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You don’t have to be tremendously wealthy as long as you have some land, even a backyard. There was a dentist in Phoenix who worked full time, yet built himself a castle, mostly with his own labor. He later went bust by making a bad business decision.

http://www.dupontcastle.com/castles/copenhav.htm

I knew of another guy who had about 10 acres in the desert, so craftily designed a small forest, with a ring of desert trees and bushes on the outside, to keep the moisture in, then rings of trees that needed little water, then lusher trees that needed more water, along with other plants. In the center he built an abandoned looking cottage surrounded by flowers for his young daughter and her friends to play in.

It was conservative of water, as the father was a self taught expert in xeriscaping, and most of the labor involved was in clearing excess growth.

The girls liked it so much that after they grew up, it was used by the young girls in their neighborhood, and the adult girls would still meet there on occasion to have “big girl tea parties”.