They never adjusted their language after the massive real estate inflation of the last 20 years. In coastal California, a mansion is closer to $10M - $1.5M is any 60’s tract home close enough to the ocean to feel an occasional breeze. :)
Last year I sold my late parents’ 1959 track home in San Jose for 1.6M. The only breeze there comes from the major six lane thoroughfare a few blocks away.
coastal California doublewides
Granted, this isn't migrant farm worker housing. This development began in 1969 as a senior citizen retirement community, probably with a lot of vacation homes and second homes.
As many will know, the regulations on mobile homes changed in 1974 and again in 1976, with anything built after '76 now designated as "mobile manufactured," which means built to modern codes. And then there's a big gray area between "mobile manufactured" and "modular." These homes are substantial. In areas with more rainfall, landscaping can disguise the boxiness of the external dimensions (though components still have to be transportable by flatbed truck and built to highway dimensions). Here, the semi-arid climate and small lot sizes give the game away, although on the inside you can't tell. I'm a bit surprised that modular housing hasn't made deeper inroads into conventional homebuilding across the country.
One of my favorite actors (no names; privacy & security pls.) is in this community, which I imagine was the only way Malibu was affordable. Standard stick built homes are MUCH more expensive. And the community is gated, which is a huge security factor for an actor who will be absent, and publicly known to be absent, when on location for an extended shoot.