Published June 19, 2025
Built in 1960–61 by Volk-McLain Communities, San Ramon Village was the first housing tract developed within the larger San Ramon Village planned community in what is now Dublin, California. The tract consisted of mass-produced houses offered in a range of floor plans and exterior designs.
Designed by architect Raymond Dean Conwell, the homes paired standardized house plans with different architectural treatments, creating visual variety across the tract.
Mapping San Ramon Village
San Ramon Village was located between Alcosta Boulevard and Amador Valley Road in what is now Dublin. The original housing tract occupied the first residential section of the larger San Ramon Village planned community.
 |
| Annotated aerial map of the San Ramon Village housing tract built by Volk-McLain in Dublin, California. Image via Apple Maps. |
San Ramon Village homes and architectural style
When Volk-McLain introduced San Ramon Village in 1960, 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 San Ramon Village home designs
The original model homes provide a useful cross-section of San Ramon Village's architecture. Volk-McLain initially selected eight models for the 1960 opening on Hillrose Drive, with four more opening soon after. Although buyers could choose among different elevations and options, these models document the versions Volk-McLain chose to put on display.
Volk-McLain relied on five underlying floor plans—plans D, E, J, L, and M—then named exterior elevations to create the appearance of greater variety. Exterior styles were described in advertising as Cape Cod, Colonial, Ranch, Tropical Modern, or Contemporary.
The Bel Aire (Plan J-5)
A “Contemporary” elevation of the Plan J with approximately 1,340 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. A decorative screen wall extended the front gable and was made of concrete block.
 |
| Original Bel Aire model today (re-sided) via Google Street View. |
The Ranchero (Plan E-?)
A “Ranch” elevation of the Plan E with approximately 1,116 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
 |
| Original Ranchero model today via Google Street View. |
The Hacienda (Plan D-1)
A “Ranch” elevation of the Plan D with approximately 1,038 square feet, 3 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms. Exterior styling contains many Rustic Ranch elements, including board-and-batten siding, minimal masonry, shutters, and diamond-pane window coverings. Storybook details are seen in scalloped bargeboards and planter boxes.
 |
| 1960 San Francisco Chronicle ad—the Hacienda with its diamond-pane window coverings and scalloped bargeboard. |
|
| Original Hacienda model today via Google Street View. |
The Farmhouse (Plan E-7)
A “Ranch” elevation of the Plan E with approximately 1,116 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The gambrel roof over the garage suggested a barn and comes from Dutch colonial homes.
 |
| Original Farmhouse model today via Google Street View. |
The Cape Cod (Plan J-3)
A “Cape Cod” elevation of the Plan J with approximately 1,340 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
 |
| Original Cape Cod model today via Google Street View. |
The Mount Vernon (Plan E-?)
This model offered approximately 1,100 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
 |
| Original Mount Vernon model today (remodeled) via Google Street View. |
The Waikiki (Plan D-?)
A “Tropical Modern” elevation of the Plan D with approximately 1,038 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Exterior styling contains many Asian-inspired elements, including gable-on-hip roof, decorative wood screen over one front window, and regularly spaced trim boards dividing walls and the garage door into vertical panels.
 |
| 1960 Oakland Tribune ad—the original Waikiki model in all its tropical modern glory. |
 |
| Original Waikiki model today via Google Street View. |
The New Orleans (Plan E-7)
A “Colonial” elevation of the Plan E with approximately 1,100 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Exterior of stucco, adorned with decorative ironwork, and extra-long front window suggested a French colonial inspiration.
 |
| 1961 Oakland Tribune ad—artist's rendering of the New Orleans elevation. |
 |
| Original New Orleans model today via Google Street View. Completely renovated. |
Alternative Cape Cod elevation, The New England (E-8), but it wasn't shown in the model complex. Exterior clad in stucco, minimal masonry, and shutters.
 |
| The New England design in its heyday. |
The Westerner (Plan J-?)
A “Ranch” elevation of the Plan J with approximately 1,340 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Exterior styling contains Rustic Ranch elements.
 |
| Original Westerner model today via Google Street View. |
The San Ramon (Plan M-1)
A “Ranch” elevation of the Plan M with approximately 1,424 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
 |
| Original San Ramon model today via Google Street View. |
Alternative Contemporary elevation, The Palm Springs (M-5), but it wasn't shown in the model complex.
 |
| The Palm Springs design with a decorative concrete-block screen wall extending from the garage. |
The Southerner (Plan L-7)
A “Colonial” elevation of the Plan L with approximately 1,475 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
 |
| Original Southerner model today via Google Street View. Completely renovated. |
The Suburban (Plan L-1)
A “Contemporary” elevation of the Plan L with approximately 1,475 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Alternative Ranch elevation released in Unit 5, The Westwood (L-?).
 |
| Original Suburban model today via Google Street View. Completely renovated. Decorative concrete-block screen wall was removed, but the extended roof line remains. |
Marketing San Ramon Village
The homes of San Ramon Village were designed by architect Raymond Dean Conwell, AIA (1925–1965), who collaborated closely with Volk-McLain on several Tri-Valley developments.
 |
| 1960 San Francisco Chronicle ad—grand opening ad for San Ramon Village, set in completely new town of over 4,000 acres, offering city-close, country-quiet. |
Conwell’s designs blended efficiency, affordability, and mid-century style into homes aimed squarely at the growing postwar middle class. These were not luxury homes, but they offered far more design attention and variety than many competing tract developments of the era.
 |
| A Tropical Modern house in San Ramon Village, photographed before later remodeling. Volk-McLain offered Tropical Modern elevations among the designs available in the original tract. Imagery via Google Street View. |
Features commonly included:
- Thermostatically controlled heating
- Acoustical ceilings
- Philippine mahogany or knotty pine cabinetry
- Diamond-pane windows
- Built-in kitchen appliances
- Colorful tiled bathrooms
For many first-time buyers, these homes represented a major step forward in comfort and opportunity.
By the time the model complex was replaced by the new Brighton Circle model complex in mid-1962, San Ramon Village had already transformed the surrounding valley. Families had arrived. Streets had names. The foundations of modern Dublin had been laid.
San Ramon Village reaches Unit 5
In February 1961, Volk-McLain announced the opening of Unit 5 in San Ramon Village. Homes built in 1961 were north of the original units, and east of I-680 near the Brighton Circle tract that followed in 1962. The builder promoted new four-bedroom homes with a playful advertisement aimed at families, offering two "sultan-size" baths from $15,995.
 |
| Volk-McLain advertisement announcing the grand opening of Unit 5 in San Ramon Village, February 1961. |
By March 1961, San Ramon Village was already well underway. A March 26, 1961, Oakland Tribune article reported that new model homes were being shown in Unit No. 5, which was planned for 224 homes when completed. The article also reported that, since the tract's grand opening the previous September, 624 residences had been sold and more than 550 homes had already been constructed.
The figures provide a snapshot of the community's rapid early growth, but they should not be interpreted as a complete count of all homes planned for San Ramon Village. The 224-home figure was a projection for Unit 5, while the 624 figure represented sales across the community as of March 1961.
More than sixty years later, the tract remains a living archive of early suburban California—a place where postwar optimism, affordable homeownership, and mid-century design came together on former Tri-Valley farmland.
Sources
- Daily Review, February 26, 1961, Volk-McLain advertisement announcing the grand opening of Unit 5, San Ramon Village.
- Oakland Tribune, March 26, 1961, p. 29, “New Model Homes Shown At San Ramon.”
Collection
Continue exploring
- Brighton Circle: Volk-McLain's 1962 housing tract in Dublin
- Glenoaks: Volk-McLain's 1963 housing tract in Dublin
Comments
Post a Comment