I'm not sure why they don't allow the courtyards to work. They don't just restrict you from locking anything down in that area, they also prevent you from recalling into that area with a marked rune. You can't log your char out in that area. The whole inner courtyard isn't actually apart of the house apparently. Even though when you look at it from a stranger's perspective, that land cannot be accessed unless the owner of the castle allows you access to it. I seriously doubt the whole tree thing inside and the ability to place a castle has anything to do with the ability to use that inner area. When a castle is private any mob or monster that spawns inside that area moves even a single square is kicked to the front. That means that the inner courtyard is registered as being under the castle owner's restrictions. Alternatively, when a player that does not have access is in that same area and the castle is made private, if he moves same thing happens. I do think that the courtyard needs to be looked at for player use. I get tired of looking at my grass one looking so bare.
Now, as for placing castles... thats a whole new story. It's not difficult to place them. There are so many spots throughout trammel and felucca that hold them. I could think of at least 30 in trammel alone off the top of my head. The problem with that is there's usually another player's house in the way. I've actually had the pleasure of placing more than 8 myself (not on TC). It's just a matter of what shard you play and how well you pay attention to open land.
