NEW YORK—Mullican Flooring was among the sponsors of the HGTV Urban Oasis 2010 Giveaway on hand here Dec. 2 for the “key” ceremony. The event, which also attracted sponsors KraftMaid Cabinetry, Kohler and Acura, was the finale of a $1.5 million sweepstakes where the winner of the grand prize—a fully furnished Manhattan apartment in the newly constructed Residences at W New York-Downtown in the Financial District—was announced.
“It has been a great experience to see how Mullican’s quality products were integrated into one of the most exciting and upscale design projects in the country,” said Neil Poland, president, Mullican Flooring. “We are proud to have been a part of such an impressive undertaking.”
The winner, Adam Venckauskas, seemed to have won by an unusual amount of good fortune. In a competition where participants could enter twice daily on HGTV.com and frontdoor.com from Sept. 1 to Oct. 20, the 21 year-old college student at the University of Central Florida entered only once. His mother, Genevieve, entered religiously and said he entered to appease her.
Venckauskas, who is studying civil engineering, said the apartment in downtown Manhattan is very different from his off-campus student apartment in Ovedo, Fla. Among the bells and whistles of the city apartment—stackable washer and dryer, laptop with printer/fax machine, flat screen televisions, unbelievable views—is the beauty of Mullican’s walnut hardwood in Ebony. He also appreciated not having to do the work himself, adding he, his father and brother had installed hardwood floors in the family’s Florida home.
Mullican was the exclusive flooring sponsor for the 900-square-foot apartment, providing 800 square feet of hardwood from its Frontier Collection. Ebony walnut brown is one of 1,500 Mullican products available through 50 distributors and 5,000 retailers across the United States.
The Urban Oasis apartment is one of several in the 57-story residential tower located in lower Manhattan with views of Battery Park City, Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty and the new World Trade Center. It was decorated by Vern Yip, one of the world’s leading interior designers, and structurally designed by Jack Thomasson, who also plans HGTV’s annual Dream Home and Green Home giveaways.
-Emily Hooper