South Facing Brownstones
Do you think there is a markedly real advantage to having a south-facing house? I definitely notice that the south side of most streets get the nice light in the front. However, if the front doesn’t face south, then your yard gets the nice light, right? Just wondering what people thought, since I’ve noticed that…
Do you think there is a markedly real advantage to having a south-facing house? I definitely notice that the south side of most streets get the nice light in the front. However, if the front doesn’t face south, then your yard gets the nice light, right? Just wondering what people thought, since I’ve noticed that I’m becoming averse to non-south facing houses when I view a potential purchase, and I wanted to know if you thought it really mattered.
Who would want all that shade of a north facing garden? How many impatiens and hostas can you grow? We have a south garden that was shaded by a large tree in the neighbor’s yard. The tree died and was removed, giving us nice sun. The one tree in our yard grew 4 feet in one year — more than it grew in the prior 5 years.
For me, it would depend upon the room arrangement. In our house, we will have our master bedroom and living room on the north side with our kitchen and backyard on the south side. Less direct sunlight is preferred in bedrooms and rooms where you watch tv while bright sun is great for having morning coffee and cooking. And a sunny garden is easier to grow things in if you have a black thumb like me (although Im sure a shady garden can also be beautiful in the right hands).
Unless the house is truly extraordinary, I really prefer south-facing homes. In my search for a brownstone, I am almost, unwisely I know, automatically ruling out any houses that are not south-facing. For me personally it’s just very important to get that direct sunlight in the front of the house. Maybe I have SAD or something.
So I guess it comes down to whether you prefer sun in the front or back of your house then, right?
From a gardening perspective, which one of these posters is more accurate:
“One advantage of south-facing homes is that the backyard is somewhat more useable, being in the shade — its easier to grow some plants/grass, and at least in Park Slope they tend to get morning sun throughout the year. By contrast yards in the sun usually need some awning or umbrella protection.”
or:
“if you have a south facing house (and thus a north garden) your house will cast its shadow in your garden, depending on whether you want a shady or a sunny garden, that can be bad or good. Most people who want to grow stuff want a south garden,”
These are contradicting each other. I know nothing about gardening currently but we are starting to dabble in the brownstone market and I’m curious about this so I can understand which type of yard would yield a better garden (for the basics- grass, manicured bushes, maybe a few flowers but nothing much).
if you have a south facing house (and thus a north garden) your house will cast its shadow in your garden, depending on whether you want a shady or a sunny garden, that can be bad or good. Most people who want to grow stuff want a south garden, and from my experience, there tend to be less of them on the market. For a while we looked at very few north (or east) garden houses, but the extra long lots in ph & ch give north gardens a leg up in this area since there is considerably more space not shaded by the house (and obviously a 4 story house will have more impact on the situation than a 3)
It doesn’t matter. Every house is a bit different. It’s up to you and how you will use your house. When you read re ads you see they either put, “south facing house” etc or “south facing garden.” both seem to be used widely.
So wait, is it more desirable to have the front facing south (so on the north side) or the front facing north (so on the south side). I’m confused. The last poster (9:59) said that this is generally less desirable, but everyone else seems to indicate that it’s more desirable (more sun in the front, less sun in the garden).
We have a North-facing garden and a South-facing front. Which is supposed to be generally less desireable, but I personally prefer it. Because I love getting sunlight through the front bay windows on both floors, that face South. It’s so cheery and pretty.