Originally published May 15, 2007 at 12:00 AM | Page modified May 15, 2007 at 2:01 AM
E-mail article
Print view
Share
Ohio farm available for $100 and essay
One hundred dollars and a good story: That's all Rose and Dennis Wallace want in exchange for their 43...cre farm. The Wallaces intend to...
Newhouse News Service
COLEBROOK TOWNSHIP, Ohio — One hundred dollars and a good story: That's all Rose and Dennis Wallace want in exchange for their 43 ½-acre farm.
The Wallaces intend to hand over the deed to the winner of an essay contest they are sponsoring. Put the right words together explaining why you would want it, and the Ashtabula County homestead is yours with no strings attached.
The contest, which law-enforcement officials said is perfectly legal, started seven weeks ago. It will end when the 3,000th submission with a $100 entry fee lands in P.O. Box 186 in Orwell.
The Wallaces would raise $300,000 through the contest, a payoff far greater than what the property could fetch in today's sagging market. The Ashtabula County auditor's office values the property at just over $170,000, according to online records. A local real-estate agent estimated its value at $250,000.
Rose Wallace said the contest money would be enough to pay off their mortgage and provide a down payment on their next home.
"People are leery when they hear about it," Rose Wallace said of the contest. "But this is for real."
Her husband nodded in agreement. "Somebody," he said, "is going to get this farm for $100."
The sales approach may seem a little unorthodox. But the more the couple talked, the more sense the contest made. The Wallaces worried that they would struggle to sell the farm in the traditional manner, given the area's slow-moving real-estate market. A house up the street from them has sat vacant for two years.
So they printed up hundreds of fliers promoting their "Win a Farm Essay Contest" and started tacking them up on public bulletin boards around the region. What's included with the farm? There's a 2,000-square-foot, red-roofed ranch home with three bedrooms and two baths. There's also a six-stall barn, two pole barns, a stocked pond, fenced pastures and a small apple orchard.
For more details and photos, go to Winafarm.bravehost.com.
The posted announcement brought immediate attention — from the Ashtabula County Sheriff's Office. A deputy visited the Wallaces after several people phoned in wondering if the contest was a scam. Afterward, the deputy wrote a memo concluding the offer was legit.
A spokeswoman for the Ohio Attorney General's Office said the contest appeared legal.
![]()
The method's still a long shot, though, said Mark Samwick of Allentown, Pa., who runs Essaycontests.com.
He estimates that only about 5 percent of the win-a-home essay contests launched by private citizens end with the keys being passed. Most of the offers simply die out from a lack of interest, he said.
So far, more than 250 people dreaming of a life among Colebrook's cornfields have submitted essays. One came all the way from Japan. All entries go to a third-party judge — the Wallaces identified her as a business-school graduate but did not release her name — who will ultimately pick the winner.
E-mail article
Print view
Share
UPDATE - 01:12 AM
Round 2: Snow slams Mid-Atlantic, points north
UPDATE - 02:43 AM
Officials: Afghan avalanches kill 157 people
UPDATE - 12:46 AM
Political supporters clash in streets of Sri Lanka
Storm dumps rain, hail, snow in SoCal

Entertainment | Top Video | World | Offbeat Video | Sci-Tech
shopping
events for Wednesday, Feb. 10
- Winter Blowout Sale at Hip Zephyr
- David Lawrence Moving Sale
- Hydrotherapy and Spa Services at Banya 5
- Girl Power Hour
editors' picks
- Pioneer Square shopping
- Independent bookstores
- Phinney Ridge & Greenwood shopping
- Local jewelry designers
- Alaska Air dropping Jones Soda beverages, going back to Coca-Cola
- Man found shot dead in pickup truck in Seattle
- Seattle is first U.S. stop for Picasso exhibit
- Husky Football Blog | Pac-10 expansion to get consideration over next year
- State Senate votes to clear way for tax increases
- Idol Confessions | "American Idol" hopeful from Seattle didn't make it to Hollywood afterall
- Belltown boulevard could be completed by early next year
- Nicole Brodeur | Chrisceda Clemmons' house wasn't the only casualty
- Brier Dudley's Blog | Google rolls its own Facebook & Twitter with Gmail "Buzz"
- Sex, drug rumors swirl about N.Y. Gov. Paterson
- Republicans may be no-shows at health-plan summit
278 - State Senate votes to clear way for tax increases
250 - Pac-10 expansion to get consideration over next year
249 - Lee undergoes foot surgery
231 - Obama: GOP and Dems together can spur job growth
210 - Fort Lewis soldier charged with abusing 4-year-old, holding her head in water
193 - Rivals names Martin one of Pac-10's best recruiters
143 - Belltown boulevard could be completed by early next year
127 - Bus-tunnel attack while guards watched prompts review of Metro security
118 - White House mocks Sarah Palin from podium
91
- Seattle is first U.S. stop for Picasso exhibit
- Belltown boulevard could be completed by early next year
- 747-8 soars smoothly on first outing
- Wine Adviser | Oregon's quality pinots join the bargain ranks
- Alaska Air dropping Jones Soda beverages, going back to Coca-Cola
- Snap out of your photo funk: How to make sense of all those piles of images
- How clean are those pre-washed salad greens?
- Answers to biggest Olympic TV questions
- Brier Dudley's Blog | Google rolls its own Facebook & Twitter with Gmail "Buzz"
- Jerry Brewer | Huskies softball pitcher Danielle Lawrie: A star on the field, not in her mind




