Last-Minute Luck: Cassie Bengston, February '24 Win Your Shed for Free Winner

As an incredible stroke of luck, a last-minute entry saw Pahiatua local and caregiver Cassie Bengston get to take home a 4-bay Goldpine shed completely for free. Cassie was the lucky winner of February 2024’s Win Your Shed for Free competition at Goldpine.

On Cassie’s sprawling 1700sqm property in Pahiatua, you can find a large variety of fruit trees, vegetables in the veggie garden, and even a few friendly furry friends. Her new Goldpine shed sits along the fence line, perfectly placed to serve its many interesting purposes. Cassie has been creative with her use of the 4-bay shed; she plans to close off the front and place walls between each bay, designating one as a car park, another as a home gym, one for storing gardening equipment, and the last as a woodshed. “I knew that I wanted four different bays, so I went for the largest shed I could fit in the property,” she said.

Cassie explained that the original shed on her large property had seen better days, which led to her being in the market for a new one. The decision to go with Goldpine was an easy one, she said. “My dad’s got a Goldpine shed and his one’s done really well. He built it about 15 years ago and it’s worked perfectly — we know it’s a good quality shed, with good quality materials. It’s a pole shed the same as what mine is. We just went with Goldpine because we knew they were good,” she explained. “Also, they are local. I was able to go into a local shop and talk to someone, which made it really easy.”

The 15-year-old Goldpine shed is on her family’s rural lifestyle block near Woodville, whereas Cassie’s is in a more residential area near Pahiatua town centre. “My dad helped me get the shed organised, along with the guys at Goldpine in Dannevirke,” she said. “I told them I wanted a 4-bay shed and they were able to help me sort it all out.”

The process, especially as someone who did not know much about buying sheds, was smooth, Cassie said. “I found it really easy to get the shed and organise everything with the help of the Goldpine guys. I didn’t really know what I was doing for a lot of it, so they talked me through it all and helped me with the decision-making. Gerard up in Dannevirke was helping with it all,” she said. Cassie explained the Goldpine team talked her through the forms and gave her recommendations based on what she wanted. Her property is in a flood and very high wind zone and Goldpine helped to ensure the shed would be suitable for the conditions in Pahiatua.

When Cassie received the phone call from Goldpine letting her know she’d won her shed for free, her initial reaction was disbelief. “I thought something might be wrong, because I’ve never won anything like this before. I was so happy to find out I’d won the shed,” she said. Cassie had already decided to buy her shed from Goldpine when she learned about the competition. Not expecting to win, she nearly forgot to enter, and if it weren’t for the Goldpine team giving her a call to remind her she might have missed it. “They actually rang me the last day of the competition to remind me,” she said. “That was very lucky.”

Her brother is a builder, and her dad is a handyman who helped her install the shed in mid to late 2024. The shed has “added a lot to the value of the property,” she continued. “It’s really nice to have a big shed that looks good on the property. So far, it’s been exactly what I needed. I’ve already recommended Goldpine sheds to the neighbours and said that I’ve found them really good to deal with.”