Magee Ranch Neighborhood Guide | Danville
Magee Ranch is one of Danville's premier hillside neighborhoods, set in the oak-studded foothills between Mount Diablo and the Sycamore Valley Open Space, off Blackhawk Road and Magee Ranch Road. It's a community with real history — the land was part of the Magee family's cattle and walnut ranch dating back to the 1940s — and when Broadmore Homes developed it between 1992 and 1998 (with the final custom homes completed in the early 2000s), the design went to real lengths to preserve that setting. Homes were clustered to protect the natural landform, more than a thousand oaks were saved, and a large share of the original ranch was set aside as permanent open space. The result is a neighborhood of roughly 257 homes that feels woven into the hills rather than carved out of them.
When I show Magee Ranch, buyers respond to two things: the homes and the land around them. The community is a mix of semi-custom homes and custom estates. The semi-custom homes generally range from about 2,700 to 4,000 square feet with three-car garages, in traditional and craftsman styles, while the custom homes run from roughly 3,900 to 6,000 square feet in a wide variety of designs — many with classic farmhouse exteriors and dramatic, light-filled interiors with volume ceilings. Lots are generous, running from around 11,000 square feet up to half an acre, and a great many back directly to open space or frame views of Mount Diablo. Those view-and-open-space lots are consistently the ones that move fastest when I'm representing buyers here.
The setting is the real differentiator. You're right at the edge of the Sycamore Valley Open Space Preserve, with miles of hiking and biking trails out the back door and the foothills of Mount Diablo as a backdrop. There's a homeowners association that maintains the common areas and open space — I don't publish dues in these guides since they change, but I'll always walk you through the current figures and rules for any home we consider. For everyday needs you're minutes from Blackhawk Plaza and the shops, restaurants, and year-round farmers' market of downtown Danville, with I-680 keeping the broader Bay Area in commuting range.
One piece of local context worth knowing: the remaining historic Magee land is now home to Magee Preserve, a newer collection of luxury estates by Davidon Homes, with most of that site preserved as permanent open space. If you love this area but want brand-new construction, that's the adjacent option — a separate neighborhood I'm glad to walk you through on its own.
Now, the details I always pin down for buyers here. First, jurisdiction — and this one surprises people. Several communities farther east along the Camino Tassajara corridor, near Blackhawk's gates, actually sit in unincorporated Contra Costa County despite their Danville addresses. Magee Ranch is different: it was developed through the Town of Danville's own planning process and falls within the incorporated Town, so the Town handles zoning, permits, and local services. It's a distinction most buyers never think to ask about, but it matters, and I confirm it for any specific address.
Second, schools. Magee Ranch is served by the highly regarded San Ramon Valley Unified School District, and homes here have typically been assigned to Green Valley Elementary, Los Cerros Middle, and Monte Vista High — a different elementary-and-middle pairing than the Tassajara-corridor neighborhoods, even though they share Monte Vista at the high school level. As always, I say "typically" deliberately: SRVUSD boundaries can shift, so if schools are driving your decision I'll verify the current assignment for the specific address before we write. On carrying costs, an established 1990s community like this generally isn't carrying the Mello-Roos assessments tied to the area's newer developments, but I still pull the actual tax bill for any home.
That blend — a storied hillside setting, large lots backing to open space and trails, a wide range of semi-custom and custom homes, and access to one of the strongest school districts in the East Bay — is exactly why Magee Ranch remains one of the most coveted addresses in this part of Danville. Whether you're hoping to buy here or you already own and want to know what your home would bring in today's market, I'd love to be your guide. Let's connect.
