Gold Coast, Costa Rica
By Jane Gass, The Globe and Mail

Even by the opulent standards of Costa Rica's Gold Coast, this is not your ordinary beach house.

Villa Marrakech, inspired by the palaces of Morocco and built in 2001 by renowned Costa Rican architect Abraham Valenzuela, is full of North African accents, including mosaic-tiled ceilings, onyx countertops and kiln-fired brick columns.

Set in "millionaire's row" in the Pacific Ocean community of Tamarindo, the 8,500-square-foot home also features a pounded-copper front door and a travertine marble staircase leading to the master bedroom suite.

The room also has its own sundeck, complete with a Moroccan-style daybed.

The grounds consist of 14,000 square feet of sand and tropical landscaping, and include an L-shaped swimming pool.

Additional Moroccan accents — including such things as richly patterned carpets and bedspreads — are also part of the package.

"There are several beachfront homes in the area, but none of them are as elegant as this," says property agent Laura Fudge of Sotheby's International Realty.

The Lonely Planet travel guide calls Costa Rica "Central America's jewel."

"It's an oasis of calm among its turbulent neighbours, and an ecotourism heaven," the guide says. "It's also mostly coastline, which means great surfing, beaches galore and a climate built for laziness."

Not to mention its well-known wealth of rare and exotic animal species, from monkeys and crocodiles to poison-dart frogs, sea turtles and red macaws.

Asking price: $6.9-million (US) or about $7.7-million Canadian.