Gin & Tonic Bus Stop

Len Brackett, a designer and builder, recently began producing what he calls his “gin and- tonic bus stop” — a 6-by-10-foot pagoda, he said, so he could “sit, look at the garden, and have a gin and tonic.” The structure, above, also known as the Summer House, is made of three types of wood — sugar pine, incense cedar and Port Orford cedar — and has the same complex joinery elaborate Japanese-style homes.

It costs $19,000, plus shipping (it comes in two crates). “It’s a pure architectural form — there are no utilities, no planning expenses and no permitting, which is how I am able to make it so cheaply.” The kit comes with detailed instructions and almost everything required for assembly, and if you’re comfortable working with concrete and epoxy, you should have no problem putting the house together yourself in two or three days. Otherwise, you might want to hire a carpenter.