View From the Top: 21 Fabulous Rooftop Decks

Low banquettes around the dining table and a wraparound glass railing were used to preserve the water view on this all-white Miami rooftop. "Flameless candles in the lanterns and votives operate on a remote so there's no issue with the wind," says Sofia Joelsson, owner of SoJo Design.

This San Diego penthouse, with its 360-degree views of the bay and ocean, is the perfect spot for movie watching. "A screen magically appears out of the wall from a hydraulic lift," says Paul Roberts, director of fine homes at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, "while an authentic pizza oven means you'll never go hungry viewing your favorite flicks."

This Florida rooftop is reminiscent of something you'd find on the island of Mykonos, with its limestone floor, marble-topped dining table, blue cushioned seating and stone planters filled with bright red flowers. "The best part of this penthouse — even beyond the bath, heated Jacuzzi and full kitchen — has to be the sail-like canopy," says Nancy Batchelor of EWM Realty International, "which can be reeled in or out depending on the direction of the sun."

Weight restrictions on this pre-war building forced its New York City homeowners to build an interior shelf within the two-foot, wall-to-wall planters, requiring only a foot of soil, says Amber Freda of Amber Freda Home and Garden Design. The containers were then filled with hardy plants and flowers including spiral junipers, evergreens, boxwoods, arborvitaes, Alberta spruce, petunias and geraniums.