Enchanted Courtyards

I'm celebrating the outdoors this week on Travelmoon.  One of the things that made me fall in love and purchase our home is how the yard is set up as a courtyard on the side of our property.  The downstairs layout that encompasses the kitchen, dining space, and family room makes a U shape into our Master Bedroom and we have large windows looking outdoors towards this outdoor area.  

A couple of years before, I had seen some model homes in Palm Springs that were set up in a similar way with lap pools and lush vegetation.  And in Guatemala a year later, I was enchanted with the many courtyards I found.  You would open the door to a shabby looking, lackluster cement block facade and find yourself in a lush oasis.  It would make me so happy to have my own courtyard that you can look at if not step out into (when weather isn't permitting) every day complete with some sort of water feature.  Our courtyard is decidedly bare with just a slab of cement and grass, but I hope to one day turn it into something that looks like the secret gardens I fell in love with in Central America:

Casa Encantada (The Bed and Breakfast we Stayed at)

Meson Panza Verde

Images via Travelmoon