Escaping the ordinary

This is book-candy for the armchair retiree. The architect author showcases 24 remarkable houses organized according to four outdoor settings -- on the plains and in the hills, along the coast, in the mountains and by lakes. Picks include homes in Berkeley, Santa Cruz and San Francisco, which join those in 14 other states and Nova Scotia.

Unlike our workaday homes, Mulfinger writes, vacation homes can be “fun and informal,” ideal places for self-expression.

More than 275 color photographs are featured, accompanied by informative text about homes that sit on land chosen for its magnificence. Mouthwatering examples include an old ranch-hand cabin in Montana near a trout stream that was transformed into a spacious log cabin; a galvanized metal and spruce cabin on an ocean-side cliff in Cape Breton, Canada; and an East Hampton, N.Y., beach getaway so close to the ocean that it sits on piers, with 20-foot-high windows.

One negative about this getaway: It ends when you close the book and return to civilization.