When a room of one's own is not quite enough, there's Château de Costaérès, a private island with a 19th-century castle situated just barely off the northwestern coast of France. Indeed, at low tide one can walk or drive a 4×4 from the mainland. Now listed for $9.8 million and long a haven for creative types, including Henryk Sienkiewicz, a Nobel Prize-winning novelist best known for penning the international bestseller, "Quo Vadis," the neo-Gothic abode sits on a high point of land in a forested setting with a heated swimming pool and two private beaches. And back in Southern California, in the densely forested San Jacinto Mountains above Palm Springs, an angular residence in Idyllwild is fully integrated with its rugged landscape, with an entrance bridge that passes between two boulders and a shower set against another huge rock.

This Striking $2 Million SoCal Retreat Is Embedded Into a Rocky Mountainside Landscape

Designed by architect Dennis McGuire and featured on HGTV, the angular Idyllwild home has an entry bridge that slices through two huge granite boulders on its way to the front door.

Read More