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Easy Street, Pleasanton: Standard-Pacific's 1972 housing tract

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Published June 25, 2025

Current appearance of the original Cypress home in Pleasanton's Easy Street tract in Del Prado.

As an infill development in Pleasanton’s Del Prado neighborhood, Standard-Pacific Corporation built a collection of 3- and 4-bedroom homes under the names Easy Street, and later, Pleasant Meadows.

Approximately 113 homes (6 duets) were built between 1972 and 1976.

Mapping Easy Street

Easy Street was built in the Del Prado neighborhood, mostly along Hansen Drive.

Annotated aerial map showing the boundaries of the Easy Street and Pleasant Meadows tracts in the Del Prado neighborhood in Pleasanton.
Annotated aerial map of the Standard Pacific homes in the Del Prado neighborhood in Pleasanton, California. Base imagery from Google Maps.

Easy Street homes and architectural style

When Standard-Pacific introduced Easy Street in 1972, prospective buyers encountered the housing tract through its model homes. The models showcased the different designs, floor plans, and lifestyles the builder was offering to buyers in Pleasanton.

The original Easy Street models

The original model homes provide a useful cross-section of Easy Street's architecture. Standard-Pacific presented four models in a sales complex on Hansen Drive, offering buyers a range of house sizes, floor plans, and architectural styles. Together, the models document the different designs Standard-Pacific chose to put on display when the tract opened in 1972.

The Cedar

This model offered approximately 1,400 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.

Current appearance of the original Cedar home in Pleasanton's Easy Street tract in Del Prado.
Original Cedar model today, once used as the sales office, via Google Street View.

The Maple

This model offered approximately 1,520 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.

Current appearance of the original Maple home in Pleasanton's Easy Street tract in Del Prado.
Original Maple model today via Google Street View.

The Cypress

This model offered approximately 1,652 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.

A July 1972 Oakland Tribune artist's rendering of the exterior of the Cypress model at Pleasanton's Easy Street.
From a July 1972 Oakland Tribune ad—an artist's rendering of one of elevations available for the Cypress model during Easy Street's preview sale.

A July 1972 Contra Costa Times artist's rendering of Cypress model at Easy Street in Pleasanton with its unique roof and modern design.
From a July 1972 Contra Costa Times ad—an artist's rendering of another Cypress model elevation with its unique roof design.

Current appearance of the original Cypress home in Pleasanton's Easy Street tract in Del Prado.
Original Cypress model today via Google Street View.

The Elm

This model offered approximately 1,527 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.

Current appearance of the original Elm home in Pleasanton's Easy Street tract in Del Prado.
Original Elm model today via Google Street View.

Marketing Easy Street

The first preview opening came in June 1972, with four model homes on Hansen Drive near Hopyard Road. The model homes were left unfurnished. Standard-Pacific claimed this would help buyers better imagine their own furniture inside. A surprising strategy, especially considering how essential staging is in modern home sales. That year, 19 homes were built and sold before Pleasanton’s housing moratorium took effect—an early success.

Vintage newspaper ad from July 1974 promoting the launch of Easy Street, a new housing tract in Pleasanton. The ad features bold typography and marketing slogans like “the new home community with everything going for it,” along with pricing for four home plans ranging from $42,490 to $45,490. A snapshot of 1970s suburban real estate advertising.
A July 1974 advertisement announces the grand opening of Easy Street, a new housing tract in Pleasanton's Del Prado neighborhood. Promoted as “the new home community with everything going for it,” the ad highlights four distinct home designs priced from $42,490 to $45,490—reflecting the era’s optimism and suburban growth.

A second phase followed in late 1973, with 37 additional homes.

Sales were sluggish due to high interest rates, and by 1975, Standard-Pacific began offering discounts up to $3,000 to attract buyers.

Vintage newspaper ad from April 1975 promoting a builder’s inventory reduction sale, offering up to $3,000 off new homes and advertising 7¾% conventional financing. The ad reflects the economic slowdown of the era, with sluggish home sales prompting aggressive marketing and discount strategies.
An April 1975 advertisement announces a builder’s inventory reduction sale in response to a slowing housing market. With up to $3,000 in price reductions and new 7¾% conventional financing, the ad reflects the economic uncertainty of the mid-1970s and the challenges builders faced in selling new homes.

Legacy of Easy Street

Easy Street represents one of the later phases of development around the original Mackay and Ditz-Crane tracts. By the mid-1970s, those earlier tracts were largely complete, and Standard Pacific turned its attention to the remaining open parcels in the Del Prado area.

The result was a new generation of smaller housing tracts, including Easy Street and Pleasant Meadows, reflecting the changing market and development patterns of the era. Together, these developments marked the transition from Del Prado’s original large-scale tracts to the smaller infill projects that followed.

Much of the surrounding land remained undeveloped until the mid-1980s, when communities like Country Fair began filling in the remaining open space. The Del Prado area reached its final form in the late 1990s, with smaller infill projects near Hansen Park and along Hopyard Road completing the neighborhood.

Collection

Pleasanton — building a suburban city

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