by Bailey Shelton | photos by Sarah Shields Photography; Rendering courtesy of Loren Wood Builders
HOW MIDWESTERN DESIGNERS ARE TAKING INSPIRATION FROM THE CLASSIC MEDITERRANEAN HOME FEATURE
If the favorite home designs of Indiana’s neighborhoods are any indication, it’s clear Midwestern designers are taking notes from their Mediterranean counterparts. European farmhouses, Italianate motifs, and Mediterranean retreats dominate neighborhoods like Promontory and Wild Air. In the 2025 Home-A-Rama showcase, located in Chatham Hills, aaNovo stole the show with their wellness-based home design, which included a year-round residential courtyard at the heart of the property.
“We love creating spaces that allow people to unplug and slowdown from the busyness of life,” says Abbey Robertson, co-founder and principal designer of aaNovo. “This courtyard was designed to blur the line between indoors and out, creating a private space for rest and connection.”
The benefits of courtyards extends beyond aesthetics. In hot and humid climates (think Indiana in late July), courtyards provide air circulation, all-day shade, and ease up a home’s reliance on central air for cooling.
According to one study published by Scientific Reports in 2025, there are some variables based on insulation, window-to-wall ratio, and courtyard orientation that can move the efficiency needle one way or the other. However, “Collectively, recent evidence positions the courtyard as quality-of-life infrastructure—linking thermal moderation, view quality, daylight, and privacy—within a robust spatial framework for climate-responsive residential design.”
Courtyards create a “microclimate,” which essentially means the environment within the courtyard behaves differently than the surrounding landscape. This could mean a difference in average temperature, wind, daylight, and even humidity created by the enclosed space of the courtyard.
In hot climates, the air circulation and shade created can lower the temperature and energy needs of adjacent rooms. For colder places, courtyards can be designed to minimize wind and insulate the building. In temperate climates, a circular courtyard like the one in Oregon’s Courtyard House, designed by No Architecture, meets both summer and winter in the middle, expanding daylight during shorter days and providing shade during the height of summer. This project is also slightly “burrowed” into its hillside, which breaks up wind as it hits the home and doubles as extra insulation.
One case study examined the Courtyard of the Maidens in the Royal Alcazar of Seville, Spain, over the course of three years. The group routinely gathered data on humidity and ambient temperature, concluding not only that the historic Seville courtyard’s microclimate regulated temperatures, but also that overall the design of the space minimized stress to the heritage plasterwork and decorative elements, meaning that part of the building was more resilient over time.
In a related concept, David Watts, landscape designer at Loren Wood Builders, refers to their individual outdoor spaces as “outdoor rooms.” For Watts, whether it’s the back patio, the front stoop, the garden outside an office space, or an enclosed courtyard next to a laundry room, these outdoor rooms behave as their own living space with functionality and environmental factors to balance.
In one recent project near Columbus, Indiana, the Loren Wood team designed a modern residential into a hilltop, with courtyards opening up on two wings of the home. A statue in one of the courtyards offers a reflective moment and focal point for the neighboring laundry room and home gym, while the other courtyard provides a private entrance to the owner’s home office. According to Watts, the design language of the courtyard had to clue people in on its intended use.
“Being so close to the guest parking area, we wanted to make sure there was no mistake that this was not the front door of the house…So using sandstone, natural stone as stepping stones through the garden area makes it a little more informal and still provides that access.”
The home itself is heavily informed by the surrounding landscape. Ernesto Castaneda, design principal at Loren Wood Builders, says he was inspired by the terrain in sketching up the linear design of the home.
“Landscape design just goes beyond planting and trees,” says Castaneda, “Obviously David has the vision of how to complement everything, but they go hand in hand. They are not pulling against each other.”
Although it is more modern by design, it does resemble the work of modern Mediterranean residentials. Tuckey Design, based in London, recently completed a Lake Como villa that speaks the same design language with its courtyard: a three wall layout flanked by glass hallway. The firm was handed an industrial shell, and with it they opened up the property to reflect the surrounding views. The courtyard between the kitchen and primary bedroom acts as a secondary dining space, and its companion between the living room and a secondary bedroom uses concrete pavers to connect to the pool and patio.
For Castaneda, courtyards feel second nature because of the homes he grew up in.
“I think in some ways it has to do with cultural background. I grew up with this as a normal part of my life, as little kids running around in Spain. For me this is just part of what we grew up with and we just simply incorporated it as part of our designs. I think we recognize and value these spaces as part of a good quality of life. I hope people see them as good design qualities.”
As midwestern homeowners continue to strive for a higher quality of life, we may yet see a continued interest in courtyards for residential properties, shifting what Americans see as must-haves for their home. With a boost to energy, air quality, and time spent outside, there seems to be little downside in exploring what courtyards can do.
