Madeline Ezanno will tell you she’s a little superstitious. So when she found out that as a qualifier for the 250 State Road affordable housing lottery, her applicant number would be 13, she wasn’t thrilled.

But as it turns out, her good luck did eventually kick in. On Tuesday night, the West Tisbury board of selectmen announced Maddie and her husband, Philippe, as the winners of homesite number three. And as it happens, three is her lucky number.

“Today’s my lucky day,” she cried out before grabbing her daughter for a hug in front of the crowd of well-wishers gathered in West Tisbury’s Howes House to witness the award of the seven affordable homes.

The $3.1 million affordable housing project began in 2007 when the Island Housing Trust secured several acres of land off of State Road in a joint purchase with the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank. South Mountain Company contracted to build seven of the eight homes in the small neighborhood — the last was built by Habitat for Humanity — which were designed to be energy-efficient, single family units. The building project is slated for completion next month.

On Tuesday, the 21 qualified applicants were invited to the front of the room to drop their names into a slit in the roof of a tiny cardboard house, painted by a child’s hand with brightly colored markers in shades of bright green, orange and yellow.

The first home was granted automatically to Matt Coffey and Christine Conley, the only applicants to qualify under an Island preference, with an income level of 120 per cent of the area median income, that is, a maximum of $98,200 for their three-bedroom home priced at $295,000.

The trust aims to establish its home sale prices so that a household spends no more than 30 per cent of their gross income on housing costs, including mortgage, taxes, insurance and groundlease fees. It also aims for a mix of income levels in its projects.

Bonnie Tilton Jackson was the next winner, also qualifying at 120 per cent of the area median income, up to $88,300, for a two-bedroom home priced at $270,000. Ms. Tilton was awarded home site number two.

The next two homes were designated for people with incomes of 100 per cent of the area median income — up to $81,800 for the three-bedroom and up to $73,600 for the two-bedroom. These two draws gave preference to West Tisbury residents. Mr. and Mrs. Ezanno were the first winners, of homesite number three.

Mrs. Ezanno, a personal chef, and her husband, who works for Indigo Farm landscaping, moved to the Island fulltime 11 years ago, when Mrs. Ezanno was pregnant with their daughter. But she has considered the Island her second home for nearly 25 years.

“I came here in 1987, just for the summer, to have fun,” she said this week, and she ended up visiting regularly with her then-boyfriend for the next 10 years. When she found out she was pregnant, she knew just where she wanted to raise her daughter. The Ezannos moved to the Vineyard in time to welcome their little girl, Juniper,

The homesite is coming at the perfect time. The Ezannos left their former home this winter, relocating to a temporary house through the end of May. “We’re just hoping that on June 1, we can move in,” she said.

Justin Bryant and Emma Kiley won homesite number eight, and Mrs. Ezanno didn’t hesitate to congratulate her new neighbor.

“I’m really psyched for you,” she called out to Mr. Bryant. “I’m good friends with Emma!”

Both homes were priced at $255,000.

The local preference was dropped for the next two houses, priced at $225,000 with an income restriction of 100 per cent of the area median income. George Drew and Chrissy Kinsman shared a hug in the front row of the meeting room when their names announced. The other winning couple was Paul Galligan and Emily Walsh.

It took a moment to track down Amanda Cohen to drop her ticket into the cardboard house and vie for the last remaining 250 State Road house, which would give preference to West Tisbury residents making within 80 per cent of the area median income. But she was finally located in the hallway dealing with cell phone issues, and she stuck her head in the doorway of the crowded room just in time to hear her name called out. Ms. Cohen was awarded her homesite at $175,000.

The process was swift — the homes were awarded within half an hour, leaving the group of smiling homesite winners to meet or congratulate their new neighbors. And it is a process that Island affordable housing entities hope to duplicate in the future. “We are continuing to work hard to open up more opportunities for more families in the future,” said Dukes Country Regional Housing Authority administrator Terry Keech at the lottery meeting.