The Rise.

How The Rise took shape

The Rise is a golf and resort neighbourhood on 735 acres of the Bella Vista highlands west of Vernon, once part of the O'Keefe and Greenhow ranch lands. Planned under the 2004 Okanagan Hills Neighbourhood Plan for up to 1,210 units, it opened its Fred Couples and Gene Bates course in 2008 and is still building out.

The high benchland above Bella Vista was ranch country long before golf. Vernon's planning documents describe it as originally part of the O'Keefe and Greenhow ranch lands. The O'Keefe name recalls Cornelius O'Keefe, who set up his ranch at the head of Okanagan Lake in 1867. The site borders Okanagan Indian Reserve No. 1 to the north and west. The modern community took shape in the late 1990s and early 2000s. 5 km west of the city centre. It set an ultimate yield of 1,210 homes and resort units around an 18 hole championship course, and it kept about 53 percent of the land, some 156 hectares, as parks and open space.

Roads, utilities and intersection upgrades went in between 2004 and 2007. The golf course, the first Fred Couples signature course in Western Canada, began play in 2008 about 400 m above the lake. Its signature par 3 15th drops about 100 feet from tee to green, and Moose Pond guards the 12th. Homes followed in named phases such as Clearview, Sagecroft, Watermark, The Ledge, The Vines and Vista Villas. Over time ownership split: an investor group kept the residential lands, while the golf club came under separate owners. Growth has been slower than first planned. A December 2024 city report counted about 170 homes on roughly 280 registered lots, and a spa proposed at 8800 Rising View Way was working through OCP and zoning changes. Buyers here should expect steep, south facing slopes, wildfire interface rules and design guidelines that differ from phase to phase.

1. 1867Cornelius O'Keefe establishes his ranch at the head of Okanagan Lake. Source
2. 2004Okanagan Hills Neighbourhood Plan adopted in March for 735 acres and up to 1,210 units. Source

The homes & their setting

Built mainly since about 2007: golf course and lake view homes, villa and rancher style strata homes and custom estates, in phases such as Clearview, Sagecroft, Sagecroft Villas, Watermark, The Ledge, The Vines and Vista Villas. Many phases are strata with their own guidelines. About 170 homes stood on roughly 280 registered lots as of December 2024.

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