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San Ramon — the neighborhoods that built a suburban city

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Modern San Ramon grew from two major planned communities. To the south, Volk-McLain's San Ramon Village transformed former ranchland into the city's first suburban neighborhoods beginning in 1960. To the northwest, Carl Damé's Twin Creeks followed during the late 1960s and 1970s, expanding San Ramon's suburban landscape through a new generation of housing tracts.

Between these communities lay ranchland, walnut orchards, and open space that gradually disappeared as suburban development expanded across the valley. By the end of the 1980s, these once-separate communities had merged into the city recognized today.

This archive explores the neighborhoods, builders, and planning ideas that shaped San Ramon during its principal years of suburban growth.

The archive currently contains 19 housing tracts spanning 1961 to 1980.

Annotated map of San Ramon highlighting the 1960s and 1970s neighborhoods of the city.
Annotated Apple Maps view of San Ramon showing the two major planned communities that shaped the city's suburban growth.

South San Ramon

South San Ramon is the southern part of the city built largely from the former San Ramon Village planned community. Beginning in 1960, Volk-McLain transformed ranchland and walnut orchards into a large suburban development that eventually stretched across the county line and into what is now the city of San Ramon.

Much of this area was developed as part of the larger San Ramon Village planned community, whose history is covered separately. Over nearly two decades, different sections of the planned community were developed by Volk-McLain and other builders, creating the collection of housing tracts that now forms much of southern San Ramon.

Today, the original tract names are largely forgotten. Residents are more likely to identify with major roads, schools, shopping areas, or the broader South San Ramon area than with the names used by developers in the 1960s and 1970s. The groupings below are therefore geographic rather than historical: they organize the area's housing tracts around the roads and landmarks that make them easiest to recognize today.

Explore the San Ramon Village story

Housing tracts near the county border and San Ramon Golf Club

The earliest housing tracts developed near the county line and around the San Ramon Golf Club and golf course, establishing the recreational center of the new suburban community. Final buildout of the golf course began in 1975.

Annotated aerial map showing the boundaries of the first housing tracts in San Ramon, California.
Annotated aerial map showing the earliest San Ramon housing tracts that form the original San Ramon Village community. Base imagery from Apple Maps. Numbers indicate subdivision tracts.
① Walnut Hills (1966)
② Casa Mañana (1965)
③ Crestview (1964)
④ Country Club Park (1961)
⑤ Sunrise Place (1980)
⑥ Rancho Ramon Fairway Series (1975)
⑦ Paseo San Ramon (1977)
⑧ Fairway Hills (includes Country Club Estates) (1965)
⑨ Sunny Glen (1963)

Housing tracts centered around Pine Valley Road

Development expanded north from the original Country Club area as builders converted additional agricultural land into residential neighborhoods. The housing tracts below are grouped geographically around Pine Valley Road.

Housing tracts centered around Montevideo Drive

Later development extended San Ramon Village farther north during the 1970s. These housing tracts are grouped around Montevideo Drive, which provides a recognizable geographic reference for the area today.

Twin Creeks

Twin Creeks became the second major planned community in the development of modern San Ramon. Developed by Carl Damé beginning in 1969 and expanding through the 1970s and 1980s, it extended the city beyond the original San Ramon Village community through a series of housing tracts planned and built under a single developer. Today, Twin Creeks remains one of San Ramon's most recognizable neighborhood identities.

Explore the Twin Creeks story

Housing tracts within Twin Creeks

Further reading

Collection last updated: September 2026