PNE prize home made in Okanagan Falls

PENTICTON – An Okanagan Falls modular home manufacturer will get some serious advertising exposure when the Pacific National Exhibition opens this year in Vancouver.

Karoleena has been chosen to build this year’s PNE prize home. The 3,080 square foot, $ 2.1-million modular home was a six month project for the company. It took 30 days to assemble the home on-site. The pieces were manufactured at the Karoleena’s Okanagan Falls facility and trucked to the coast.

Co-founder Kris Goodjohn says the company had been in discussions with PNE for over a year.

“This will be huge for us. Vancouver is our target marketplace because it’s a higher end price point we’re in, and Vancouver’s definitely that market for us,” Goodjohn says, noting the Okanagan was also a focal market.

Goodjohn said there was a type of bidding process for the contract but added it wasn’t something that many companies could do.

"Britco did it for a long time, prior to us, but they don’t really do residential homes,” he says. “It was a good fit for our company, because that’s what we focus on, high-end residential homes.”

The home is made up of a series of modules built 12' 6" high and 16' wide. Even the roof panels are built in the factory. Karoleena’s homes feature steel frame construction, spray foam insulation and a unique, side laid two-by-four roof construction.

After the home is awarded and the PNE ends, it will be disassembled and trucked to Naramata where it will be reassembled for the winning ticket holder.

The company, formerly headquartered in Calgary, has been based in Okanagan Falls for three years, 

“It’s been fantastic, being here. Our employees come from Penticton, Kelowna, Osoyoos and Oliver, and we’ve always had the support and cooperation of local governments,” Goodjohn says.

Karoleena employs 30 people at the Okanagan Falls plant.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.