Soda Springs, Calif.

Just about anyone who has ever lived in an over-cluttered home has at some point declared that one day they'll ditch it all and live simply. Mike Basich did it.

Mr. Basich, a 40-year-old pro snowboarder, has spent the past several years building his dream home near Lake Tahoe. About 10 miles outside Truckee, Calif., the house sits 3 miles beyond a quiet road that has a few mailboxes but not much else. In the winter, it can only be accessed by a snowmobile, snowcat or other kind of tracked vehicle.

Mr. Basich's property is 40 acres, crisscrossed with creeks and boasting views of the Sierra Nevada, but the house itself is smaller than the average cramped studio apartment. It's 228 square feet, doesn't have laundry and the bathroom is outside.

"I've eliminated a lot of stuff by choosing to have a small place and a big yard," says Mr. Basich, who has scraggly brown hair and usually needs a shave. The house is about 25% glass and lacks curtains, so he gets up with the sun and goes to sleep with the stars. In between, his typical activities include snowboarding on an adjacent hill or hiking with his Siberian husky, Summit.