Well living out in the country like I do makes putting up a wind turbine easier. There was the day last year when I called the municipal office to request a permit. I had all my data collected together, I'd thought through the important things to say, I'd even notified of all of my neighbours (distant though they are) to make sure nobody would have a problem with it. Then the lady at the municipal office simply said "we currently don't have a regulation for windmills, so just go ahead". She must have thought I had hung up when my jaw dropped on the table.
Anyway, it's not that easy for everyone, and starting with a 1/2 acre lot, your choices are still limited. As you learn about the rules, also find out if you can apply for a "variance". It may not cost much. I needed a variance long ago to put a shed on the edge of my property, but it only cost about 120$, so what the heck. Getting that variance may be affected by the type of turbine you put up there. A home-brewed type is probably on the bottom of the list of choices.
You wouldn't be the first guy to have a turbine blow apart and shed bits through the roof of his house. A half-acre lot is large enough that you can space it apart from the house - but that isn't the point, is it? If you want power from the turbine to feed the house, then that fixes the distance between them, not the surrounding space on the property. The surrounding property offers protection to the neighbours. The farther they are, the less likely there will be an incident.
Your reference to the south-facing house makes me think you are also considering a solar panel installation. Getting those installed and inspected can also provoke regulatory issues (reflections at the neighbours, structural loads etc.) so putting the panels on will be a good "dress rehearsal". It will help prepare for the command performance of cranking a 60-foot pole in the air.
