The Open Courtyard in Mexican House Design
This goes back to the Spanish roots of architecture in Mexico, and beyond that to the Mediterranean culture of the classical period. The warmth of that region spawned homes that were open to the elements. A peristyle, or inner courtyard, became the central element around which the house was organized. The various rooms of a house surrounded this interior green space.
Given a limited lot size, if you are going to have a courtyard, you will need to push the walls out to the edge of the property. Thus the Mediterranean style traded green space around a home for green space inside a home. This style carried over even to smaller homes which lack an inner courtyard. The home will have a small front yard, but walled off from the street, to create an economical version of the inner courtyard.