The stone you're showing, while one can make a path out of it, is not really the best path material. A stone that includes all particle sizes down to sand & dust packs to a better walking surface. While it drains, it doesn't suck water in like a sieve, as does the stone comprised of one particle size (as above.) You would need to grade walk to drain and could abut house if you use proper material. This presumes you don't already have foundation problems with water infiltration.

perforated pipe in a trench with a slight pitch toward the back yard, covered with landscape cloth that can be penetrated by water, then covered with pea gravel, road base, or the like. right along the fence line. the rest of the concrete walk just break up and replace with new, but slope just slightly from the house (up side) out to the place where the pipe lies so water will run away from the house rather than pool and run down the sides of the foundation. you may need to do something like a French drain at the back where the water from the pipe will flow. if you don't like the look of regular concrete sidewalks you can get them molded or stamped to look like almost any surface, get them stained, imbed things in the concrete, etc. best wishes

Thanks Yardvaark... The walk will end where my superimposed line ends, and the door is right behind where I am standing in that picture. There will be a wood porch reaching out to just over the pavers. The planned elevation change from the driveway level to the top of the walk is 6" (at 2%.) In the first picture, the driveway is just off-picture on the right (the walkway takes a 90 turn to the right, but the low/driveway elevation is the same across that far end you can see in the picture.) One approach being considered is having the low spot at that "shoulder" you see on Pic 1 on the left where the walk narrows from ~10' wide to ~5'. I can dispose of the water there as it will drop right into the new drainage trench. The challenge is still that I'd be starting at the lowest spot (driveway level, and working down to that corner. I'd be below normal yard grade at that point, but it may be doable? Thanks again to both of you for your thoughts.

Littlebug, I have to mention that what you just described has nothing to do with the word 'level,' which has a very specific meaning. It is not only straight and smooth, but also without ANY SLOPE AT ALL. So it would not work for following a slight uphill grade as the OP is doing here. What you are describing may be valid for his use, it is just not "level." Maybe it could be called a uniform slope. Lantern, where you're potentially going to get into trouble with this system is at the beginning of the walk and at the end of it .... exactly the places not included in your picture! Keep in mind that these are the two areas where the surface of your new walk must meet the surfaces of existing walks. Possibly, one end of the walk could be the landing for porch steps. (I don't know. I can't see it!) At any rate, you'll need to excavate to the thickness of the walk pavers at those locations in order that surfaces meet. Then, you'll want to gently blend the grade of the excavated area with the main portion of the walk such that there is no sudden rise, bend or dip that would be felt by a pedestrian's feet. If prior to placing any concrete, you prepare the base of the walk (what holds the pavers at their proper elevation) to be smooth, flat and uniform, and also account for and include the excavations at both ends, you'll be able to set the mold on top of this base and not need to worry about unevenness or trip hazards. A smooth base with a smooth layer on top of it equals a smooth finish surface. It looks like the existing walk is gravel, which is fine as a base for the new walk. If excavations at the end make what remains less than 2 1/2" thickness, technically, you should remove some soil below it and rebuild gravel to the 3" or greater compacted thickness. I realize that's probably something most people would ignore because of the work involved. If allowed, FYI, it could cause premature settling of those areas. As Gardengal mentioned, you'll need a subterranean restraint edging along the walk side edges in order that the individual pavers don't migrate outward, which is guaranteed to happen if you don't have it. Will you finish the walk with sand between the paver joints? It will need it. I'm not quite seeing how you're going to accommodate the curve of the walk if your paver molds are rectilinear. I think you'd be better off to find some kind of paver you could dry lay (on your nicely prepared base) and fit it around the curve. It would be easier and faster than working with the wet concrete, piece by piece. (Dry-laying pavers is best done on a smoothly screeded sand setting bed. I'm not going to describe it here, but it is not difficult. Then it is tamped to make a smooth, durable surface. A manual tamper would work for your small project. )