Courtyard houses

[bunnymendelbaum]

TBM

Does your courtyard house ever freak you out in regards to break-ins, ppl being in the outside spaces?

DH and I have always wanted a courtyard house and that is sort of what we have drawn up, but last night he left to go out while I put the girls to bed and he didn't lock the door. I thought I heard someone downstairs and got freaked out. Then I started wondering if I am too much of a scared-y cat to live in a courtyard house.
Would a security system help in that type of house? Yours is not completely walled right?

[munkii]

Many of my family members in Mexico have courtyard houses, and I've never felt unsafe while staying with them. I know it's a little different for a few weeks versus a lifetime, but if it makes you feel better, my ninety-something year old grandma lived in one until she passed away and never had any problems.

[bunnymendelbaum]

Munkii- I'm assuming her courtyard was completed walled right? Ours would not be.

[TBM]

Not really, although now that the property has been cleaned up and there isn't as much scary brush keeping someone from going around to the backyard, maybe I should be more concerned. I'm really not that person though. I have a healthy concern for safety and privacy, but I am not going to imagine bad people lurking everywhere.

Most people think that our front door is really the front door, and and have no clue that the courtyard is there.

The door has a deadbolt, and is at least a deterrent. When we expand/redefine the courtyard space, we will put a keyed latch on the gate to the backyard. When we put the dog run in on the side of the studio, we will fence in the front/side so that there isn't easy access to the backyard.

[munkii]

Jul 19, 2013 8:23:38 GMT -5 bunnymendelbaum said:

Munkii- I'm assuming her courtyard was completed walled right? Ours would not be.

There was a gate, a small entry, the courtyard, then access to the house. The gate was never locked. Never.

[Marmee]

I love them & my first house was a J-shaped floor plan with 4 French doors opening out to the patio & it was really cool.  That house had 6 exterior doors total & I won't lie it freaked me out & we did have a break in with out any actual break in so we left a door open.  I lived in central Las Vegas & theft was rampant so I don't think the situation was the same as you'll have.  We did have an alarm...we didn't set it. . But I'd love another house with that layout (plus a basement)--we both loved it.  Oh and our "courtyard" was in the back, not front so it's a bit different than what you are talking about I think.

[pitterwoo]

why are courtyards extra lurky?

[treedimensional]

It would never enter my mind to feel apprehension about a courtyard. Unless I was to see some real data, I just would never feel concerned about security.

A lot of law enforcement agencies have policies about vegetation, claiming that criminals lurk in foundation plantings. There is NO DATA to support this, but there is plenty of data showing a direct correlation between increasing landscape plantings and LOWER crime rates.

[new2this]

I love courtyards! I lived in a house with a courtyard for a while. It had a full 6 foot fence / bricks. There was a tall gate to enter the courtyard. From there you could access the house via 3 doors - the front door, a kitchen door, and a door into the laundry room. The gate was never ever locked but the doors always were. I never felt apprehensive about it at all. I'm generally fairly security conscious. In a lot of ways it actually made me feel safer because it was much more obvious when people came into the courtyard than it would have been for someone to walk into an open front yard, kwim? There were plenty of lights in the courtyard so if I heard a noise or something I could just flip on the lights and see if someone was in the courtyard.

[bunnymendelbaum]

We did a redesign and I think the courtyard is out. This whole discussion has made me realize what a scaredy cat I am tho.

[stever]

My dad's got one and I never felt unsafe staying there.

[niknik]

I love courtyards, I would love to have one. We actually want to build one in front of our home which is very mid century looking with a carport and has no curb appeal whatsoever. I have lived in courtyard homes before and I'm a scaredy cat but it never freaked me out anymore than any other home. Our home now has 6 exterior doors and that freaks me out more than a courtyard would.

I would be terrible in designing my dream home because there would be so much I would want to incorporate and wouldn't have room for it all. I would be changing my mind constantly.