Dream home turned nightmare - Walsall man who won James Bond-style property 'handed keys back after three days'
An Omaze winner handed the keys of his dream home back after three days due to an intense environmental fears.
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Foundry worker Glen Elmy, from Walsall, was initially "gobsmacked" after winning Stealth House in Devon in October 2021. The James Bond-style pad was complete with an infinity pool and heavenly ocean views.
However, the reality of living there was very different.
Glen spent just three days at the property before handing back the keys to Omaze and requesting the £3million value of the property instead. Reports say he hasn't set foot in Stealth House since.
A source said: "I met the Mr Elmy when he was here for the publicity. He was apparently planning to stay for a week but left after three days and that was the last we saw of him.
"The corner of the house goes almost to the cliff edge, it's about two metres away from the edge."
Meanwhile, an anonymous neighbour added: "I never see anybody going in or out since the win. There is all sorts of speculation that it can't be insured because of how close it's been built to the sea and on the cliff edge.
"There is a problem with coastal erosion all along the coast here. There are signs around the beach warning about falling rocks."
The claims bear a striking contrast to Glen's feelings at the time of his big win. Speaking about it at the time he said: "I'm totally gobsmacked. The only thing we've ever won before was three pounds at a Bingo night on holiday. We absolutely love the house—if I could have designed one from scratch, it would look just like this—it's like something from a Bond film.
"We will be keeping it as there's no other house like it in the country - so why would we want to sell it? My wife Debbie lost her father to Covid this year, and our youngest son was made redundant last week, so winning this house is just what the family needed - it's life-changing for all of us.
"This house is so spectacular we’re going to enjoy our first family holiday for two years right here. I don't think we'd find a better place anywhere else in the world!"
