Ground Floor: SnowCreek, Mammoth In the mid-19th century, miners in hot pursuit of gold raced to California’s Mammoth Mountains.

Ground Floor: Solis, Sunny Isles Not long ago, Sunny Isles was a sleepy seaside strip resting in the shadow of Miami Beach.

Ground Floor: South Shore Club, Wisconsin A 75-mile drive from Chicago, Lake Geneva has built its reputation on attracting the city’s elite.

Ground Floor: Spring Island, South Carolina When developers Jim Chaffin Jr. and James Light started developing Spring Island 15 years ago, the project was applauded for being one of the country’s first conservation-based master-planned communities.

Ground Floor: Spruce Peak at Stowe, Vermont When you gaze up from the green of the new golf course being carved out of the woods, you realize you are staring at one of the most glorious vistas in all of New England.

Ground Floor: Sternbrauerei, Salzburg, Austria The city center of Salzburg, Austria earned a spot on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1996.

Ground Floor: Sun West Ranch, Montana When experienced developer Ted Gildred acquired 2,000 acres in southwest Montana nearly 20 years ago, he wanted to do something meaningful with it.

Ground Floor: Taconic Estates, Connecticut The grandeur of Newport’s fabled 19th-century cottages gets a 21st-century update at Taconic Estates and Lake Carrington Estate.

Ground Floor: Temenos Anguilla, Caribbean Christopher Columbus reportedly named Anguilla (Italian for “eel”) for its flat, thin shape—you can barely see it from the open ocean.

Ground Floor: Thanda South Africa The Thanda Private Game Reserve is home to 21 different ecosystems, a plethora of South African wildlife and more than 460 bird species.

Ground Floor: The Blue, Doral Resort & Spa If spending your day on a golf course is not enough, then, thanks to a South Florida development firm, you will soon be able to spend your night on one, too.

Ground Floor: The Century, Los Angeles A surge of new condo developments, attracting such recognized architects as Richard Meier and Frank Gehry, will soon challenge the way Angelenos define luxury real estate.