House orientation

[Etxnoodler]

Building a house soon and thinking about orientation. Thinking front north and back porch facing south to catch a breeze in summer and not get roasted by evening sun? Any pros or cons to diffrent directions? Not worried about orienting with road too much.

[Shane]

We're about 3/4 finished with our build right now. I sat ours with front door facing southeast. Back door faces NW, porch in the middle of the house with master suite on SW side of the house extending further back. So the entire L-shaped back patio will be shaded all day until sunset. We'll get some sunset views late in the evening looking out across the wooded back yard to the coastal field beyond. Lots of deer.... Morning sun comes in the living room windows early.

[Sleepy]

Building a house soon and thinking about orientation. Thinking front north and back porch facing south to catch a breeze in summer and not get roasted by evening sun? Any pros or cons to diffrent directions? Not worried about orienting with road too much.

What’s the setting?

Ours is facing north with back to the south. Lots of big pines and oaks

It’s been heck trying to find the right shrubs for the front. Very little sun all day and then gets pounded by the evening sun. It is a direct correlation to the way the house sits in relation to the sun.

We do enjoy the southerly breeze on the patio and then the house is a wind blocker in the winter.

If I had my choice, assuming I have the trees I do, front would face east and back would be to the west. If I had no shade from trees, front facing the north or north west would be it assuming you spend a decent amount of time on the patio in the summer.

[IowaHunter]

It depends on the property layout. But for me I prefer front facing west and back to the east. When people are visiting it’s not a furnace in the backyard come summertime.

[txhoghunter2]

Back porch facing east. Awesome place to have coffee in the morning, plus shade in the evening.

[TX_Hoghunter]

Ours faces southeast but it depends on the situation. We spend a lot of time on the front porch but then again even if you stood on top of my house you cannot see a neighbor. If you have neighbors I think I would face the back porch where you had the most privacy.

-john

[tpack]

We built our house facing 324° NW (front) and 146° SE (back) because of the way the county road runs. It has been great. We have lived in 3 different homes and they all have been almost the same direction. I`ve had a few friends with their back yards facing the west and they all hated it. My son had his 1st house facing the west and the front door could fry an egg in the afternoon.

[toledo]

Face it towards the road or drive entrance. Nothing worse than the face of a house oriented in a way that it never gets seen or used. Might as well build a square box with a door.

[brokeno]

Back porch facing east.