Happy New Year From The 11 Dollar House!  The Contest Is Now Over.

The pictures above show the slow redemption of The 11 Dollar House™. Once owned by one of Alberta's 10 Greatest Citizens, it was later condemned by the City of Edmonton as a slum and a derelict.  Its almost 100-year-old story could have ended with a wrecking ball, but instead it will have a happier ending.  Sadly, the same cannot be said for the contest.

My name is David Stockburger. My wife and I decided to run a contest to award The 11 Dollar House™ as a prize to someone, mortgage free, completely renovated, and ready for moving in.  This will not be happening now, but we are amazed and humbled by the number of people who did take the time to enter.  For details on what happens now, you can go to Wrapping It Up to see how things will be concluded.

• The Past , where you can find out a bit about the history of the house before its fresh start;
• About Edmonton and the Neighbourhood , where you can learn about the place you might call home; 
• Rebuilding The 11 Dollar House , where you can see what's been done and how things are progressing; 
• Floor Plans, where you can get a rough idea of what the house will look like inside and how big it is; and
• About Us , where you can get a little information and contact info about the people crazy enough to do this.  

Number of Entries Received In Total: 600ish

Last updated January 27, 2009.

The number dropped because we've found numerous multi-part e-mails, or people who mailed and e-mailed the same entry, that sort of thing.  We'll have the final tally posted in the next few days, and hopefully a breakdown of where everyone was from in the next few weeks.

The address of the house is: 11720 95A ST, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.  Go to Google Maps to see where it's at.

Refund Update As Of February 17, 2009

THE REFUNDS ARE DONE (MOSTLY)! Well, I think we've finished more or less (it's under 10 entrants, anyway). I know there will be a few cheques coming back to us, either because I copied down the address wrong or otherwise made some mistake. We have re-mailed some of those, and as we get others, we'll fix them and mail them again.  The few people out there still waiting to get their actual entry materials returned should get them in the next week; they were mailed out today.  Otherwise, if you think we overlooked your refund, now's the time to let us know.  Just send us an e-mail to us@the11dollarhouse.com, or else call us at (780)240-9924.  If no one answers, leave a message with your name, mailing address, and phone number, and we'll dash off a cheque right away (unless we've already done so, in which case we'll call and let you know).

Here's the list of who's left.  It's possible one or two of you did receive a refund anyway and just weren't crossed off our list.  We've left off last names, since you'll know who you are.

Dawn C.

Liza F.

Corinne F.

Janice M.

Michelle A.

Jacqueline M.

Karen W.

Eleanor M.

Maureen M.

We started the process almost a month ago by dealing with most PayPal™ payments done within the last 60 days or so, since these are the most easily reversed.  That amounted to around 220 people.  It's possible some slipped through the cracks, since people occasionally used a different e-mail address than the main address for entry fees.  If this is you, let us know.

We also sent out cheques as of January 21, 2009 to most people who entered through regular mail or by dropping something off.  For those who paid by cheque, we simply returned your uncashed cheque.  For everyone else, the cheque has probably found its way to you by now.  That accounts for around 240 more people.

We then sent refunds to the rest of the people who paid by PayPal.  Some we did using PayPal, if a return address was not included with the e-mail entry.  The rest should be receiving a cheque in the mail shortly.  This was another 80 or so people.

For those who paid by Interac Email Money Transfer from mid-December onward, if we did not deposit/accept the transfer, by now it should have expired, and you might have received some notice to that effect.  I know we got notices that the transfers had expired.  That accounts for a bunch more people.

Finally, we sent out cheques to most people who paid by Interac Email Money Transfer where we did accept/deposited the transfer.  That's around 30 to 40 more people.  As mentioned above, there are a few people outstanding.  If you're one of them, let us know.

Thanks again to everyone who entered for your patience in waiting for your entry fee to find its way back to you. We apologize for any inconvenience the delay might have caused.   If you are still suffering from this inconvenience, please let us know ASAP.