Have you checked to see if you have any municipal or township regulations you need to follow? I'd want to make certain I knew what was allowed before I got my heart set on a design plan.

Perhaps my area is especially regulation-happy, but in my neighborhood, fire pits are not allowed, period. Half a mile away, the rules are completely different; permission varies, depending on the specific container or pit that you're using. Two miles away, there's a third set of rules. It's maddening.

No, I am out in the country where there are absolutely no rules (thankfully) for a fire pit. I've checked... :)

You might consider a portable metal fire pit that can easily be moved around. Typically you want to locate a fire pit with sufficient room for seating that can be grouped around the pit, while still leaving room to get close or stay away depending on how cold/hot it is. Built-in fire pits don't have nearly as much flexibility, as well as usually costing more, and need to factor in such things as available space, and whether prevailing winds will be blowing smoke into your eyes with fixed seating arrangements. Try using a portable barbecue first to get an idea of what works best given your space, usage of different areas, and prevailing winds at the time of day/season you will want the fire pit going.

Ok, I have to laugh at the idea of built-in fire pits costing more, since ours was free! Our ds wanted to dig holes while we were starting our garden, so dh sent him to dig in a mysterious low area. It turned out to be where the previous owners had had their fire pit, so we let him keep digging out until he had a rough circle. These past few summers have been incredibly wet, so we haven't bothered to do anything around the edge, tho I'd love to get some rocks or something eventually to keep the edge of the lawn from getting singed. It may not be in the ideal location, but ds would be very upset if we ever tried to move it, lol!

The way we have dealt with having a permanently located fire pit is to only use portable seating, so we just move the chairs around instead of moving the fire pit.

Alicate,
I live in an area where evenings are often not only chilly but windy as well. I love the outdoors and convincing my husband to sit outside and relax with a glass of wine at the end of the day has always been difficult because of the chill. I thought a fire pit would be a solution and bought a portable one thinking I could use it at different seating locations on our property. What I quickly learned was it burnt and killed the grass below and the smoke from the fire pit was always blowing relentlessly at someone no matter how many times we rearranged our seating.
Having given up on the fire pit I was thrilled when I saw a relative had solved the smoke issue by using an old pot belly stove (American chiminea) they had found in their tool shed. It didn't take me too long before I found and dragged home an old rusty pb stove that did a great job keeping us warm but admittedly was an ugly beast that didn't quite fit in with the patio furniture or even the Adirondack lawn chairs, so as we are replacing out of necessity our old patio we are adding a fireplace...now if this doesnÂt work I suppose I will have to learn to drink my wine in front of the tv.
Personally I would suggest that you don't locate your fire pit close to your deck and house as frankly the last thing you want is smoke being drafted into an open house window. I also think that the fire pit is a destination wouldn't it be nice if you had not only a patio area where people liked to gather but the fire pit area as well. The seating for the fire pit will come over time don't base your decision on where your picnic table is. Katy

Tough call for me due to the variables about how and where you like to sit, cook out, have separate areas for different age groups, or what.

Runktrun had a good comment that suggests looking at the various things we need to feel "comfortable". Often shelter from wind is very important or at least a sense of enclosure. And how cold it gets, and how much heat is thrown off by the fire pit vs. whether you mostly plan to toast marshmallows and enjoy ambience. Think campfires--sure, they can be warm, but only if quite large, you're right up close, no wind, and then mostly one side (of you) is warm and the other side... Plus the smoke thing is underappreciated--it's a fire, after all, and so, you smell like it even ifyou keep moving around.

Is your "away" location a place that is inherently attractive (or could be made so), or would you only go there in fire season ? Would having an out of the way fire pit create a worry or nuisance about having to have someone out there starting it, watching it, etc.(not as much if a big stone pit ). Or, is it kinda the opposite--best to have it away from the house and let it be rustic and smoky and so have 2 options--the smoky crowd vs not, rather than smoking up the patio. I think that's the angle the outdoor radiant heaters try to get at--clean, put out a lot of heat (maybe).

I have friends that have been able to put it on the deck itself even with a specially designed mat that keeps the heat away from the deck.