In the early 1960s, Brighton Circle was one of several Volk-McLain new-home communities built within the larger San Ramon Village development in what is now Dublin, California. Opened in 1962, the 527-home community followed Volk-McLain's first San Ramon Village homes and was followed the next year by Glenoaks.
The names can be confusing today because Brighton Circle, San Ramon Village, and Glenoaks were marketed as distinct new-home communities, yet they were closely connected in both planning and design. Volk-McLain carried the same five basic Raymond Dean Conwell, AIA-designed floor plans through all three developments, adapting exterior details, prices, and marketing as construction progressed from 1960 into 1963. Today, the areas are generally understood as part of the larger San Ramon Village neighborhood, while the individual names survive mostly in property records, historical advertisements, and the memories of some longtime residents.
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| Daily Review, July 1, 1962—Brighton Circle's grand opening featured eight new model homes and advertised homeownership for as little as $295 down. |
A new name for a familiar formula
When Volk-McLain opened the Brighton Circle model complex in June 1962, the company was not starting from scratch. Brighton Circle extended a homebuilding program already underway in San Ramon Village, with the same basic floor plans continuing into a new phase of construction.
The five core house designs had been developed by architect Raymond Dean Conwell, AIA, and were carried forward from the earlier San Ramon Village homes. The houses could look different from one another—and advertisements emphasized new elevations, finishes, and features—but the underlying plans remained remarkably consistent.
That continuity is easier to see today than it was in the newspaper advertisements. Homes built in the San Ramon Village, Brighton Circle, and Glenoaks areas share the same basic dimensions and floor plans, even as the developments were given different names and marketed at different times. What appears in the historical record as a series of separate new-home communities was, in physical terms, a remarkably continuous building program.
Selling the dream
Volk-McLain envisioned Brighton Circle as more than simply a housing subdivision. The development was designed as a complete suburban environment centered around family life.
The neighborhood incorporated two elementary schools intended to double as open recreational space for residents. The concept reflected a practical, community-focused approach to suburban planning common during the postwar boom years.
Architect Raymond Dean Conwell, AIA, helped give the neighborhood visual variety through multiple exterior treatments and subtle design changes. Homes featured:
- Colonial-inspired styling
- Cape Cod influences
- Extended gable roofs
- Decorative shutters
- Large picture windows
- X-brace timber detailing
- Low-pitched rooflines
Buyers responded immediately. More than 50 homes reportedly sold during the neighborhood’s opening week alone.
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| 1962 Oakland Tribune—the power lines tower overhead, a reminder that in 1962, utility infrastructure hadn’t yet gone underground. But there’s a bit of design grace at play: they ran through backyards, preserving the picture-perfect curb appeal out front. |
Although this was a continuation of Volk-McLain’s earlier development, Brighton Circle advertisements emphasized the overall planned area as being a “completely new, modern, and safe community.”
The irony is that the advertisements worked hard to make Brighton Circle look distinctive, while the houses themselves reveal how closely the development remained tied to Volk-McLain's earlier San Ramon Village program.
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| 1963 Oakland Tribune ad—a subtle example of how tract home advertising often walked a tightrope between truth and aspiration. Call it suburban stagecraft. |
Legacy of Brighton Circle
The Brighton Circle model homes were put up for sale in February 1964, closing another chapter in Volk-McLain's early San Ramon Village building program.
The name itself has largely disappeared from everyday use. Today, Brighton Circle is generally understood as part of the larger San Ramon Village neighborhood, and many residents would have little reason to distinguish it from the surrounding areas. Property records may preserve the old subdivision name, but the neighborhood experienced by residents is continuous.
That continuity was built into the homes themselves. The same five basic floor plans appeared across Volk-McLain's San Ramon Village, Brighton Circle, and Glenoaks communities between 1960 and 1963. The names changed. The elevations and details changed. The prices and sales pitches changed. But the underlying houses remained remarkably consistent.
In that sense, Brighton Circle was both a neighborhood with its own name and part of something larger: Volk-McLain's evolving vision for San Ramon Village.
Exploring the original Brighton Circle today
Although the sales office is long gone and the advertisements have faded, the original Brighton Circle's model homes remain part of the neighborhood. These homes gave prospective buyers their first glimpse of Volk-McLain's vision for suburban living in 1962.
Today, they provide a tangible connection to Brighton Circle's earliest days. The guide below documents the original model home complex, the homes themselves, and how they appear today.
Original advertised prices
- Jul. 1962 advertisement: From $14,995
- Jul. 1963 advertisement: Volk-McLain switched to advertising only the downpayment needed to buy a new home, $195.
- Feb. 1964 advertisement: From $14,995
Original model home complex
A sales complex along the south side of Sutton Lane served as the neighborhood’s model home center and introduced buyers to eight decorated showcase homes.
Although Volk-McLain primarily relied on five underlying floor plans—Plans D, E, J, L, and M—the builder cleverly used alternate exterior elevations and styling packages to create the appearance of greater variety.
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| Annotated aerial map of the Brighton Circle model home complex on Sutton Lane. Base imagery from Apple Maps. |
Original model home designs
1. The Danville (Plan J-1) - This model offered approximately 1,338 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
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| Original Danville model today (remodeled) via Google Street View. |
2. The Plantation (Plan L-7) - This model offered approximately 1,475 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
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| Original Plantation model today (remodeled via Google Street View. |
3. The Nantucket (Plan M-4) - This model offered approximately 1,424 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
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| Original Nantucket model today via Google Street View. |
4. The Santa Barbara (Plan D) - This model offered approximately 1,000 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Later renamed The New Haven.
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| Original Santa Barbara model today via Google Street View. Note original garage door. |
5. The Colonial (Plan J-3) - This model offered approximately 1,345 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
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| Original Colonial model today via Google Street View. |
6. The Louisiana (Plan E-7) - This model offered approximately 1,100 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
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7. The Monterey (Plan M-1) - This model offered approximately 1,424 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
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| Original Monterey model today via Google Street View. |
8. The Providence (Plan E-?) - This model offered approximately 1,116 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
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| Original Providence model today via Google Street View. |
Collections
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.
The San Ramon Village collection explores the master-planned community that transformed former ranches and orchards into today's Dublin and South San Ramon. Although the name has largely disappeared, the neighborhoods, subdivisions, schools, parks, and shopping centers built as part of the original plan continue to shape the Tri-Valley.
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