By the early 1960s, Silvergate was taking shape in the hills west of San Ramon Village, in what is now west Dublin. Built by Tom Gentry Homes beginning in 1962, the new-home community would eventually contain about 400 homes—but its significance went beyond the houses themselves.
Silvergate helped bring the name Dublin back into the language of suburban development at a time when the area's identity was surprisingly complicated. The old crossroads settlement of Dublin still existed near Highway 21, where a church, post office, taverns, and a handful of businesses served the surrounding ranch country. But the region's booming new-home communities were being marketed under other names.
The most prominent was San Ramon Village, the enormous planned community developed by Volk-McLain across much of present-day Dublin and southern San Ramon. Through extensive advertising, its builders introduced thousands of Bay Area homebuyers to a place called San Ramon, even though no city by that name yet existed.
Where is Silvergate?
Silvergate forms part of west Dublin, near Shannon Community Center and St. Raymond's Church. The original subdivision includes Silvergate Drive, Peppertree Road, and Castilian Road.
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| Annotated aerial map of the Silvergate neighborhood in Dublin, California. Base imagery from Google Maps. |
Today, Silvergate is easy to identify on a map. In the early 1960s, however, even the broader area was difficult to name.
The problem was partly historical. The San Ramon name had long described the valley itself, tracing back to Rancho San Ramón, while the neighboring Amador Valley took its name from José María Amador. Dublin, meanwhile, remained associated with a much smaller crossroads settlement to the southwest.
As new-home communities spread across the valley floor, developers used different names to market the same general area. San Ramon Village was the most prominent example, but it was not the only one. For homebuyers, newspaper readers, and even mapmakers, the question of where one community ended and another began could be surprisingly difficult to answer.
Then Tom Gentry arrived.
In 1962, Gentry began developing Silvergate in the hills west of San Ramon Village. Unlike many developers working in the area, he deliberately marketed the new-home community as being in Dublin.
That decision helped give an old name a new suburban identity.
How San Ramon became the dominant name
Long before Silvergate was built, the region was part of Rancho San Ramón, a massive Mexican land grant awarded to José María Amador in 1834. For decades, this expanse of open hills and grassland stretched across what would eventually become parts of two counties—Contra Costa and Alameda.
The subdivision of the rancho and the creation of the county line added another layer of complexity. In 1852, Amador sold 10,000 acres of his rancho to Leo Norris in what would become Contra Costa County. Around the same time, he also sold a large portion to James Witt Dougherty—land that extended across what would soon become the county boundary. In 1853, Alameda County was carved out of Contra Costa County, cutting directly through the former Rancho San Ramón.
The result was a landscape in which the San Ramon name appeared in several geographic contexts. Maps and local records could identify portions of the original rancho by their owners or by the larger valley, while the small settlement that eventually became Dublin developed separately on the Dougherty portion of the land in Alameda County.
Meanwhile, a crossroads community was emerging near a church, cemetery, and post office. Though technically part of Rancho Santa Rita, the settlement became known as Dublin, thanks to its Irish settlers. The name never disappeared, but it remained attached primarily to this small rural community rather than the expanding suburban landscape around it.
That changed in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Developers began building large new-home communities across the valley, and San Ramon Village in particular promoted the San Ramon name to thousands of prospective buyers. The development eventually stretched across the area now divided between Dublin and San Ramon, reinforcing San Ramon as the dominant suburban identity even though neither city yet existed.
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| A 1904 map places Dublin at the crossroads of the Amador Valley, decades before suburban development transformed the landscape. |
Selling Dublin
By the late 1950s, developers like Volk-McLain were actively promoting nearby subdivisions under the San Ramon name, making that identity increasingly familiar to prospective homebuyers.
That changed in 1962 when developer Tom Gentry purchased approximately 250 acres of farmland west of San Ramon Village.
Rather than continuing to market the area as part of San Ramon, he revived the historic Dublin name and used it prominently in advertising for his new subdivision: Silvergate.
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| August 1964 Oakland Tribune ad—Silvergate advertisements promoted the Dublin name to Bay Area buyers at a time when much of the area was still marketed as San Ramon. |
At the time, this was a surprisingly bold marketing decision.
San Ramon had become closely associated with suburban growth in the Tri-Valley, while Dublin remained the name of a much smaller, unincorporated community. Through Silvergate's newspaper ads, maps, and promotional campaigns, Gentry helped establish Dublin as a name for the new suburban landscape as well.
In many ways, Silvergate helped put modern Dublin back on the map.
That effort, joined by neighboring developments such as Briarhill, helped reconnect the historic Dublin name with the area's suburban growth. By the end of the decade, Dublin was increasingly appearing alongside San Ramon as a distinct identity for the expanding community.
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| A map from the late 1960s shows the historic Dublin name just north over where it appeared in 1904, while the larger San Ramon Village development retained its original identity. |
Building Silvergate
Construction on Silvergate began in 1962, originally under the spelling “Silver Gate.”
Over the next six years, approximately 400 homes were built across gently winding hillside streets designed to follow the natural contours of the land. The community offered ranch-style homes, sweeping valley views, and the modern conveniences increasingly associated with 1960s suburban living.
The homes reflected classic California mid-century suburban design, featuring:
- Open floor plans
- Attached two-car garages
- Large picture windows
- Spacious backyards
- Indoor-outdoor living spaces
- Ranch-style architecture
- Valley and hillside views
Some homes even included in-ground swimming pools, reflecting the growing Southern California influence on suburban living during the 1960s.
Silvergate homes were priced above nearby developments such as San Ramon Village, but buyers were drawn to the neighborhood’s elevated setting, architectural quality, and stronger sense of identity.
Selling the dream
Silvergate advertisements sold more than floor plans and square footage. The neighborhood was presented as a modern lifestyle, with dramatic interiors, exposed beams, hillside views, and the promise of suburban sophistication.
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| December 1963 Oakland Tribune ad—she’s lost in the moment—and possibly the floor plan. With her hair as high as the beamed ceilings and a staircase to nowhere behind her, she arranges flowers like the Cold War isn’t happening. |
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| August 1967 Daily Review ad—encouraging you to indulge a whim or two, this joint ad for Silvergate and Oak Creek advertises lush wall-to-wall carpeting as a feature included at no extra cost. |
The “New Silvergate” expansion (1965)
Following the success of the original phases, Tom Gentry launched a second generation of homes in late 1965 known as “The New Silvergate.”
These newer homes embraced increasingly upscale suburban trends, featuring:
- Beamed ceilings
- Hardwood flooring
- Pecan wood breakfast bars
- Enhanced landscaping
- Built-in fencing
- Coaxial television cable
- Larger living areas
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| June 1966 ad for Silvergate in Dublin, promoting luxury "in the rolling foothills of Dublin.” These homes came fully featured with Pecan wood breakfast bars, Golden Oak hardwood floors, beamed ceilings, landscaped front lawns, fencing, and built-in coaxial TV cable—highlighting Tom Gentry's attention to modern comfort and suburban appeal. |
Wired for the future
Silvergate also became one of the first neighborhoods in the region to fully embrace cable television technology.
At a time when over-the-air television reception in the Tri-Valley was notoriously unreliable, Tom Gentry arranged for a master antenna system that delivered cable television service directly into Silvergate homes.
This was marketed as a major technological luxury during the mid-1960s.
For many residents, Silvergate represented not only architectural modernity, but technological modernity as well—a neighborhood literally wired for the future.
Legacy of Silvergate
Silvergate did not create Dublin. The historic name had survived for generations at the old crossroads. But at a moment when San Ramon appeared to be the region's emerging identity, Silvergate helped reconnect Dublin to the landscape of suburban growth.
By the time Dublin incorporated in 1982, the question had largely been settled.
Today, Silvergate survives not only as a collection of mid-century homes, but as one of the neighborhoods that helped determine what the city would become.
Exploring the original Silvergate today
Although the sales offices are long gone and the advertisements have faded, the original Silvergate model homes remain part of the neighborhood. These homes gave prospective buyers their first glimpse of Tom Gentry's vision for suburban living in 1962.
Today, they provide a tangible connection to Silvergate's earliest days. The guide below documents the original model home complexes, the homes themselves, and how they appear today.
Original advertised prices
- Dec. 1962 advertisement: From $18,800
- Dec. 1963 advertisement: $19,200 - $23,000
- Aug. 1964 advertisement: From $19,995 - $26,300
- Dec. 1965 advertisement (preview opening of the New Silvergate): From $21,950
- Jun. 1966 advertisement: $23,950 - $31,450
- Aug. 1967 advertisement: From $19,950
- 1968: $24,950 - $28,950
The first original model home complex (1962)
Silvergate's five original model homes were arranged on San Sabana Court around a temporary sales complex that welcomed prospective buyers during the neighborhood's grand opening in late 1962. While the sales office disappeared long ago, the model homes remain, allowing visitors to trace the neighborhood's beginnings more than fifty years later.
Although five models went up for display, six designs were available for purchase. Designed by architect Norm Dyer, AIA, the homes were sold in Units 1 through 5 of the development.
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| Annotated aerial map of the 1962 Silvergate model home complex on San Sabana Court. Base imagery from Apple Maps. |
Original model home designs
1. The Castilian - This model offered approximately 1,760 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
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| Original 1962 Castilian model today via Google Street View. |
2. The Plan 2 - This model offered approximately 1,940 square feet with up to 5 bedrooms and up to 2.5 bathrooms.
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| Original Plan 2 model today via Google Street View. |
3. The Casa Camino - This model offered approximately 2,035 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. Added in 1963, The Casa Camino became notable for introducing one of the region’s first Monterey Colonial-style elevations.
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| Original Casa Camino model today via Google Street View. |
4. The Plan 4 - This model offered approximately 1,416 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
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| Original Plan 4 model today via Google Street View. |
5. The Plan 5 - This model offered approximately 1,348 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
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| Original Plan 5 model today (with addition) via Google Street View. |
The second original model home complex (1965)
The second model complex opened at Castilian Road and Silvergate Drive in late 1965, with a grand opening held in January 1966. The second model complex initially opened with four homes and eventually expanded to seven models by the project’s end.
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| Annotated aerial map of the 1965 Silvergate model home complex on Castilian Road. Base imagery from Apple Maps. |
Original model home designs
1. The Plan 1 - This model offered approximately 1,432 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
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| Original 1965 Plan 1 model today via Google Street View. |
2. The Plan 2 - This model offered approximately 1,477 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
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| Original Plan 2 model today via Google Street View. |
3. The Plan 3 - This model offered approximately 1,522 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
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| Original Plan 3 model today (with addition) via Google Street View. |
4. The Castilian - This model offered approximately 1,760 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
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| Original Castilian model today via Google Street View. |
5. The Casa Camino - This model offered approximately 2,035 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms.
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| Original Casa Camino model today (with addition) via Google Street View. |
6. The San Antonio - This model offered approximately 1,623 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Added in November 1967.
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| Original San Antonio model today via Google Street View. |
7. The Plan 7 - This model offered approximately 1,499 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Added in 1967.
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| Original Plan 7 model today via Google Street View. |
Collection
Dublin — the neighborhoods that built a new city
This collection explores the new-home communities, builders, and neighborhoods that shaped Dublin during its principle years of suburban growth that gradually became the modern city.
Continue exploring
- Briarhill — Dublin’s first luxury suburb
- San Ramon Village by Volk-McLain — the beginning of a new-home formula (1960)
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