THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 14, 1994 TAG: 9408090069
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 140 lines
TWENTY-FIVE words and $25 could earn you a $695,000 Victorian ``castle'' in Edenton, N.C. - and $200,000 in cash.
In that many words or less, simply tell the 43-year-old owners, Marilyn Miller and Greg Haden, why you'd like to own their 14-room, four-bedroom, four-bath home, which neighbors have dubbed ``The Castle.''
You have plenty of time to think about it: The competition begins Saturday, but the winner won't be chosen until Dec. 31 - 1995.
That gives Miller and Haden, who also designed the home, time to entice some 80,000 entrants and make an estimated $1.3 million.
Offering property and other sumptuous prizes in essay contests has been done before and is permissible by law, said Phil Black, owner of the Churchland Academy of Real Estate. ``There is no law that says a person can't sell his own house any way he wants to.''
The 5,400-square-foot marbled and mirrored abode sits on 10 acres, about three of them wooded, along Yeopim Road. The property is named Kimberly Farms, after Miller's 12-year-old daughter, Kimberly. It has a three-car garage, garden room, laundry room, porches, walkways, ample storage space, a small stocked pond and more.
The winner even gets to keep two television sets and a sound system. But Miller and Haden will hold onto the furniture. So they're tossing in the cash prize to help the new owner furnish the home and pay taxes.
``The winner will probably have to pay about 43 percent in federal and state taxes,'' said Pat Viola, a certified public accountant with Goodman and Co. in Norfolk. ``That's based on the value of the winnings. It also depends on the income he earns from whatever he does for a living.''
Miller and Haden will pay taxes on the difference between the cost of construction - about $500,000 - and the money they earn from the contest, Viola said.
The difference between the $2 million they could make (if 80,000 entries are received) and the taxes means they could earn about $1.5 million, Viola said.
If you want inspiration for your essay - or just feel like browsing - the Southern California natives will offer tours of the property beginning Saturday. Admission is $5 for adults, $2 for children.
``It's no good to build something like this and have no one look at it,'' Miller said. ``We're artists.''
The creative lifestyle takes them from one project to another. In between they travel, usually in a motor home.
``We have money from other projects,'' said Miller, who owned an advertising business in Buena Vista, Calif., next door to Knott's Berry Farm. Haden, an electrical and general contractor, built restaurants in shopping malls in 13 western states, and a couple of Woolworth stores in Alaska. DO-IT-YOURSELFERS
The couple started ``castle'' construction in February 1992, a do-it-yourself project they completed this June.
``We did about 80 percent of the work ourselves,'' said Haden, a licensed electrical contractor. Their work included the home's design, architectural sketches and much of the hands-on tasks.
``The house would have cost about $850,000 if someone else built it,'' Haden said. ``It cost us about $500,000. I saved about $150,000 in design and architectural fees by doing that myself. The ceiling in one section of the house would have cost about $25,000. It cost me about $3,000.
``And builders couldn't find the bargains I do,'' he said. ``We went to yard sales, discount houses - anyplace there was anything.''
Their finds show how one man's junk becomes another's treasure. Take, for example, the day Haden dropped off some trash at a local dump. He found an old door, took a piece from it and duplicated it 16 times as decorations for two doors in the house.
An old storm door became a handsome shower door; candy dishes became light fixtures. They removed the glass from an old front door, added a mirror and created a vanity. A $100 foot rail from a tavern was made into a faucet.
``When I see something low-priced, I try to figure out how to make it work,'' said Haden, whose castle-building credo was low cost, imagination and hard work.
There are also items from Europe and Asia. The oldest piece is a 17th century Dutch china cabinet.
Lots of mirrors help make the rooms look bigger, Haden said. FLEEING CALIFORNIA
Before they built the castle, Haden and Miller traveled in a motor home for about a year.
``We drove around, looking for a nice place to live,'' Haden said. ``We wanted to get away from the California crime and congestion.''
When the contest is over, they plan to return to the road, or the water.
``We'll tool around for a while, maybe in a boat, maybe in a motor home,'' Miller said. ``We never know what we're going to do next.''
Five years ago, they landed in Edenton long enough to buy ``a building that was just about completely demolished,'' Haden said. They turned the Granville Street structure into the Granville Queen Inn, a bed-and-breakfast they've since sold.
``I didn't like that kind of business,'' Haden said.
A few years before that, the couple built and sold what Haden called ``an ultra-modern estate in California.''
They were going to sell the castle but had heard of other home contests and decided to conduct their own.
Miller and Haden said two impartial, professional writers will be chosen to select the winning essay, based on creativity. A second-place prize of $25,000, and 50 third-place prizes of $1,000 each also will be awarded.
The castle, though off the beaten track, is visited by some 200 cars a day, Haden said. ``People telling people'' has been the best advertisement, he added.
The acreage is protected by an elaborate security system that includes motion detectors, heat sensors, alarms, video surveillance and flood lights.
The home also features tubs, sinks and whirlpools that draw filtered water; energy-efficient heating and air-conditioning; a gourmet kitchen; and a hydraulic lift that rises to a second-story library.
An imported mahogany bar is back-lighted by a wall of fire - natural-gas flames spouting out of jets in a fountain.
Anyone looking for more action, need only press a button: A television set floats down from the ceiling.
But Miller and Haden say they are simple folks at heart.
``We started out building a log cabin, but we got carried away,'' Haden said. ``It was going to be a little two-room house with a small porch and a tin roof. . . . But we kept adding and adding and it turned into a mansion.
``That,'' he added, ``is not us.'' MEMO: If you think the castle life is for you, write a 25-words-or-less essay
telling why. Send it with a money order or check for $25, plus $2 for
postage and handling, to: The Castle, Route 2, Box 241, Edenton, N.C.
27932. Make checks payable to Kimberly Farms. Deadline is Dec. 31,
1995.
In return, you will receive a receipt certifying your entry.
Miller and Haden said if entries fall short of the anticipated
80,000, fees will be returned to entrants.
Tours of Kimberly Farms are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through
Sundays. Cost: $5, adults; $2, children. The house is on Yeopim Road,
between N.C. 37 and N.C. 32. ILLUSTRATION: DREW WILSON/Staff color photos
TOP: A gazebo offers a view of the front lawn.
MIDDLE: Intricate detailing adorns the exterior.
BOTTOM: Light pours into the master bedroom.
Owners Greg Haden and Marilyn Miller designed the house.
by CNB