WINTER PARK - A new home for a new life.

Six months after widower Bob O'Neill Sr., 69, remarried, he and his bride, Lorie, were still grappling with the question of where to set down roots.

On Saturday morning, the couple glimpsed of one of their more magnificent options: HGTV's $2.5 million Dream Home near the Mary Jane ski area.

At 10 a.m., as falling snow covered the driveway, the retired Florida postmaster was handed keys to a new, dark red SUV. Then he and his wife were escorted up rock steps to the main entrance of the lodge-style home, where Scripps Networks executive Jon Steinlauf dangled a set of keys to the front door.

"I understand you were recently married, so this is quite a wedding present," Steinlauf said before an audience of 65 people.

"Six months to the day," O'Neill said.

Photographers and an HGTV camera crew documented the moment as O'Neill turned the key in the lock, opened the door and ushered his wife in.

"Wow. Nothing but wow. Everything's beautiful, just perfect," he said, going room to room with HGTV project manager Jack Thomasson and interior designer Linda Woodrum.

The prize is an even more than imagined morale booster for O'Neill.

In 1983, one of his sons died in an auto accident. He cared for his wife, Melanie, until her death from cancer in 2004, and nursed two other family members who died, in 2005 and 2006.

"So I needed a new life," he said.

Six months ago, O'Neill married Lorie, a 48-year-old postal clerk. The couple recently settled in Johnson City, Tenn., to be closer to a son and family.

On March 18, while dining at a restaurant there, O'Neill was told on live TV that he had won the dream home, beating odds of 41 million-to-1.

"It's very humbling to us," he said. "It's something that came out of nowhere."

Though the 4,400-square-foot home is fully furnished and stocked with food, books and sweaters, O'Neill and his wife will not be able to spend a night on the property until documents are signed in a month or two.

O'Neill hasn't decided whether he will keep the home. Nine previous dream homes were sold by winners, and the 2005 dream home in Tyler, Texas, was on the market in January.

"We can afford it," O'Neill said. "I've worked hard all my life and saved money . . . but I worry about relocating."

No matter what they decide, they couldn't help but think Saturday about the memories they could make inside the home's walls.

"Just dreaming, it would be nice to have a family reunion here," Lorie said.

The past days, the couple said, have been chaotic.

"I haven't gotten a good night's sleep in a week, and meals have been, well, . . .maybe I ate a bowl of cereal," O'Neill said.

So now, they are looking forward to some worry-free rest and relaxation. The pair will fly today to Aruba to celebrate their belated honeymoon on a beach.

HGTV and the Rocky Mountain News are owned by the E.W. Scripps Co.

Can't get enough?

• Bob and Lorie O'Neill will talk about winning the 2007 HGTV Dream Home in Winter Park on Oprah at 4 p.m. Tuesday on CBS 4.

• Online: See the O'Neills get the keys to a new SUV and explore their $2.5 million home for the first time at Rocky MountainNews.com.

lehndorffb@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2792

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