mansion won by a grandmother in a prize draw is ‘like a goldfish bowl’, according to locals

June Smith (pictured), 74, was given the keys to the luxury six-bedroom property in Cornwall in May but she is putting it up for sale

The property was said to be the biggest-ever house prize to be given away in a draw in Britain and came mortgage free, with all stamp duty and legal fees covered. However, locals say it is ‘like a goldfish bowl’ with people able to peer through bedroom windows from a passing ferry (pictured)

‘Plus when the big china clay ships go by they must have a fabulous view in.

READ MORE: Widow cashing in after winning luxury Cornish mansion says ‘the money will make a huge difference’ to her six grandchildren – as family enjoyed one ‘magical’ holiday to the waterfront pad before selling up  

‘I don’t blame the woman for selling it, she’s won a prize and can do what she likes with it.

‘I think she has only been down for one holiday, the cost of running it must also be pretty extortionate.’

In a nearby café, one diner joked: ‘I hope whoever buys that place has enough money left over for a set of curtains.’

After the home – named Pieds Dans L Eau – was listed on property website Rightmove for £4.5million, Ms Smith said she was looking to sell so that the money could help her children and grandchildren ‘with the next chapter in their lives’ – after the family enjoyed one ‘magical’ summer holiday together.

She added: ‘Winning this house has been an incredible experience, I still can’t believe it all actually happened to me, it still feels so surreal,’ she said.

‘I wanted to enjoy at least one family holiday here before I put it on the market.

‘We all came and stayed together and absolutely love the house and Cornwall – and my six grandchildren have certainly made the most of it.

Despite pledging at the time to ‘definitely keep it for a while’ and to take advantage of its built-in yoga studio, Pieds Dans L Eau has already appeared on property website, Rightmove

(From left to right) June Smith’s son Rory Smith, June Smith herself, her granddaughter Lilian Smith, her daughter Katharine Smith, her granddaughter Nicole Bysouth-Smith, Rory’s fiancé Rebecca Swinn and Rebecca’s mother Barbara Swinn

June Smith, 74, was given the keys to the huge three-storey house overlooking the Fowey Estuary just weeks ago in May, and told of how she called her children and then opened a bottle of red wine after her triumph in the Omaze draw

‘The house is just wonderful and it’s been a magical holiday that we’ll remember forever.

READ MORE: What happened next for the Omaze home winners? 

‘I knew winning this house would be life changing for all my family, and that’s why I’ve decided to sell now, as I want to use the money to help all my children and grandchildren with the next chapter in their lives.

‘The money is going to make such a huge difference to all of us.’

The listing describes the house as ‘a striking, state-of-the-art waterfront home commanding an elevated position over the Fowey Estuary with uninterrupted, panoramic views.’The sale is not the first time a prize draw winner has made such a decision.

Britain’s first Omaze winner, policeman Ian Garrick, from Mablethorpe, Lincs, didn’t hesitate when he heard he had won a £1million-plus house in Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire in November 2020.

‘I sold it as soon as I could,’ he told MailOnline earlier this year.

‘I didn’t want to move across the country and leave friends and family, but it did change my life as it enabled me to take early retirement from the police and lay down solid foundations for financial security for me and my sons.’

Ian’s wife Julie had died from cancer five years earlier and he said the £1million-plus gift gave him and his sons James, 32, Callum 24 and Nathan 21, a boost after years ‘in limbo’.

Widowed grandmother-of-six June Smith was given the freedom to either live in the house, rent it out or sell it

Local estate agents estimate it could achieve up to £7,000 per month from long-term rentals

The grandmother won the incredible property prize in an Omaze Million Pound House Draw

The listing describes the house as ‘a striking, state-of-the-art waterfront home commanding an elevated position over the Fowey Estuary with uninterrupted, panoramic views.’ 

The property could generate up to £14,000 a week from peak season holiday rentals

The main sitting room has a double-sided log fire, with a cinema and snug room

June Smith also won £100,000 in cash in the prize draw. She had only bought a £25 ticket in the draw

Ms Smith lost her husband of 43 years, Ron, last year when he suffered a heart attack at 74

Last April, NHS worker Catherine Carwardine, 60, from Wolverhampton, won a £3million six-bedroom house overlooking Lake Windermere.

Beforehand, she and her her husband Chris had been fostering children at their five-bedroom house in Telford, Shropshire, for five years.

She revealed earlier this year that she is renting out the property.

Meanwhile last August, operations manager Uttam Parmar, 58, from Leicestershire, won a four-bedroom Cornish house with panoramic views of the Camel Estuary.

He and his wife Raki, 53, initially put the house on the market for £4million – but since decided to hang onto the property as a holiday home.

Ms Smith had tears of joy after winning the property when she revealed that the last time she stayed in Cornwall was in a caravan and how her late husband, Ron, would have loved it.

Ron, to whom she was married for 43 years, died last year when he suffered a heart attack at 74. Ms Smith has lived in her two-bedroom detached house in Essex for the past 17 years.

She worked as a bookkeeper before she had children while Ron worked as an architectural designer all his life.

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