If you won the lottery, where would you live? These 2 places in Florida among most popular
If you won a lottery jackpot, what kind of property would you invest in?
Lottery guides, results and reviews platform Lottery ‘n Go conducted a survey that asked that question and got 3,000 responses, from Hawaii to California and South Florida.
The responses reflected a strong desire for resort-style living and luxurious and exclusive communities. After all, if you win the lottery, you’ll probably be looking for an increased level of privacy afterward.
Here’s the list of where survey participants said they’d want to buy a house if they were to win the lottery and which two places in Florida ranked in the top 10.
Where should I move to if I win the lottery?
Of course, you can do anything (legal) that you want to with lottery winnings, but this list of the most-desirable places lottery players said they’d like to live in is good for getting ideas of what luxury homes look like across the country.
Coral Gables, a historic, residential city in the Miami metropolitan area, ranked as the fourth-most desirable place to buy a home after winning the lottery.
“Coral Gables features beautifully preserved historic homes, many of which reflect Mediterranean Revival architecture,” the survey said. “These homes often include lush gardens, elegant interior details, and a sense of old-world charm.”
The Florida Keys were also among popular answers, ranking as the seventh-most popular in this survey.
“The Florida Keys are known for their laid-back luxury, with waterfront estates offering private docks, open water views, and a tropical lifestyle,” the survey said.
Here’s Lottery ‘n Go’s full list of the most desirable places to buy property if you win the lottery:
Hawaii: Resort-style villas on the Big Island
Hawaii: Penthouses in Honolulu
California: Beachfront homes in Malibu
Florida: Historic homes in Coral Gables
South Carolina: Oceanfront estates on Hilton Head Island
Florida: Waterfront estates in the Florida Keys
Tennessee: Lakefront mansions on Percy Priest Lake
Georgia: Beachfront homes on St. Simons
North Carolina: Historic homes in Asheville
Nevada: Lakefront estates in Lake Tahoe
Is Coral Gables expensive to live?
Yes. Coral Gables is home to the main campus of the University of Miami. Other than U Miami’s campus, it’s primarily residential and there are more than 1,000 Coral Gables properties on the city’s Register of Historic Places.
The average price of a home in this historic Florida city rings in around $1.4 million, according to Zillow.
Coral Gables boasts many nationally recognized historic landmarks for its size. Coral Gables City Hall, one of its elementary schools, old police and fire station (which is now a museum), women’s clubs and more are all considered landmarks.
Coral Gables is also home to The Venetian Pool, which is a unique quarry filled with crystal blue water that comes from an underground aquifer, boasting two waterfalls and “cave-like grottos.” The pool has been open to the public and enjoyed by many since the 1920s.
The town is also home to The Biltmore Hotel (not to be confused with The Biltmore Estate in North Carolina). This Miami landmark was designed by Schultze and Weaver, the same designers who were responsible for other landmarks, like New York’s Grand Central station and Waldorf-Astoria, Palm Beach’s Breakers, Miami’s Ingraham Building and the Miami News Tower.
According to the city’s website, “The 26-story tower is a replica of the Giralda Bell Tower of the Cathedral of Seville, Spain.”
Are houses expensive in the Florida Keys?
Yes. The Florida Keys are also expensive to live in, but not usually as expensive as Coral Gables.
According to Zillow, the average price for a home in the Keys sits at around $1 million.
The Florida Keys are also historically significant, and although the Keys are an expensive place to live, the overall culture around these Florida islands is a little more casual and laid-back than in Coral Gables.
The Keys are the kind of place you might envision while listening to Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett’s “5 O’Clock Somewhere,” or Kenny Chesney’s “Pirate Flag.”
Key West is the closest U.S. city to Cuba (only around 90 nautical miles away from the Cuban shore) and the waters around the island are full of 16th through 19th century shipwrecks, colorful coral reefs and cruise ships.
If you want to use your lottery winnings to “waste away in Margaritaville,” this might be the perfect laid-back string of islands for you to go mansion-shopping.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Lottery players said if they won they'd own Coral Gables, Keys homes
