It’s your prerogative to build and live in a windowless cube in the mountains above a lake, of course, but shouldn’t you serve your slice of paradise on the good china? This bamboo overhang frames its priceless Costa Rican view perfectly.

In a home where every object serves a dozen purposes and one’s footprint is the size of a (tropical postcard) stamp, the greatest luxury is...blank space. Sure, this open-plan Costa Rican ecosphere boasts gorgeous natural wood, a bamboo art installation and a cheese-making station(!), but its most notable detail is the spot where there’s nothing at all.

This diminutive rooftop garden in Salmon, Idaho, features three flower beds and a deck where its newlywed owners can sigh over spectacular sunsets. Could this spot have sustained herbs and vegetables that would make said newlyweds more self-sufficient? Sure. Would they love it any more if it did? We doubt it.

When your yard is a borderless Mexican jungle full of banana plants, skip chaises and throw pillows. Drive a few stakes into the earth, hang a couple of hammocks and call it a day (in the hammocks.)