Replacing the Hut Courtyard Would Make a Difference

I find it hard to blame the boys in the house if the courtyard looks like a shambles. The patio is a broken mess. These hut rooms are unpopular because the area is unattractive.

Now that summer is over and the renters are out, the active men of our brotherhood are moved back in, and will soon have the courtyard cleared again. But they can't do enough to make it look clean. It's hard to sweep, and you can't hose it off because the water won't drain. Here's a photo I took last winter on a rainy game day.

The courtyard is a puddle. That's not a river down the middle, the water shows where the trench was for an emergency drainage repair involving the sewer and storm drains. This happened during the recent renovation a couple years back. A real monkey wrench in that job. Also added in excess of $20,000 to the cost of the renovation.

This courtyard is a discredit to our beautiful, historic house.