Natural color postcard of "Model Town," behind the Palace of Better Housing (visible in background in middle). These 56 miniature mechanized houses were built for the California Pacific Exposition of 1935 to illustrate how $2,000 loans from the Federal Housing Administration could convert rundown houses into beautiful homes. The Palace of Better Housing was previously the Commerce and Industries Building (1915), Canadian Building (1916), the Electric Building (1936), and later reconstructed as the Casa de Balboa. The Exposition was held in San Diego's Balboa Park.