IF YOUR dream is to own a house in South Africa’s Western Cape wine region, but the cost of such an extravagance is too much to bear in these recessionary times, then Irishman Victor Corrigan has an offer that might interest you.

The Co Fermanagh man, based in the Cape’s wine region since 2003, has come up with a novel way to off-load a brand new house for a good return.

Rather than trying to sell the three-bedroom house on the open market, Corrigan has launched a competition in which people that pay for a night at his guesthouse in Rawsonville gain entry to a draw to win the property.

For R500 (around €45), the price of one night in a double room in the stylishly decorated Sutherland House, which he owns with partner Kyle Stuart, visitors to the quaint village will leave again with a chance to win the house, which is valued at just over €86,000. “We’re using the competition as a tool to promote the guesthouse and our restaurant, Tin House, next door,” he said.

The draw has been designed to be within the bounds of local competition legislation. First and foremost, there has to be a minimum number of entrants before the draw can go ahead and, if that figure is not secured, the draw, which will be overseen by KPMG, can be cancelled.

“Between now and May 31st next we need at least 3,000 people to have booked and paid for a double room in the guesthouse for the draw to go ahead, and they can use that booking anytime up to the end of May 2011.

The date of the draw will be announced next year, and the title deed transfer fees will be included as part of the prize. And what are Rawsonville and the three-bedroom house like, you ask? Well, the town itself is small – about 1,000 inhabitants in all – and located a little over an hour from Cape Town in the Breede Valley.

While not as well-known as neighbouring wine region towns Paarl, Stellenbosch and Franschhoeck, there are still 24 wine cellars within a 15km radius of Rawsonville that offer new world wines, tours and daily tasting sessions to the public.

To date less than 200 people have entered the competition, but Corrigan hopes that will change drastically over the coming eight months as Cape Town faces into a summer tourist season and an influx of football fans for the FIFA 2010 World Cup. Visit www.sutherlandhouse.co.za/ for details.