Published June 2, 2025
The Ecco Park tract housing development in Dublin represented the final phase of homebuilding during the San Ramon Village era. Opening just after Volk-McLain left homebuilding in the planned community, Ecco Park introduced a very different vision of suburban life.
Built between 1965 and 1969 by Proud Homes, the development combined aggressive financing, theatrical model-home features, and unusually heavy branding into one of the area’s largest postwar tract developments.
Ecco Park continued expanding during the tight-money years of 1966 and 1967. At buildout, Ecco Park included nearly 650 homes—and had everything from wet bars and oversized garages to the infamous “Sun-Ray” bathroom window built directly into the shower.
Mapping Ecco Park
Ecco Park was built south of Amador Valley Boulevard in a neighborhood that is shared with the Appletree housing tract in Dublin. Familiar street names include York Drive, Lancaster Road, Maple Drive, and Penn Drive. At the center sits Wells Middle School.
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| Annotated aerial map of the Ecco Park tract in Dublin, California. Base imagery from Apple Maps. |
Ecco Park opens in 1965
Proud Homes celebrated the grand opening of Ecco Park on August 29, 1965, with home prices starting at $17,950. The lots were smaller—under 6,000 sq. ft.—but what they lacked in land, they made up for in flair.
Proud Homes wasn’t just building homes—it was building a lifestyle. One with sunken family rooms, oversized garages, acoustical ceilings (the infamous “popcorn”), cultured-marble vanities, and Redwood fencing that offered privacy from every angle—well, almost every angle.
Proud Homes marketed Ecco Park aggressively during the housing slowdown of the late 1960s. While neighboring housing tracts like Redwing Valley and Villa de San Ramon struggled, Proud Homes continued expanding—sometimes by purchasing the neighboring projects outright.
Proud Homes also favored unusually theatrical subdivision names. Elsewhere in the Bay Area, Proud Homes developments carried names like “Yum Yum” and “Ooh La La.”
Ecco Park homes and architectural style
When Proud Homes introduced Ecco Park in 1965, 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 Dublin.
The original Ecco Park models
The original model homes provide a useful cross-section of Ecco Park's architecture. Proud Homes selected four models for the 1965 opening on Amador Valley Boulevard, with a fifth model arriving in 1966, and two more in 1967. Although buyers could choose among different elevations and options, these models document the versions Proud Homes chose to put on display.
The Newcastle
This model offered approximately 1,464 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
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| Original Newcastle model today via Google Street View. |
The Newport
This model offered approximately 1,602 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
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| Original Newport model today via Google Street View. |
The Coronado
This model offered approximately 1,268 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
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| Original Coronado model today via Google Street View. |
The Bayview
This model offered approximately 1,060 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
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| Original Bayview model today via Google Street View. |
The Laguna
This model offered approximately 1,830 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. Added in 1966.
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| Original Laguna model today via Google Street View. |
The Balboa
This two-story model offered approximately 1,620 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. Added in 1967.
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| Original Balboa model today via Google Street View. |
The El Dorado
This model offered approximately 1,257 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Added in 1967.
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| Original El Dorado model today via Google Street View. |
Marketing Ecco Park
Ecco Park's homes were less about floor plans than staged suburban life. Newspaper ads showed children acting as homemakers, outdoor entertaining spaces, theatrical bathrooms, and carefully choreographed domestic scenes. Marketing materials positioned homeownership as a curated version of middle-class life.
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| Oakland Tribune August 1965—Ecco Park made a splashy debut, selling 40 homes in just 14 days. It wasn’t just affordable—it had flair. |
Select models in Ecco Park came equipped with the "Sun-Ray" bathroom, a full-length window right in the shower. The intent remains unclear—natural light, architectural drama, or something closer to suburban exhibitionism.
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| April 1966 Oakland Tribune—The infamous "Sun-Ray" bathroom—natural light or neighborhood theater? |
Legacy of Ecco Park
Today, Ecco Park still stands out within Dublin’s early suburban landscape. The tract’s compact lots, dramatic model variations, and unmistakably mid-1960s design choices remain surprisingly intact.
And while most tract developments sold buyers on practicality alone, Ecco Park added something else: spectacle.
Remarkably, Ecco Park is the only original San Ramon Village-era housing tract in Dublin to have a lasting identity, or at least close: Echo Park.
Even by Tri-Valley tract housing standards, Proud Homes’ community seemed determined to make suburban life feel a little more theatrical.
Collection
Dublin — the making of a suburban city
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