Thanks to an outpouring of public support, Spallumcheen's Historic O'Keefe Ranch has secured much-needed funds to preserve one of its most storied heritage buildings. 

The ranch's mansion, completed in 1896, has won the 2025 Next Great Save competition. 

The national competition is based on public votes, and this year 12 heritage buildings from across Canada were in the running. When voting closed on Thursday, April 17, the O'Keefe mansion had received the most support. 

The National Trust for Canada informed O'Keefe Ranch on Thursday that it had won the competition and the $50,000 cash prize given to first place. 

Dee Cristante, event specialist with O'Keefe, said she was overwhelmed with gratitude for those who cast their votes in support of the mansion.

The ranch held an event to rally the community around the mansion on Saturday, April 12. At that time, it had a roughly 7,200-vote lead over second place, the Tam Jung Temple in Victoria.

Second place in the competition earns $10,000 and third place receives $5,000. The Tam Jung Temple secured second place, and the Sharon Assembly Church in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia won third place.

Cristante said it was remarkable to see how many British Columbians rallied around the effort to protect, adapt, renew and improve historical places, given that the top two finalists were both from B.C.

The final vote counts do not currently appear on the Next Great Save . 

Construction on the O'Keefe Ranch mansion began in 1886. It was where Kathleen O'Keefe, granddaughter of ranch founder Cornelius O'Keefe, was raised. Kathleen was a special guest at Saturday's event at the ranch, when she encouraged everyone to vote in the competition to help preserve an important piece of North Okanagan history that was also an important part of her life. 

Winning the Next Great Save competition will help prolong the life of the centrepiece of the ranch. The mansion serves as a gathering place to relate stories of the arrival of colonists to the area, as well as of the history of the syilx people who helped the newcomers survive in the Okanagan in the 19th Century.

"With funding from the Next Great Save we can continue to educate visitors about our history in the context of Canadian society since 1867," reads the mansion's competition webpage. "By bringing the mansion up to a reasonable state of repair, we can add to the already rich experience of visitors to the Ranch. Safety and accessibility are important goals for the Society and by making the mansion more functional, we can host additional educational and cultural programs for the community."

The CEO of the National Trust for Canada will be visiting the ranch to discuss its plans for using the $50,000 to preserve the mansion, Cristante said.