I am leaning towards doing a combination of a french drain and the sump pit/pump idea now. I think I will start a french drain up on the North side of the house where the propane line is laying on the ground in that pic.. Run it all the way down that hill, around the back by the main hill, and out the south side of the house, down the swale we have built.
On the top of the hill, we have a swale already, so the only "runoff" is water that lands on the hill its self during a downpour.
The wet area near the foot of the hill, is over 2' down from the rear of the house, and 70' away. It has never gotten close to the house, and good drainage is all around the house everywhere else. The big puddles are due to not having gutters installed yet, and it pooling by the house.
Few more pics from today to help visualize. How should I go about constructing the french drain? Do you bring the gravel to grade, or cover it with black paper and then grass it?
While it is steep, I can drive the Scag mower on the hill, up and down, not left to right...