After checking with my municipality to see if there were any relevant restrictions I would fence the whole lot out to the edge if it were mine. And I would go the full height allowed, with a solid wood fence.

I appreciate that fencing it in as much as possible would maximize privacy, but would it be in keeping with curb appeal? I want to improve the curb appeal of the side landscape while clearly indicating that it's the side not the front.

Our neighborhood is smaller, and most corner homes have not fenced in this side corner front. At the same time, most do not have so deep a space on the side corner front, nor do many have the side door that could confuse someone into thinking it's a front door.

The curb appeal concept that keeps being alluded to during other postings here = having the front of the house in full view of the street. So apparently you are not going to have any of what seems to be getting called curb appeal these days with any level of fencing in front of the house.

You won’t be able to fence onto the sidewalk, you have to be able to see people on the sidewalk and cars on the road, call your municipality first of all to ask what the setback is.

...when you back out of your driveway

I think I understand what you're saying, but at the same time if there is a nice border planting in front of the fence--even if it's just low shrubs with a few perennials--wouldn't that still be attractive? Technically this is the side of the house anyway, so I don't expect it to be amazing. But it's feels like it should be attractively maintained since it's in public view.

Courtyard enclosures have curb appeal... for what reason wouldn't something like that be possible here?

Not trying to be contrary, just trying to understand. If I'm asking a designer to create something impossible, maybe I need to adjust my expectations?

Kindly add some more pics of your home and your landscaping on the other side. The plantings on this side appear to be overgrown and in need of pruning, the house portion is too hidden and shaded to determine the style of your home and an appropriate style of fencing. Hip roof sided bungalow?

I used to live on a similar corner lot....driveway on one street and the main entry on the other. A similar need for privacy and to direct visitors to the proper entry was solved by enclosing a patio with a fence - essentially creating a courtyard - off the drive and the side of the house. Not too dissimilar to the OP's mock up except that it was enclosed on all three sides. Gated to both the drive and to the front entry garden

There are some considerations to keep in mind. Fence height - as it is not the front of the house but the side and is not delineating a property line but well inside those limits, height is not typically restricted unless governed by an HOA. In my area, you can see courtyard walls/fences as high as 8'. But check with your local municipal regulations first. Second is setbacks - as long you observe those requirements, where the fence to enclose a patio is located is up to the homeowner (unless of course governed by an HOA). Again, check with your local municipality as every locale can address this with slightly different regulations.

I'll try to find out more about the fence...at minimum it needs a 3' setback and no higher than 3'. Even a fence that is inside of the trees would create a small private space, I guess I need to consider whether or not that would be worth the cost. I need to find out if there is any possibility of a 5' fence.

If I cannot install anything that would create real privacy, then I don't want to bother with a fence at all and would rather just get rid of the lawn and underplant the trees with shrubs/perennials/groundcovers to make the front and this side cohesive (but making this be clearly a side), widen the driveway, and put up a sign that tells people to go the front door around the corner I guess. Now that the plants have gotten overgrown, the door isn't visible to the street except at night when the light is on.

Here are some photos of the front. Yes things have gotten overgrown, the style of this landscape when we moved in was that everything was a tight rectangle or ball. In the process of letting things get a more natural shape, it became very clear they are too close to the house so most or all of the foundation shrubs probably need to be taken out or hedged (dislike the hedging option). Also the lawn makes our water bill high and it's mainly there for the neighborhood dogs :-P So I want to take it all out. The house is a 60s suburban ranch style.

The front of the house faces south, so again the shade is needed. BUT I dislike that the house is hidden AND at the same time it doesn't feel at all private.

Some of the things I'm thinking of taking out:

Both purple leaf plums are at the end of their lifespan according to the arborist, and the one I've "x"ed out has Ganoderma fungus at the base. She said the "x" tree could probably live a few more years so we've had it treated and will be cleaned up soon along with the other...buying some time while I dither over the landscape re-do. One idea I had was to flank the front entrance yard on either side of the house with 'Natchez' crape myrtles. We love them and they do very well here, and the arborist said we have enough space. I'd like to keep their canopy open and high so that we get shade without blocking the front of house!

The "?" is a planting of two Feijoa sellowiana; they are too close to the front door walkway, and the walk needs redoing and to be less curved to the left. Right now they are dropping fruit daily. Currently undecided whether to remove the Feijoa, or cut them down and allow to regrow in a prettier vase form, or leave them alone and just raise the canopy and accept all the strange branching.

Behind the Feijoa are four meyer lemons that have been hedged for years. The bases are 2.5' at most from the house. I'm thinking about taking out 3 and allowing one of the bushes on the left to grow into a small ornamental tree...but again it might just be too close to the house and needs to go.

I am in the process of trying to hire a designer, but I want to be sure my expectations are realistic and I want to be able to be more clear/reasonable when I tell them what I'm looking for in a design. Barriers to a productive design, on my end, are that I'm indecisive and I cannot find an online example of a front corner like ours that is landscaped in a way I like, and I'm struggling with trusting someone to create something I'd like. Examples they've shown are either huge yards with more normal layouts, or corners that the front side connected to the back.

One last goal I had for a re-design: all around the footprint of the house, about 4' from the foundation, are approximately 20 "moss rocks" that are about 2-3' in diameter. I'd really like to incorporate them as more a feature somehow. I wanted a designer to figure that out though, once they are moved we really don't want to move them again.

Here's one example of a yard I quite like:

gardengal48 -- did you find you used your enclosed patio space? I could imagine myself sitting out there on summer weekend mornings or any time during winter. Summer afternoons once the sun it setting it wouldn't be very nice.

Also, what did you mean that it was enclosed on three sides with two gates? I've been trying to visualize your fenced space.

It would also be great to have a little herb garden out there as it's very close to the kitchen.

Since there was no access to the backyard at all from inside the house, the courtyard was our primary outdoor entertaining area. It had access from the back door as well as a door that opened off the dining room. We used it all year round - BBQ'ing, morning coffee, evening drinks or dinners. It was also large enough to accommodate a potting bench and storage for garden stuff, numerous potted containers and my pet rabbits' condominium :-) When my daughter was still small, she was allowed free range to play out there in complete safety. We even put her wading pool there! It ran the whole length of the side of the house and was 18' deep.

Curb appeal

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curb_appeal

As repeatedly discussed here on Garden Web there seems to be this consistent idea that the term refers specifically to the public presentation of the front of a house and its immediate vicinity - as in for instance whether or not to have shutters, what colors to paint certain components, and what to plant in foundation beds.

Embothrium I guess I'm missing something that you are trying to convey. Are you suggesting that curb appeal and privacy are mutually exclusive? Or is it more that you're generally disdainful of the concept of "curb appeal"? I DO want our yard to look attractive, both in the private and public-facing spaces. I don't like our yard right now, and I do want to create something that will enhance our neighborhood.

If I cannot achieve privacy -- and that may be the case due to the fencing limitations of our corner front yard -- then I will have to accept that and move forward. I may still want to put up a 4' ornamental fence to create a bit of a barrier. Our neighborhood is mostly unfenced, grassy front yards but some are starting to change all that and take out the lawns.

I saw a front yard this evening where they installed a patio space right out in the front, not even a courtyard; the space is enclosed by a 4' privacy fence and they also hung lights around it and planted trees. I think it looks like it could be enchanting when everything is more mature.

I'm thinking of re-posting a new thread. I just want ideas for getting some privacy from the exposure of corner lot.

Honestly I'd rather not install fencing mainly due to the budget. We're expanding the driveway, re-doing the front walk, and if I transition to a low-water front yard then the irrigation system needs re-do also.

When the designer was here for consult, she kept talking fencing. The cost of a new design is part of the investment, but if fencing is the only option for privacy then I need to rethink because there are other projects that are also $$.

How can I know whether or not some privacy and a more intimate feeling can be achieved without fencing? Before I pay for a design that may be disappointing?