Westlake in Daly City: A Planned Community Larger Than Its Famous Houses

By Matthew Martinez, Founder, CEO & Managing Broker, Diamond Real Estate Group. California DRE #01869679.

Westlake is often represented by a row of colorful midcentury houses. That image captures part of its character, but Henry Doelger’s project was much larger: a planned community combining different housing types with schools, services and a commercial center.

Understanding that wider arrangement helps explain Westlake’s place in Daly City. Its story concerns how a neighborhood was organized and built, as well as the appearance of individual façades.

The development extended Daly City toward the ocean

The city’s history describes Doelger acquiring land west of the earlier city and developing Westlake, which was annexed in 1948. It also distinguishes nearby Broadmoor Village, which was not part of that annexation.

This distinction matters to the map. Areas that appear continuous on the ground can have different municipal histories and boundaries. A familiar neighborhood name is not a complete description of jurisdiction.

The plan included apartments and institutions

The San Francisco Planning Department’s Doelger landmark report describes Westlake’s approximate 6,500 single-family houses and 3,000 apartments developed over two decades. It also identifies public schools and a central shopping center.

Those components served different needs within the same larger project. Houses and apartments created different accommodation choices, while schools and commercial uses supplied destinations beyond the residential lot.

The plan therefore cannot be understood solely as a collection of similar houses. Its everyday functioning also depended on where people learned, shopped and obtained services.

Construction proceeded through several milestones

The report distinguishes initial grading in 1947, a ceremonial groundbreaking in 1949 and completion of the first tract of 32 houses in 1950. It also records the company moving its operations from San Francisco into Westlake.

These dates describe different stages of one undertaking. Land preparation, publicity, completed houses and an operating development business did not all occur on the same day.

This sequence is useful when reading historical accounts that attach different starting years to a neighborhood. The difference may reflect the milestone being described rather than a disagreement about the entire project.

The houses belonged to a production system

The city’s historical architectural overview describes Doelger’s effort to control construction costs while making homes attractive to ordinary buyers. It places housing, shopping, offices, medical facilities, churches and schools within the community concept.

Repetition can make production efficient while variation in façade treatment gives individual houses a different street presence. The resulting neighborhood needs to be read at both levels: shared building patterns and the differences among particular properties.

Today, later alterations add another layer. A common development origin does not mean every house retains the same layout, finishes or systems.

The cultural image is only one part of the history

The city overview connects Westlake with Malvina Reynolds’s 1962 song “Little Boxes.” The song’s enduring image helped make the development recognizable far beyond the Peninsula.

But a cultural shorthand cannot describe the entire place. Apartments, institutions, shopping and subsequent residents’ changes all complicate a single picture of identical houses.

The plan and the property should be considered together

Westlake’s development history explains its neighborhood structure. A home search adds another question: how does a particular house work within that structure today?

Explore real estate and home for sale in Daly City and our housing-settings comparison. Contact Diamond to compare homes through their accommodation, architectural character and actual local connections.

Sources checked October 28, 2026. Historical tract totals and construction dates describe the cited development record, not current housing counts or individual condition.