Our Favorite International Home Ads 2022

I'm looking for an escape route? We've reviewed properties in Kuenka and Cape Town, Boquete and British Columbia, India and Italy, and many more. This year's International Real Estate column took readers around the world to visit dozens of affordable homes in every conceivable style, from a restored 17th-century mill in Spain to a modern waterslide home in the Maldives. Here are some of our favorites.

A cabin in the woods of British Columbia, Canada - $4.5 million

This three-bedroom cedar cabin sits on nearly six acres on the south shore of Quadra Island, which lies between Vancouver Island and the Pacific coast of British Columbia, Canada. Completed in 2004, the wooded waterfront property includes a three-bedroom guest cabin and a dock with a dock large enough to accommodate a 45-foot boat. A front balcony, supported by a series of Douglas fir beams, spans the back of the house, offering views of the nearby islands and the Strait of Georgia. - Lisa Prevost

Weatherproof steel home in Nova Scotia, Canada - $2.9 million

This 2018 home sits on just over two acres in the village of Upper Kingsberg on the South Shore of Nova Scotia, in eastern Canada. The contemporary design of this two-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom home incorporates three buildings - a day pavilion, a night pavilion and a gateway, matching the rural style of the region. The lot, located next to 233 feet of owner-owned Atlantic Ocean shoreline on one side and a salt pond on the other, sits behind a herd of sheep, highland cows, gardens and fenced pastures. - Marcel Susman Fischler

This Tuscan-style mansion in Boquete, Panama - $2.9 million

This six-bedroom Tuscan-style mansion sits between two hills on an exclusive lot in Valle Escondido, a luxury community, resort and clubhouse near the center of Boquete, a mountain town nestled in the Chiriqui Mountains in western Panama. The 11,850-square-foot home, built on 1.3 acres in 2011, has a clay tile roof.

Secluded retreat outside Cuenca, Ecuador - $550,000

This modern home is located on the eastern edge of El Cajas National Park, a UNESCO-recognized biosphere reserve, and sits on four undulating acres outside of Cuenca, Ecuador's third-largest city. With a 110-square-mile park serving as its backdrop, the 1,830-square-foot main house has four bedrooms and three bathrooms and is surrounded by nature. "The house is isolated and surrounded by nature," said Ashley Rogers, founder of Ecuador At Your Service. Its design includes underground storage tanks for fuel and water, as well as an 818-square-foot detached apartment beneath the main house. - Michael Kaminer

A house carved into a mountain in Cape Town, South Africa - $4.7 million

This 2011 five-bedroom house sits on the slopes of Table Mountain in Oranjevikta, a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa's second-largest city. Situated on a nearly three-quarter-acre lot, the home was designed to mimic the mountain landscape with an undulating concrete roof and abundant use of wood and stone. "The house is literally built into the mountain," said Rhian Ackerman, a broker with Pam Golding Properties. The site also included an "eco-pool" that uses plants and microorganisms to purify the water instead of chemicals. - Lisa Prevost