Coeur d’Alene man wins $575,000 house in NIC raffle
Bill Hughes of Coeur d’Alene won a $575,000 house in Post Falls as NIC’s 5,000-ticket raffle sold out for the 33rd straight year.
Bill Hughes of Coeur d’Alene won the grand prize in North Idaho College’s 33rd annual Really BIG Raffle, taking home a newly built house at 3360 N. Segar Loop in Greenstone’s North Place community in Post Falls. The winning ticket, number 2500, was pulled during a live-streamed drawing Wednesday, July 8, and the home was appraised at $575,000.
The prize is more than a novelty giveaway. NIC said the house is 2,033 square feet with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, and it includes new Whirlpool kitchen appliances, a dishwasher, gas range and microwave, along with quartz upgrades. An auditor from Baker Tilly, LLP handled the drawing, giving the raffle the kind of formal oversight that matches a prize of this size.
The raffle also delivered a major fund-raising haul for North Idaho College. All 5,000 tickets sold out by June 17, marking the 33rd consecutive sellout for the program. At $150 each, the ticket sale represented $750,000 in gross ticket revenue before prizes and expenses, and sales were limited to Idaho because of federal and state regulations. The NIC Foundation calls the Really BIG Raffle its largest annual public fundraiser, and the foundation, founded in 1977, says its mission is to enhance educational excellence and provide student scholarships at North Idaho College. NIC says all proceeds support student success and educational excellence throughout the college.
Several other winners also took home prizes tied to the 2026 raffle. Diana Miller won a $32,000 2026 Subaru Forester on ticket number 2120. Brian D’Aoust won a $2,000 home furnishings gift certificate on ticket number 0978. Rebecca Flamand won a $1,500 Schweitzer gift certificate on ticket number 4329. Early-bird winners Glen Nungesser and Pete Barnes each won a $1,000 Costco gift card.
This year’s top prize also came in higher than last year’s. In 2025, the grand-prize home was at 1680 W. Alsea Loop in Greenstone’s Montrose community in Post Falls and went to Hayden resident Steven Hephner, with an appraised value of $525,000. The 2026 prize home’s $575,000 appraisal put another high-value house in the middle of one of Post Falls’ growing residential areas, while sending another large round of support back to NIC students.
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