Countryside Gardens—Garden Homes in St. Tammany!

One reason many people moved to St. Tammany in years past was because they wanted the space and large yard of a traditional home. The large yards were especially attractive to families with children. Now years later, the children have grown and left home, and maintaining the yard that was once so important is now a burden, sapping free time that could be spent in more enjoyable pursuits.

A west St. Tammany subdivision named Countryside Gardens is introducing to this area a style of home design popular around the country and which lessens yard work for homeowners wanting to spend more time on themselves.

Lots of privacy, less yard work!

Garden homes, also known as patio homes or “zero lot line” homes, significantly reduce the home’s yard area without sacrificing the privacy most homeowners desire. Each home is set on one side of the lot only inches from the property line, creating a 20’ to 30’ wide courtyard on the other side of the house. The side brick wall of the neighbor’s home (which has no windows) serves as backdrop for the courtyard, creating the privacy many think can only be achieved with large spaces between neighbors.

The interior of the home is designed to focus attention towards the courtyard, allowing it to become an integral part of the inside living experience. In a garden home, it is very common for a homeowner to be seated at their dining room table and have a fountain or bird feeder just a few feet away and in full view through a large window. Many homeowners light up their courtyard at night with accent lighting to create an authentic French Quarter courtyard setting.

In Countryside Gardens, each homeowner owns his own lot and is free to express their landscaping creativity while leaving the job of cutting grass to others. Homeowners maintain only the area within their courtyard and any front yard gardens, while the Homeowner’s Association maintains the front lawn and the common areas that create huge wooded areas behind the homes. You have your privacy but won’t feel crowded-there is so much acreage within the common areas that the subdivision is in actuality a low density development!

Don’t be fooled—all “garden homes” are not created equal!

Many St. Tammany developers call their homes “garden homes” but the homes are close together and have windows on both sides, reducing a homeowner’s privacy rather than increasing it. This is no different from the typical homes that have been built for the last fifty years in New Orleans and Metairie. Yes, there is less yard work but the so-called “garden home” is really just a small house on a small lot.

Secondly, in many of these developments, the homeowner does not own the land within the yard areas. The yards are owned by the Homeowner’s Association and have many restrictions on homeowner use or what gardens may be planted in them. In Countryside Gardens subdivision, your home will be on an individual lot that is your own. Your home ownership is the same as in any typical St. Tammany parish single family home subdivision.