The courtyard was born of architect Steve Kemp's vision for a truly green design. A central outdoor space replaces the conventional backyard, which would have required excess soil displacement and construction of retaining walls. "Now the 'yard' is open to almost every room in the house, rather than being open to one or two rooms," he says.

Composite decking forms a solid foundation for the courtyard, where a cedar and galvanized metal pipe awning has potential to shade interior spaces if used as a trellis for flowering vines.

With Georgia's moderate weather conditions, the courtyard provides a second dining area nine months out of the year. "I could seriously see having breakfast out there every day," says interior designer Linda Woodrum.

HGTV Green Home was designed to accommodate parties, large and small. Both sets of sliding French doors in the Georgia room open to allow traffic to disperse from the front porch through the Georgia room to the courtyard, and, with accordion doors open, into the kitchen, living room and courtyard beyond.