If you can, a shallow swale would be better than a french drain.

I am not sure why everyone is so quick to suggest swales over a French drain - they do not do the same thing nor are they designed to do the same thing!! A swale is a water collection or retention element: a French drain is a drainage element, intended to move water away from a specific location, not hold it for any length of time. They can't/shouldn't be used interchangeably.

Besides that, a swale is a permanent indentation in the landscape contour and is a very awkward feature to have to deal with in a smallish enclosed space, such as the above narrow side yard. A French or curtain drain will be invisible. But if you've never installed one yourself, I'd get some experienced (even professional) help. They are a lot of work and need to be designed and constructed properly.

A swale can be graded to provide across the surface drainage in the same way that the French drain provides under the surface drainage. I have both on my property.

My basement leaks during these heavy rains. Do yourself a favor and fix the problem, don't put a band-aid on it. The whole side of the home needs to be waterproofed AND a french drain installed. A dry and tight basement is a huge selling point. If the garage does not have an door into the home a new wider walk will also be an asset. Rather pricey - yes...and worth every penny.

Thanks for the comments. I thought of digging down to the footing, but quite frankly the leaking issue is not that bad as it leaks only a handful of times each year. The leaking is minor and just drains away in a floor drain. I don't plan on living in this house too long so I'd rather not spend too much money on it.

Does anyone have any input on my plans for the drain?

If you are not going to dig down to waterproof the wall then I would opt for solution “b” because it captures the source of the runoff water further away from the foundation, which would stop the ground from being as saturated close to the house. It does not look like you have any room to raise the grade against the house because you are going to be burying brick if you do.
Consequently, along with your French drain, I would remove and re-lay the walkway at a lower grade ( also sloping slightly towards your French drain) so that you can also get the surface grade to slope away from the house towards your drain.

Wow thanks Kivi. I'll have to look into the walkway.

Unless there is a row of brick buried by the grass, when I compare the sidewalk to both concrete slabs in the photo, the sidewalk appears to be slightly lower than both, making the sidewalk lower than the bottom of the lowest brick. If true, you may be able to regrade without removing the sidewalk. If you go with a swale, it should be 10ft from the foundation and expect it to take a bit of time to dry after a big storm. The reason I prefer to move water above ground is that a large storm will not overload the system.

Could there be a drainpipe contributing to the basement leak? Have you traced the source of the leak? Can you duplicate the leak by pouring water in the area?

Good luck!

Option b make sure to use the correct fabric around the French drain even on top so the soil doesn't fill the voids around the rocks over time. I'd take it to the road if you could.