That size atrium or courtyard will work wonderfully! I think there are a number of such homes at Sea Ranch, and to judge size and usability you can search on "Eichler homes".

Developer Joseph Eichler and his many archtiects designed wonderful atrium homes for families. We had a great one in Palo Alto for many years.

Good luck on your project.

virgilcarter: I did the search you suggested and it was helpful. Thank you so much for the quick reply!

You might consider a central courtyard created like a "U" that is called a "Clo" in the French "Mas" design

Here is some info that describes what I'm referring to:

Here is a link that might be useful: Mas Design

oldworlddreamer: Lovely! Beautiful, in fact. Wonderful design. Sadly, my budget does not allow me the luxury of such expansive square footage. I am working hard to make this baby smaller (and smaller) without losing its charm. So far, so good. But there is SO MUCH MORE to be done.

I deeply appreciate your generosity in sharing this with me and welcome all suggestions. Thank you!

You're welcome! The same idea can work on a scaled down variation - Here's a sketch I did with the Mas concept with the Clo - this one I call the Italianate since it has an Italian balcony with arches in the front. I think the square footage of this design is 3,200 sq ft.

Here are more sketches of a scaled down design with a 'clo' also my apologies for any errors - I am strictly amateur!

Here is a link that might be useful: Italianate Design

oldworlddreamer: I really want the atrium/courtyard enclosed on all 4 sides/surrounded by the house itself and not open to the outside world at all. Except the sky, of course! For privacy and security and a variety of other reasons. I would love any input regarding whether this is a bad idea as it seems like a great one to me. Also, I must stay under 3000 square feet in honor of my limited budget and the horrendously expensive costs of building in my neck of the woods. My current plan is just over 2700 square feet and I cannot seem to reduce the square footage beyond that without losing important aspects of the home. Again, thank you!

Years ago we had a house with a central atrium with a skylight - button quail, canaries and a fish pond - canaries even had offspring! It was in a house just over 2,000 sq ft - so it can be done. Good luck with your dreams & your design!

oldworlddreamer: That sounds exquisite! Why did you move? And thank you for your generous good wishes. I am committed to making this dream a reality. I need all the good luck I can get!

I hope I'm being clear in my description. I am going to return to using the word "courtyard" (rather than atrium, which seems a bit more ambiguous) as the M-W definition is entirely accurate: "Courtyard: an open space that is surrounded completely or partly by a building or group of buildings."

In my case, the central courtyard will be an open space (entirely open to the sky) surrounded completely by the home (on all 4 sides). I still hope to hear from those who have words of wisdom and/or experience to share regarding this concept.

We also live on the Central Coast and will be designing and building a home here. Our home will be about the same size as yours. We, too, are interested in including a courtyard - both because I love them and to allow us to enjoy the outdoors when it is windy. While we have not come up with a solution or design, I have done considerable online searching on this issue. It is difficult to get a full courtyard with a home of this size. We expect to use our garage as one of the walls of the courtyard. The other thing I have seen frequently is to include a wall or fence (that is not part of the square footage of the home) to fully enclose the courtyard. I will be watching your post to see what ideas others come up with.

FRANCINE- look at homes with Casitas that naturally form the courtyard you are looking for. There is a nice display house in Houston that is called the Casa Lana that incorporates an outdoor fireplace to provide the 4th wall. We opted for a 3 sided u shape visble in this picture.

musicgal: Nice floor plan! It looks like you're going to have a beautiful home. Thanks for the tip. I am still wanting my courtyard to be COMPLETELY enclosed on all four sides by my house. We will see if it ever comes to be. Again, thank you.