The Ecco Park new-home community in Dublin represented the final major phase of San Ramon Village's development, arrived after Volk-McLain left homebuilding, introducing a very different vision of suburban life.
Built between 1965 and 1969 by Hy Weisel’s Proud Homes, the community combined small lots, 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.
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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. |
Where is Ecco Park?
Located south of Amador Valley Boulevard, Ecco Park sits in an large neighborhood that is shared with the Appletree community 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 subdivision 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.
Hy Weisel wasn’t just building homes—he 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 subdivisions like Redwing Valley and Villa de San Ramon struggled, Proud Homes continued expanding—sometimes by purchasing the neighboring projects outright.
Weisel also favored unusually theatrical subdivision names. Elsewhere in the Bay Area, Proud Homes developments carried names like “Yum Yum” and “Ooh La La.”
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| August 1969 The Argus—Hy Weisel, the showman behind Ecco Park—and other eyebrow-raising developments. |
Selling the dream
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.
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? |
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| January 1967 Oakland Tribune—A proper party starter: the family room wet bar in the Laguna model. |
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| May 1967 Oakland Tribune—the show often stared children playing adults in staged photos. Five-year old Tracy Richards plays the "little lady," and shows off features aimed at the woman of the house: linen cabinets, formal dining room, and the safety-glass shower. |
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| August 1967 Oakland Tribune—Another staged photo with a little girl as she pours tea and prepares to serve. Enabled entirely through a large window that opens to the outside in the garden kitchen. |
Legacy of Ecco Park
Today, Ecco Park still stands out within Dublin’s early suburban landscape. The neighborhood’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 subdivision in Dublin to have a lasting identity, or at least close: Echo Park.
Even by Tri-Valley tract housing standards, Hy Weisel’s subdivision seemed determined to make suburban life feel a little more theatrical.
Exploring the original Ecco Park today
Although the sales office is long gone and the advertisements have faded, the original Ecco Park model homes remain part of the neighborhood. These homes gave prospective buyers their first glimpse of Weisel's vision for suburban living in 1965.
Today, they provide a tangible connection to Ecco Park's earliest days. The guide below documents the original model home complex, the homes themselves, and how they appear today.
Original advertised prices
- 1965: $17,950 - $20,950
- 1966: From $20,250
- 1967: $19,450 - $25,250
- 1968: $23,000 - $26.925
- 1969: $24,950 - $29,450
Original model home complex
Ecco Park's seven original model homes were arranged on Amador Valley Boulevard around a temporary sales complex that welcomed prospective buyers during the neighborhood's grand opening in 1965. While the sales office disappeared long ago, the model homes remain, allowing visitors to trace the neighborhood's beginnings more than fifty years later.
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| Annotated aerial map of the original Ecco Park model home complex on Amador Valley Boulevard. Base imagery from Apple Maps. |
Original model home designs
1. 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. |
2. 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. |
3. 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. |
4. 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. |
5. 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. |
6. The Balboa - This 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. |
7. 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. |
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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