TractTales | The making of Tri-Valley suburbia

Published July 16, 2026 Set within Sunset Homes ' master-planned Granada Village (Sunset West) neighborhood, Granada Woods opened in August 1963 as Livermore's premier custom-home tract. Inspired by San Francisco's St. Francis Wood, the 65-home enclave occupies only a small portion of Granada Village, yet it represents one of Sunset Homes' most ambitious residential projects in the city. Winding streets, oversized lots, landscaped medians, and architect-designed entrance monuments created an upscale setting aimed at professionals, including many working at the nearby Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. Builder Masud Mehran, president of Sunset Homes, described Granada Woods as "an oasis of urban relaxation in a world where gracious living has become almost a rarity." Rather than offering a handful of standardized floor plans, Sunset Homes encouraged architectural variety. Buyers could select one of the featured home designs or commission a custom residence, pro...

Published October 14, 2025 On October 26, 1969, Kaufman & Broad unveiled their latest housing concept in north Livermore: The Expandables . This housing tract was a direct response to the growing challenge of affordability for first-time homebuyers at the tail end of the 1960s. Rising home prices and tightening credit standards were making traditional homeownership increasingly out of reach, particularly for younger families. Kaufman & Broad, drawing on the success of a similar development in Huntington Beach, brought this innovative model to the Tri-Valley area. 1969 newspaper ad announcing the debut of The Expandables in Livermore. With the tagline, “Introducing your first and second home,” Kaufman & Broad emphasized the homes’ innovative design—affordable now, expandable later. The ad declared: “It’s so new, it makes tomorrow sound old-fashioned.” Mapping The Expandables Kaufman & Broad pointed to location as one of the tract’s main draws. The site—bounded by Ea...

Published September 28, 2025 During the 1960s and 1970s, Tri-Valley builders repeatedly returned to a similar idea: a house could give different parts of family life their own space. Formal living and dining rooms occupied the front of the house, kitchens and family rooms formed the center of everyday activity, and bedrooms were gathered into a more private wing. The arrangement varied from builder to builder, but the underlying division was remarkably consistent. It reflected a period when suburban families wanted both informal spaces for daily life and more formal rooms for entertaining—and when the relatively generous lots of new Tri-Valley developments gave builders room to accommodate both. These floor plans weren't identical, and they weren't the only way to design a suburban house. But from Dublin and San Ramon to Pleasanton and Livermore, the same basic organization appeared again and again. Dividing the house into zones During the 1960s, housing designers increasi...

Published September 23, 2025 Tucked near East Stanley Boulevard and Murrieta Boulevard, the Granada Park  housing tract quietly captures a key chapter in Livermore’s postwar growth. It wasn’t just a place where new homes popped up — it was one of the tracts that helped define the city’s transformation from a rural outpost into a modern suburban community. Granada Park is a component of the larger Granada Village planned community, which Sunset Homes began in 1958. While Sunset focused on nearby tracts, Granada Park was built out by three separate developers over a nine-year period: LeoBilt Sales, Groyer Homes, and California Homes. Together, they turned these once-empty lots into hundreds of homes — all during a time when Livermore’s population was nearly tripling. Opening in September 1963, Granada Park launched with four model homes and a buzzworthy promotion: visiting women received either a fresh orchid or a roll of Kaiser Aluminum Foil. It was quirky, but it worked — ...

Published July 28, 2025 The Ivanhoe Villas housing tract debuted in late September 1970, as Sunset Homes began diversifying its designs to meet the needs of modern buyers. These 104 zero lot-line homes were a bold step forward: semidetached units with a double-leaf party wall between them, offering the feel of a detached home but with less upkeep. These homes were so successful, Sunset Homes reported they sold out in just eight months. September 1970 Oakland Tribune ad announcing the grand opening of Ivanhoe Villas. Mapping Ivanhoe Villas Set within the  Sunset East neighborhood, Ivanhoe Villas catered to buyers seeking an affordable, low-maintenance lifestyle—without compromising on location or architectural style. Annotated aerial map of the Ivanhoe Villas tract in the Sunset East neighborhood in Livermore, California. Base imagery from Google Maps. Ivanhoe Villas homes and architectural style When Sunset Homes introduced Ivanhoe Villas in 1970, prospective buyers...