Q, When davening in the backyard, if the Sefer Torah is kept on an aron inside the family room that has a door open to the porch and can be seen from there, do you fall tachanun on your face then?
A. Remah (O.H. 131:2) rules that on a chotzer or courtyard open to the shul, one falls tachanun on the face. Mishna Berura (13) explains that if one can see from where he is a part of the aron, it is considered as being in front of it.
Horav Shlomo Miller's Shlit'a opinion is that our case is similar.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as advised by Horav Shlomo and Horav Aharon Miller Shlit'a
Important Numbers
