Looks like you have a great site to work with! Nice house! You can visit my web site for ideas on patios at www.allterrascape.com

Here is a link that might be useful: All Terra Landscape Services LLC

How do you plan to use this area? What is beyond the flat area - a road, a neighbor, or??? Is there a need for privacy? What style garden do you like? What level of maintenance are you prepared to do? So many choices depending on your answers. :-)

buymyemu, are the stones stacked without cement or did you use polymeric sand? They look to be standing on their own. ;o)

If you were to stand looking at the walkout door, to your left, 500 feet away is a street. there is nothing but field, so some screening would be required.

Behind you, headed south, is the property line, about 200 feet, then another 80 feet to a neighbor's house, again, no trees, just field.
To your right, 250 feet away is a horse fence, no screening required.

For the firepit area I was thinking an "up north" type feel, white pines, ferns, pine needle mulch with some screening between the patio and the pit.

Right now the firepit area is about 2 feet higher then the patio. I am going tohave a bulldozer take that down some as I wantthe path from the main patio to the pit to contain no steps, just a slope

The patio area would be standard, a grill, table, chairs for the sun, maybe a hot tub later.

I have a huge deer problem, anything they can eat is gone quickly.

Before I start laying any pavers (lots of excavation to do), I was wondering about size/shape of the patio, any suggestions/ideas?

As for the boulders, I took a few down, looks like they are dry stacked, with landscape fabric behind them, and then compacted sand. The short wall in the front looks like just dry stacked with fabric, then soil behind.