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DIY's 2006 Best Built Home Special Grand-prize winner, Billie Bentley, moves into her grand-prize home. From "Special Presentation" episode DBBH-S

Who Is the Grand-Prize Best Built Home Sweepstakes Winner and Where Is Keytesville?

Billie Bentley (figure A) said the groundbreaking ceremony for her DIY Best Built home was the most exciting day of her life. "It's fantastic, that's all I can say!"

Keytesville, Miss., is home for Billie and her husband, Jesse, and the town where they raised their two children, Richard and Tina. The small rural jewel (figure B) is located three hours outside of St. Louis, and until recently the nearest grocery store was 15 miles away.

Figure A

Figure B

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	Figure C
	Figure D
	Figure E

One of the most famous sons of the town, founded in 1833, was General Sterling Price, who served during the Mexican War and later became governor of Missouri. According to Janet Weaver, the president of Friends of Keytesville, the general raised agricultural crops, of which one was hemp. "In those days hemp was for rope and not dope," Janet said.

When Billie and Jesse first moved to Keytesville they bought a house (figure C) and the surrounding 11 acres, but after 18 months and a lot of money trying to make the house inhabitable they were out of money and emotionally deflated.

They bought a trailer (figure D) and have lived there for 15 years. "It served its purpose but it's just about seen its day," Jesse said.

"We've had water leaks and a lot of mold," Billie said. "I can smell it at night, and I feel like I'm breathing it all in. I don't feel like it's healthy." Storage is a problem and there's no basement, which is vital in this tornado-vulnerable area of the country.

When Billie saw DIY's first-ever Best Built Home giveaway she couldn't fill out the online entry form fast enough. "I thought she was wasting her time," Jesse admits, "because I've never heard of anyone winning one [a home]."

But Billie received the "call" saying she was the grand-prize winner.

The beautiful new house has a value of up to $350,000, and the happy couple also received a Ford F-Series Super Duty pickup truck (figure E), which quickly became the talk of the town. The truck was the first thing everyone saw and it was the big gossip. "Did you see the big truck?" Jesse said everyone asked to borrow it and drive it, but no one offered to wash it.

You Could Be the Next Winner! If you would like to know more about constructing the best built home or if you feel lucky you can enter DIY's Best Built Home sweepstakes by visiting our Best Built Home Zone.

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