Q: When we bought our 1942 house nine years ago, it came with a brick retaining wall 35 feet long and 4½-to-5½ feet tall. Holding up the stairs to our front door, it was already leaning to one ...

The side elevations rise sheer with limited fenestration ... bands of rebar and brick every few courses, supplementing the screen with horizontal bracing. Past the screen wall, the courtyard ...