A carriage home is a self-contained second house built on the same lot as your main home — with its own entrance, kitchen, bathroom and living space. It stands separate from the main house rather than being carved out of it, which is what makes it a carriage home rather than a secondary suite.
People build them for three reasons, usually in this order: somewhere for family to live close but independent, rental income, or a workspace that isn’t the spare bedroom.
If you own a lot in Kelowna or West Kelowna and you’ve wondered whether you could put one at the back, this covers what’s actually allowed, what it involves, and how to tell early whether your property qualifies.
Carriage home, secondary suite, laneway house — what’s the difference?
These get used interchangeably and they aren’t the same thing. The distinction matters because it changes what you’re allowed to build.
Carriage home — a detached second dwelling on your lot. Separate building, separate entrance, full kitchen and bathroom. Often sits over a garage, which is where the name comes from.
Secondary suite — a self-contained unit inside the existing house. Basement suite, in-law suite. It shares the building envelope with the main home.
Laneway house — the same idea as a carriage home, but the term is used where the lot backs onto a lane and the unit fronts it. Common in Vancouver, less so here.
The rule that catches people out: in Kelowna, a property can have either one secondary suite or one carriage home in addition to the main house — not both. If you already have a basement suite, that changes the conversation before it starts.
Carriage home rules in Kelowna
The City of Kelowna permits carriage homes in specific zones: RU1 through RU5, plus A1, A2, RR1 and RR2. If your lot isn’t in one of those, the answer is no before anything else is discussed.
From the City’s carriage house requirements, the key constraints are:
- Maximum floor area — 100 m² for a single storey, 90 m² for two storeys
- Upper storey limit — the second floor can be no more than 70% of the building’s footprint
- Maximum height — 5.7 m in standard zones
- Parking — one stall required for the carriage home
- Driveway — only one access to the property, 6.0 m maximum width
- Access — a hard-surfaced, lit pathway at least 1.1 m wide to the entrance
- Cannot be stratified — you can’t subdivide it and sell it separately
That 90–100 m² ceiling is roughly 970–1,075 sq ft. Enough for two bedrooms if the layout is disciplined. It is not enough for a sprawling floor plan, and the 70% upper-storey rule shapes the design more than most people expect.
Confirm before you commit: Kelowna’s zoning bylaw has been amended since these figures were published, and BC’s provincial housing legislation has changed what municipalities must permit. Always confirm current numbers against your specific lot with the City before making decisions.
Carriage home rules in West Kelowna
West Kelowna runs a different bylaw, and the differences are significant enough that Kelowna figures will mislead you.
Under West Kelowna’s Zoning Bylaw No. 0320, carriage homes are permitted in RC1, RC2, RC3, R1, R1L and RP1 zones.
- Maximum height — 8.0 m (26.2 ft), notably taller than Kelowna’s 5.7 m
- One per parcel — across all permitted zones
- Minimum parcel size varies by zone:
- RC1, RC2, RC3 — 325 m²
- R1 and RP1 — 550 m²
- R1L — 2,500 m²
- Setbacks vary by zone; in RC1, 3.5 m from the front boundary and 1.5 m from interior sides
That extra height matters. It’s the difference between a cramped upper floor and a genuinely liveable second storey, and it’s the single biggest reason a West Kelowna carriage home can feel like a real house rather than a bonus room.
Will my lot actually work?
Zoning is the first gate, but it isn’t the only one. Before drawings, four things decide it:
Zone. Is your lot in a permitted zone? This is a five-minute check and it settles most enquiries.
Buildable area after setbacks. Your lot size is not your building area. Once front, side and rear setbacks are subtracted — plus the separation required from the main house — the remaining footprint is often smaller than owners expect.
Servicing. Water, sewer and power have to reach the new building. If the existing service can’t carry a second dwelling, an upgrade lands on the budget early and it isn’t small.
Access and parking. You need a compliant path to the door and a parking stall, within a single driveway. On narrow or steeply sloped lots — common enough in West Kelowna — this is frequently the constraint that decides the whole project.
Grade is the quiet one. A sloped lot can either give you a walk-out lower level for free or add substantial excavation and retaining cost. That’s usually clear from a site visit long before it’s clear from a drawing.
What does a carriage home cost, and what can it earn?
Costs move with site conditions, servicing, finish level and how much rock is under your lot. A flat lot with services at the property line and a straightforward design sits at one end. A sloped lot needing excavation, retaining and a service upgrade sits well past the other.
The honest answer is that anyone quoting you a firm price without seeing your lot is guessing.
What’s worth understanding is the shape of the cost:
- Site and servicing — highly variable, and the biggest source of nasty surprises
- The build itself — reasonably predictable once the design is fixed
- Permits and design — smaller, but they come first and they take time
On the income side, a detached unit with its own entrance and no shared walls rents at a premium over a basement suite. It’s the privacy people pay for.
Be careful with the return-on-investment maths you’ll find online. Claims about guaranteed appraisal increases or fixed payback periods depend entirely on your lot, your build cost and the rental market at the time. Talk to an appraiser and an accountant about the numbers rather than a builder’s blog — including this one.
How the build actually runs
A carriage home is a complete house at small scale. Foundation, framing, envelope, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, finishing — every trade a full build needs, compressed into under 1,100 square feet. The sequencing is tighter than a large build, not looser, and mistakes are harder to hide.
The stages that decide whether it goes well:
- Zoning and feasibility — before you spend money on design
- Design within the constraints — the size caps and the upper-storey rule shape the plan
- Permit application — timelines vary between the two municipalities
- Site prep and servicing — the stage where budgets move
- Build and inspections
- Final occupancy approval
Building a carriage home in Kelowna or West Kelowna
At DeGroot Custom Homes, I’m a Red Seal certified carpenter and I’m on site personally at the stages that can’t be undone — foundation, framing, envelope. Not managing from a truck.
You get a fixed price before we start, a guaranteed move-in date, and daily photo logs so you can see what happened on your lot without phoning to ask.
We’re based on Thacker Drive in West Kelowna and we build on both sides of the bridge, so we work with both bylaws regularly rather than learning one of them on your project.
If you’re wondering whether your lot qualifies, the zoning check is quick and it costs you nothing. Call (250) 258-9701 or book a consultation and we’ll tell you straight — including if the answer is no.
Bylaw requirements change. The figures here reflect published City of Kelowna and City of West Kelowna requirements at time of writing and are a starting point, not a substitute for confirming your specific property with the City.