A California Mega Millions lottery winner is selling his $26 million southern California compound and is ready to downsize.
"I will not be looking to buy such an extravagant home this time around," Rick Knudsen said. "I am looking to purchase land and build a home and ranch half the size of what I have now. I will still be looking for a great view and to add more ranch animals — maybe a few horses and buffalo."
After winning the $180 million jackpot in August 2014, Rick Knudsen purchased 845 acres of land on a mountain in Oak Glen, California. He said at the time that he and his family had lived in their home for 23 years, and though they promised to stay humble after winning, they couldn't wait to purchase a new home.
"Before winning the lottery, I had actually been looking for a home in the Oak Glen area," he says. "Soon after winning, I went on a pre-planned fishing trip to Alaska with my former boss. By the time I returned to California, he had convinced me to buy a much larger property, so, fortunately, the Eagle Crest Estate was for sale. We purchased it in a down market and it has been an incredible blessing and privilege to live here."
The estate was the most elevated mountain compound in Southern California, and Knudsen says the seclusion and privacy the property offered made his purchase an easy choice.
"I looked up at this mountain from my previous home in Calimesa and I had always wondered what it was like up here," he says.
But now, Knudsen is leaving the place behind so he can move to a lower elevation with his son Ricky, 36, who was born with a congenital heart defect known as Tetralogy of Fallot. So far, Ricky has had three open heart and two closed heart surgeries along with two valve replacements.
"We had an elevator installed to help him," Knudsen says. "However, he is quite stubborn and chooses to walk up and down the stairs grumbling all the way 'I can do it,' only using the elevator when absolutely necessary."
Ricky, who is now on his third ICD defibrillator, has now lived twice the age the doctors expected him to, Knudsen says. But after speaking with his son's cardiologist this year, Knudsen says its recommended for Ricky to move to a lower elevation.
"He feels it is time to move to a single story home probably no higher than 4,000 feet," Knudsen says. "The difference of 2,000 feet will make a big difference in pressure and it should be an improvement for him."
Ricky is admittedly sad to leave his life at Eagle Creek.
"My son enjoys his life up here, he has great freedom," Knudsen says. "He has a Mule — no, not a donkey, a Kawasaki UTV Mule — that, believe it or not, he has put over 30,000 miles on from just driving all over the property."
But Knudsen says he's ready to move on, and is already planning a new 100-acre development with a ranch where Ricky will be able to enjoy himself. Knudsen himself though admits that he will miss quite a few things about the property, especially all of the wildlife and the ability to experience all four seasons.
"I wouldn't I'm say heartbroken, but it has been an amazing experience and I have enjoyed finishing the estate to make it what it is today," he says. "I feel that I have done everything here that needs to be done and it will be nice to start another project."
However, Knudsen is incredibly grateful that the lottery was able to give him this experience.
"Where do I begin?" he says. "I still have to pinch myself to believe that it really happened. The odds that I would have the winning ticket are one in 250 million. It has given my family an opportunity to all live in nice homes in the same community instead of being spread out. I am still trying to instill in all of them that they need to continue to work hard and be financially responsible for their own lives. Ricky was given a new sense of freedom and independence. He has also been able to help around the ranch, which has built up his self-worth."
"Most of all it has given me the ability to invest in long-term investments for my family and to provide financial freedom for the future," he adds. "I definitely see the world in a new and incredible way. Dreams really do come true."
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I like the 30,000 miles on the ATV aspect... That would be pretty neat...
Best of luck/success with your new purchase and to your sons health.
Is it me or does this look like the family / house that was on the very first episode of My Lottery Dream House on HGTV?
It was on "My Lottery Dream Home" on HGTV... You are correct!!!! I watched that episode... was a good one. Most episodes feature winners who won 1 to 2 million... He was the largest one to date as I can see.. He hit for $180 million on Mega Millions... that's NICEEEEE!
Rick and Lori Knudsen's appearance on an episode of My Lottery Dream Home will be repeated in the future. It is one of the favorites.
I pray for good health for the entire Knudsen family.
They are forward-looking at their finances. Buying the Eagle Crest Home in a down market was smart. Selling now is also a good decision for many reasons.
I am hoping to witness an LP Member win big soon. Jackpots!!
This man knows the value of family and health. How gracious he is with his gratitude for this life experience. May they have many more cherished family memories as they create a healthy home for the afflicted son.
Wow, has it been 4 years already? I remember this story, the guy said his entire day started off with luck back then, went to a store & everything clicked. He said he felt real lucky & it paid off. Glad that his doing fine & hope for the best for his son. Rick is also “ doing the right thing” imho. Getting off that higher elevation, with the fires down South, many of those homes built into mountain sides are now in ashes.Great planning Rick & Lori. Wonder if Rick is thinking of bison or African water buffalo, both species can be dangerous - careful folks!
Pretty nutty to buy a home that expensive even with a jackpot win like that!
My max home purchase would be $750K on any jackpot win. I live in a part of the country where you can get a NICE home from that amount.
To be fair according to Zillow he bought his home for 5.5M in 2014 so if he actually sells for 26M (highly doubt) it would turn quite the profit.
To view more pictures of the property visit Zillow and search for Oak Glen Yucaipa CA. Then sort by most expensive homes first.
Having said that however I couldnt imagine myself buying any home no matter how much I won. Still young with no kids so a really nice apartment would be more my cup of tea.
It would be nutty if he couldn't afford it, and it went into foreclosure JJ. Absent of that, he did fine. l wonder what additional add - on' s he made to the property, apart from the elevator.
Should he sell this house for $26 mil, it's possible that he will end up with more money than his original jackpot win. The ink would still be wet after the new owner signs on the dotted line, with Rick muttering to himself " Sucker!"
I will never buy a mansion .
Mansions doesn't impress me !!! They take to much money to
manage a mansion . I can spend my money on family , friends
charities , etccccc .. Nor would I keep up with the "Joneses " .
brees2012, Would you stay out of a crime infested area?
Be careful of allowing many people to become dependent upon your generosity. When you run out of money they may turn on you and say you are lying to them when you try to tell them that you have nothing left.
Entourages are best left to Professional athletes and actors. Like you say, "You will not keep up with the "Joneses".
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You know, there's something to be said about that.
Especially now, since my ideal place of residence, should I ever win a significant lotto would have been Malibu.
And by the way, TO EVERYONE HERE, thank you for your responses to my post on that very subject:
". . . Malibu's gone up in smoke . . . "
But, I kind of like the apartment idea, except that if the unthinkable happens, I'm going to have a desire for a few vehicles of my own, and also a very big fantasy of mine is to to have a living room to accommodate enough space for a grand piano and a couple of quartets. (. . . like a mini Jay Leno sort of car collection . . .)
Nothing too huge, but I'd love to have classical music play live 24/7, if I'm on premises or not.
Mr. Groppo
Groppo, I hope that your lottery dreams come true. Classical music and jazz are favorites.