Published June 7, 2025
In February 1968, Sunset Homes opened a new Livermore neighborhood called Sunset East. The homes were initially marketed under the same name as the neighborhood, with a collection of new designs that represented Sunset's latest residential plans and features.
The lineup soon acquired another name. After Sunset Homes introduced its Young Americans Series in 1969, the earlier Sunset East designs became known as the 600 Series. By then, Sunset was also expanding into a second development called Sunset South, where some of the 600 Series homes were built. Sunset South was later incorporated into what is now known as Whispering Pines.
The changing names reflect an important stage in Sunset Homes' expansion in Livermore. What began as a neighborhood and a collection of homes marketed under one name was evolving into a system in which neighborhoods and house series had separate identities. That distinction became increasingly apparent as Sunset introduced additional series such as Young Americans, Wildwood, Ripplebrook, and Quietwood.
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| 1968 grand opening ad for Sunset East — This tri-level home helped launch Sunset Homes’ new Livermore neighborhood in February 1968. Marketed as a charming new suburb, Sunset East offered buyers comfort and modern style, with standard features like carpeting, G.E. Americana appliances, shake roofs, and zone air conditioning. |
Where the 600 Series homes were built
The homes that became known as the 600 Series were built in Sunset East and in the northern portion of Sunset South, a development that was later incorporated into today's Whispering Pines neighborhood.
The map below shows the relationship between the two areas and helps identify where the 600 Series homes were built within today's Livermore landscape.
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| Annotated aerial map of the Sunset East and Sunset South (northern section of today's Whispering Pines) neighborhoods in Livermore, California, where Sunset Homes' 600 Series homes were built. Base imagery from Google Maps. |
The opening of Sunset East
By the mid-1960s, Sunset Homes had established itself in Livermore with Granada Village, later known as Sunset West. The builder then expanded east of Holmes Street into former farmland and ranch land, opening a new neighborhood called Sunset East in 1968.
When Sunset East opened in February 1968, its homes were marketed under the neighborhood's name rather than a separate series designation. The original lineup included a range of designs identified by model names and, in some cases, design numbers.
The separate 600 Series designation emerged after Sunset introduced the Young Americans Series in 1969. The earlier Sunset East designs were subsequently identified as the 600 Series, giving Sunset a way to distinguish the existing homes from the newer series entering its Livermore lineup.
At the same time, Sunset was developing Sunset South immediately to the south. Some 600 Series designs were built there as the builder's Livermore operation continued to expand.
Sunset East 600 Series homes and architectural style
When Sunset Homes opened Sunset East in 1968, prospective buyers encountered the new neighborhood through its model homes. The models introduced the floor plans, features, and design choices available from the builder.
The original Sunset East 600 Series models
The original model homes provide a useful cross-section of the Sunset East 600 Series' architecture. Sunset Homes presented seven models in a sales complex on Vancouver Way, offering buyers a range of house sizes, floor plans, and architectural styles. An eighth model was added in 1969. Together, the models document the different designs Sunset Homes chose to put on display when the tract opened in 1968.
The Ranch Kitchen
This model offered approximately 1,990 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
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| Original Ranch Kitchen model today via Google Street View. |
The Kitchen in the Round (Design 620)
This model offered approximately 1,809 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The design featured a circular kitchen, wet bar, indoor barbecue, atrium garden, cathedral ceiling, and built-in ash bookcase.
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| Original Kitchen in the Round model today via Google Street View. |
The Garden View Kitchen (Design 610)
This model offered approximately 2,034 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The design was later renamed The Lancaster and received an “Award of Distinction.”
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The Gold Patio Kitchen & Solarium (Design 630)
This model offered approximately 2,117 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Features included a private solarium, Roman tub, and built-in wine rack. The design was later renamed The Imperial, and a five-bedroom adaptation was offered in 1969.
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| Original Gold Patio Kitchen & Solarium (The Imperial) model today via Google Street View. |
The Gourmet Kitchen (Design 600)
This model offered approximately 2,133 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.
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| Original Gourmet Kitchen model today via Google Street View. |
The Gold Kitchen Nook (Design 660)
This model offered approximately 1,973 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.
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| Original Gold Kitchen Nook model today via Google Street View. |
The Country Kitchen
This model offered approximately 1,624 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
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| Original Country Kitchen model today via Google Street View. |
The Garden Villa (Design 680)
This model offered approximately 1,838 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Added in 1969.
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| Original Garden Villa model today via Google Street View. |
Marketing the Sunset East 600 Series
Sunset Homes' 600 Series included designs by architect Ken Gooch, with interiors and decorating associated with Joan Kann. The lineup ranged from relatively conventional family plans to more distinctive designs featuring atriums, specialized kitchens, solariums, and spaces designed around entertaining.
Period advertising emphasized a substantial package of standard features. Depending on the model and period, these included wall-to-wall carpeting, fencing and landscaping, fireplaces, shake roofs, G.E. Americana appliances, built-in dishwashers, custom patios, and zoned air conditioning.
The newspaper advertisements preserved below show how Sunset presented these features to prospective buyers. They also document the unusual design elements that distinguished some of the 600 Series models, including the Kitchen in the Round, built-in bars and wine storage, garden-facing kitchen spaces, and the Garden Villa's private solarium.
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| March 1968 Oakland Tribune clipping showing Sunset Homes' “Kitchen in the Round,” with two sinks, two ovens, an indoor barbecue, dishwasher, and overhead lighting. |
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| 1968 Sunset Homes newspaper clipping—Tomorrow’s kitchen today. With its open layout, curved countertops, and built-in modern appliances, this round kitchen captured the space-age optimism of late-'60s design. |
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| Artist’s rendering from a 1968 Oakland Tribune featuring a built-in wine rack and bar—reflecting Livermore’s growing reputation as California wine country and the era’s shift toward homes designed for entertaining and social gatherings. |
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| November 1969 newspaper clipping—the Garden Villa model’s luxury shower offered a serene view into a private solarium, blending spa-like indulgence with mid-century privacy and design innovation. |
The Custom Design Series (1969)
In September 1969, Sunset introduced the Custom Design Series, a group of 11 homes based on and expanding upon its existing designs.
The series incorporated changes such as an enlarged Kitchen in the Round and a five-bedroom variation created by converting part of a three-car garage. Prices ranged from $33,750 to $39,950, and the homes were built around Sunset Park.
The Custom Design Series provides another example of how Sunset Homes continued to revise its lineup as new designs and series were introduced. House plans could be modified, renamed, and carried into later offerings rather than remaining permanently tied to the series under which they first appeared.
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| September 1969 San Jose Mercury clipping—homes built and designed for the gods. Custom wallpaper you had to see to believe. |
The 600 Series after 1970
Sunset Homes retired the 600 Series models in 1970, but some of the designs and features continued to appear in the company's later Livermore developments.
The homes also preserve an earlier stage of Sunset's development strategy. Sunset East began as both a neighborhood name and a marketing identity for its homes. Within a few years, those homes had become part of a named series, while Sunset was simultaneously developing additional neighborhoods and introducing new series.
That evolution—from neighborhood names that also identified the homes to a more distinct system of neighborhoods and house series—helps explain some of the confusing terminology found in Sunset Homes' late-1960s and early-1970s advertising.
Collection
Livermore — the making of a suburban city
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- Sunset by Sunset Homes — 1965 Livermore homes
- Sunset East Young Americans Series by Sunset Homes — 1969 Livermore homes
- Sunset Homes — how one builder transformed Livermore
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