Camping Retreats to Build In Your Backyard

These steep pitches let snow slide off the roofs and create enough room inside for both men and their families to stand up and stretch.

Stubb and her family moved to their home, located on 2.25 acres just north of Baltimore, in 2001. "The outdoors here are a big playground," she says. "We had always wanted to build something for the girls that looked natural." In the summer of 2008, they finally materialized their wish with the 128-square-foot "tree house" that they designed themselves. Drafting the plans came naturally: Laurie is the principal of Place Architecture, Inc. and her husband, Peter, is an architect at a firm that focuses on institutional projects.Photograph courtesy of Laurie Stubb.

Jaanus Orgusaar's NOA cabin in the Virumaa region of Estonia is currently used as a summer cottage.

One North Face tent sits atop a deck; another caps the main building, which contains a kitchen and dining area.

Though the retreat is clearly meant to afford the solitude writing so often requires, Kathleen reports that "it's very lively. Deer approach, birds bathe. The sun warms my desk and you can hear the rain."

Josie’s tepee playhouse stands on a platform, where she and her friends erect sets for their theatrical productions.