A software engineer spent six years and roughly $590,000 to create a single-story home on the side of a mountain in Japan.

Choosing the new-construction route comes with challenges like cost overruns, permitting delays and supply-chain issues, but also the promise of getting a fully customized home. Credit...Kate Warren ...

In Toronto, where housing prices are racing ahead of inventory, residents are building homes in their yards and moving their children or their parents into them. By Michael Kaminer After the last of ...