1990: The Courtyard
A house on nearby Sabre Creek Drive had a wonderfully landscaped yard, the most charming feature of which was a gate made of two brick pillars and a wrought iron door through which you just glimpsed a view. So I copied it.
A concern was the security of our front entrance. At Caswell, we at least had a latching storm door. I didn’t want a storm door here at the Pommel House, but I disliked answering the door and being face to face with whatever stranger rang our bell. Call me paranoid, but I didn’t like the immediate and complete disadvantage in the highly unlikely but possible event that somebody bad rang my bell.
A lot of houses in desert climates have courtyards, a skimpy version of the atrium concept. Why shouldn’t we? Craig called in a concrete truck and poured a slab. Then Sixto built us two brick columns, to which Craig tied a wooden privacy fence. Sixto laid Saultillo tile. I bought an antique Belgian wrought iron gate and had it framed to fit the entryway to the courtyard. Voila.
I was at the time much influenced also by La Pousada, a perfectly beautiful hotel in Laredo, on the border. The entire hotel is built around a courtyard that is tiled. It has a large three-tiered fountain, and bougainvillea climbs right up to the top of the second floor.
Our courtyard was a laughably smaller version, but that didn’t stop me from getting a three-tiered fountain and a bunch of tropical plants. I also got a couple of chairs and a cafe table. In the morning, we sometimes had coffee our out there.
My, but it was pretty. And hot. In the end, it turned out to be not a Spanish-style courtyard but a Dutch oven. As ever, size mattered. We contemplated this fact for several years.
It was not until we remodeled in 1999 that we reworked the courtyard, mainly because we wrecked it in the process of building the new garage, and this time we got it right. We replaced the privacy fence with wrought iron that allowed a breeze. The alley provides a steady current of air, and the garage blocks the late afternoon sun. We didn’t engineer this; it just worked out. This is another handy rule: give in and go where it wants to take you.
The picture above is not really a picture of the courtyard the way it now looks; it is a picture of a hummingbird:
