Upper Mission.

How Upper Mission took shape

Upper Mission is the hillside half of Kelowna's Okanagan Mission, a name that took hold after the district joined the city in 1973. Built mostly from the 1980s on, its view neighbourhoods include Kettle Valley, The Ponds and Crawford Estates. The 2003 Okanagan Mountain Park fire burned homes across it, and the area has since rebuilt and filled in.

The benches above Lakeshore Road climb toward Okanagan Mountain, which became a provincial park in 1973, the same year Okanagan Mission joined Kelowna. For most of the district's history, people lived below on the lakeside delta, and the terraces above were only built up in recent decades. Homes here date mainly from the 1980s to today, on lots of roughly a quarter acre to more than an acre, many angled for lake views. As the hills filled in, locals started calling this area the Upper Mission to set it apart from the flat Lower Mission. Several planned pockets gave the area its shape. Kettle Valley was planned from the mid 1990s as a walkable village, The Ponds grew around a park and a village centre on Frost Road, and Crawford Estates spread across a terrace of large lots. Southridge, Okaview and Timberline each have their own character.

The defining event came in August 2003. Lightning started a fire in Okanagan Mountain Park on August 16, and on August 22 strong winds pushed it into the suburbs. Homes burned in Crawford Estates, Kettle Valley, Viewcrest, Okaview, Chute Lake, Barnaby, Timberline, Rimrock Road and along Lakeshore Road. Across the city, 239 homes were destroyed and about 27,000 people were evacuated, but no lives were lost. The provincial park reopened in 2005. Neighbourhoods rebuilt, Quilchena Park in Kettle Valley was remade, and Canyon Falls Middle School opened in 2019 after local schools became crowded.

The homes & their setting

Mainly 1980s to present: hillside view homes, walkout ranchers and executive custom homes on lots of about 0.25 to more than 1 acre, plus newer townhomes and some bare land strata. Many homes on burned streets were rebuilt after 2003.

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

Places with a story

• Okanagan Mountain Provincial Park — Established in 1973 on the mountain above the Upper Mission; most of it burned in 2003 and it reopened in 2005. History source