Excerpted from Gardens Maine Style Act II, by Rebecca Sawyer-Fay and Lynn Karlin, Down East Books, Camden; hardcover; 178 pages; $35

These one-of-a-kind retreats provide the perfect spot for listening to birdsong or practicing the flute, for writing a one-act play or enjoying a sauna.

1. Built when she was small, Emily Holden’s Rockport playhouse now doubles as a focal point in the garden of her parents, Mark Holden and Melissa Sweet. Mark, an experienced boatbuilder, gave the charming hideaway plenty of headroom; Melissa, an artist known for her books for children, chose paint colors that echo hues found in the garden and on the terrace, which overlooks the playhouse.

2. An old door found in a cellar shows the way into Robert and Marie Stallworth’s garden house and art studio. Recycled from a building project, the twenty-pane window affords indirect light. In the adjacent cold frame (fitted with another salvaged window), peppers get a jump on the season.

3. A homemade “apple tree” lends support to a Northport garden shed. Terry and Dianne Hire drew their design on paper, then had plywood cut to fit the pattern. A coat of plaster topped by latex paint conceals all seams; clear marine epoxy protects the finished product.

4. A saltbox shed complete with Dutch door overlooks a Colonial-style cutting garden in Bar Harbor. Stored safely out of the elements, a wheelbarrow and tools are always close at hand.

5. Twenty oars, some barn red stain, and countless screws make up the “best little oar house in Boothbay,” as contractor Don Viens calls the gazebo he built with his son Peter. Viens specializes in whimsical retreats created from recycled and overlooked materials.

6. With help from her mother, artist Antonia Munroe, Fiona Fischer works on her brushstrokes outside her midcoast playhouse. Fiona’s father, contractor Jay Fischer, created “Fiona’s Folly” with remnants from building projects.