Rural Queensland farmers Andrew and Leonie were too busy working on their farm to hear they had run a $12m property raffle.
Queensland farmers Leonie and Andrew were too busy on the tractor to notice they had just won a $12m property lottery.
The working couple had purchased a ticket for Draw 431 of the Dream Home Art Union raffle: putting them in the running for three coastal homes across the Gold Coast, Sydney and the Mornington Peninsula.
But when the pair received a call in May to tell them they’d won the three luxury properties, Leonie was unable to hear the news while getting ready to feed her cows.
The family went from a home with falling tiles and no bath to three coastal properties across Queensland, NSW and Victoria, such as this Gold Coast unit.
The Capella farmer said when she was finally able to speak on the phone later that day, she broke down in tears at the life-changing news.
“My tiles are about to fall off in my bathroom at home,” she said. “Our home has always been the last on the list, because we’ve had to build everything up within our business and our farm.”
The couple’s new possessions included luxury apartments in Bilinga and Potts Point (worth $4.1m and $2.25m), and a home in Mount Martha worth $3.7m.
The winners’ home in Potts Point. The Dream Home Art Union draw is a sweepstakes raising funds for veterans Australia-wide.
The package also included $1m in gold bullion, more than $600,000 in furniture and appliances, an $8,000 travel voucher and a year of coverage for rates, water and body corporate fees.
The prize was the second handed out this year from the Dream Home Art Union, which raises money for Australian veterans through raffles across the country.
The program had 8 prize home draws in 2025, giving a total of $66.6m of property that year.
Along with this Mount Martha home, the couple will also receive $1m in gold bullion, $600,000 in furniture and appliances, and a year’s worth of coverage in fees.
The couple said they were floored to be living in a house that did not have a bath to managing three homes they did not want to leave.
“We’re so lucky to have a beautiful family to share this with … it’s the boys’, it’s our daughter-in-laws’ and it’s those two beautiful little children’s,” Andrew said.
Andrew and Leonie said they planned to share these homes with their children and grandchildren, and conduct much-needed repairs on their farm.
“My mother used to make brawn in a press, and it had a tin lid with a clamp on top that you continually screwed down. And quite often in my life I’ve felt that feeling.
“When she came out to me in the tractor, for the first time in my life I’ve felt that lid’s come off.”
The Dream Home Art Union’s next draw will be their largest prize yet, offering four apartments on a Sunshine Coast block valued at $15.5m.
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