TractTales | Neighborhood history of the Tri-Valley

In the late '60s, Livermore wasn’t just growing—it was elevating itself, quite literally. On the south side, Masud Mehran’s Sunsetown was humming along nicely. But up north, things got fancy fast. Enter Duc & Elliot, seasoned developers who arrived in 1966 with something more exclusive in mind: Los Altos Heights . The name said it all—elevated, aspirational, and just a little geographically confused. “...above the rest. View homes with a prestige address.” A 1967 ad for Los Altos Heights in Livermore, featuring a Spanish-contemporary model home and promoting the neighborhood’s elevated setting and upscale appeal. Where is Los Altos Heights in Livermore? Perched just north of downtown Livermore, this hillside subdivision is at the corner of North Livermore Avenue and Portola Avenue. Annotated aerial map of the Los Altos Heights tract  in Livermore, California. Now considered The Meadows neighborhood.  Base imagery from Apple Maps . Selling the tract Duc & Elliot le...

When Villa de San Ramon opened in Dublin in 1965, Duc & Elliot expected it to become one of the area’s premier suburban developments. The South Bay builder arrived with larger floorplans, higher prices, award-winning designs, and an unusually ambitious seven-model debut. The subdivision itself rose on land originally planned for an earlier project called Barkley Square by Volk-McLain—a development that never finished. Early sales were strong. Fifty homes sold within the first three weeks. But Villa de San Ramon opened at exactly the wrong moment. As the housing market tightened during 1966 and 1967, the subdivision struggled against lower-priced competitors nearby, including Ecco Park and Redwing Valley just across Amador Valley Boulevard. Vintage grand opening ad for Villa de San Ramon in Dublin (1965), proudly unveiling 7 new model homes and 25 distinct interior designs. The ad promised “all-new floor plans featuring the kind of living you’ve always dreamed of but never thought ...