Glenmore.

How Glenmore took shape

Glenmore was once called Dry Valley, and its flats were nicknamed Starvation Flats until irrigation turned them into orchards in the early 1900s. It became its own municipality in 1922, gave up its charter in 1960 when its southern part joined Kelowna, and the rest followed in 1973. Much of the older housing dates from 1960s subdivisions, with newer homes toward North Glenmore.

The broad valley north of downtown Kelowna had a blunt early name: Dry Valley. Settlers knew the land around today's Glenmore Road as Starvation Flats, a name that hints at how dry it was before irrigation. That changed with irrigation. The first water licence in the valley dates to 1885, and in the early 1900s the Central Okanagan Land and Orchards Company brought in water and subdivided the valley for orchards. In 1907 the company built a five mile ditch from Kelowna Creek. Private water schemes struggled after the First World War, and in 1921 the Glenmore Irrigation District received its letters patent. A year later, in 1922, Glenmore incorporated as its own municipality.

In 1960 the municipality agreed to unincorporate, and its southern properties, including the Kelowna Golf Club and the cemetery, joined the city. Suburban streets arrived through the 1960s in the part now called Old Glenmore, and in 1973 the rest of Glenmore was amalgamated into a greater Kelowna along with Rutland and Okanagan Mission. Since then the valley has filled with crescents of family homes, schools and parks, and newer townhomes have spread north toward the landfill and North Glenmore. The irrigation district, later the Glenmore Ellison Improvement District, began joining the City water utility in January 2025. In August 2023 the Walroy Lake fire, sparked by McDougall Creek embers, destroyed three homes along Glenmore Road near the landfill. The valley floor is also gaining a hub: ground was broken in April 2026 on the Glenmore Activity Centre, with a gym and library branch due in winter 2027.

The homes & their setting

Old Glenmore streets date mainly from 1960s subdivisions, with split levels and ranchers on quiet crescents. Housing gets newer heading north, with 1990s and later family homes and more townhomes and low rise condos toward North Glenmore. A mix of freehold houses and strata townhomes.

Building age, tenure, amenities and permitted uses vary by address. Explore the actual property documents with Elaine and the appropriate specialists.