If you’ve found a west-facing house, which means it has an east-facing garden, you’ll be trying to decide about whether you should buy it. This list of west-facing houses pros and cons should help. But before I list these pros and cons, what is a west facing house?
On the basis you live in the Northern Hemisphere and if you are considering an west-facing house, what are the west-facing house pros and cons?
West-facing houses benefit from cooler east-facing gardens, which is good if you have kids who want to play in a shady garden. But if you love sunlight you may not like the shady back garden, as the sun will be at the front of the house in the daytime and evening.
As with anything, there are always pros and cons to consider. As far as buying a house which is west-facing, the pros and cons include.
West facing house pros and cons
What are the pros of an west-facing house?
Early morning sunlight: The windows at the back of the house and facing east will receive the early morning sun, as the sun rises in the east.
Morning sun in the back garden: West-facing houses have east facing gardens which enjoy early morning to midday sunshine. But will also enjoy the afternoon sunshine in the summer months to around 4:30pm, depending on the height of the house.
East facing rooms are bright in the mornings: The rooms at the back of the house (i.e. east-facing) will be bright first thing in the morning. This is an advantage if you like to wake up to bright natural sunlight.
Cool rooms at the back of the house in the afternoon: If you like cool rooms, the rooms at the back of the house that are facing east won’t get too hot as the midday sun will be at the right side (i.e. south side) of the house. These rear rooms will be cool for the rest of the afternoon.
Back of house kitchens will be bright in the morning: If your kitchen is at the back of the house with the window facing east, you’ll have a lovely bright kitchen in the morning.
Back garden plants that like shade will like facing east: Plants that like partial shade and need shelter from strong sunlight will thrive in an east facing back garden. The afternoon shade will protect plants from the sun at its hottest.
Back of the house will be in the shade in the afternoon: If you like afternoon shade, the back of the house will be in shade from 1-2pm.
Bright front of house rooms in the afternoon: The rooms at the front of the house, which will be facing west, will be bight and sunny in the afternoon and evening..
If you’re an early bird: Early birds who like to wake up to morning sunlight, and if your bedroom is at the back of a west-facing house, will love the morning sun.
Cool conservatories: If the west facing house has a back-garden conservatory, this will be cool.
Shade for kids in the afternoon: West-facing houses have east-facing gardens which don’t get plenty of shade in the afternoon.
Good for fair-skinned people: If you’re fair-skinned you may like the east-facing garden you have with a west-facing house, as the sun will be at the front of the house in the afternoon.
What are the cons of an west facing house?
Loss of afternoon sunshine at the back: The east-facing back garden will lose the sunshine in the afternoon.
Back of house will be in the shade in the afternoon: The back of the house will be in shade from early afternoon onwards. This will be worse in the winter months when the sun is lower in the sky.
Dark rooms at the back of the property in the afternoon: The rooms at the back of the house which are east-facing will be dark and devoid of light in the afternoon.
Front rooms get hot: The rooms at the front of a west-facing house can get very hot in the afternoon in the summer.
Shady morning front garden: The front garden will be in the shade in the morning.
Bright rooms at back of house: The rooms at the back of a house will be extremely bright first thing in the morning, which is not for everyone.
Obstacles to the south will block the sun: Tall obstacles to the right of the house (i.e. to the south) may block the afternoon sun. This is especially the case in the winter months.
Evening glare at the front of the house: As the sun sets to the west, this will get very bright for the rooms at the front of the house and create glare, which is not for everyone. Not good for watching afternoon TV in the front living room without closing the blinds or curtains.
Is west facing house good?
A west facing house is good if you don’t like your back garden too hot, as the hottest time of the day will be in the front garden which faces west. But if you like plenty of sun in your back garden, a west facing house won’t be good, so you may wish to look at an east facing house instead.
Does west facing get the sun?
The back of a west facing house gets the sun in the morning, as the sun rises in the east, whilst the front of a west-facing house and the front garden gets the sun in the afternoon. It could therefore be argued that you get the best of both worlds with an west-facing house.
Is it better for a house to face east or west? If you want to know if it’s better for a house to face east or west, please take a read of this article “Is It Better To Have Your House Face East Or West“.
Final thoughts on west facing house pros and cons
If you sleep in the rooms at the back of a west-facing house, every morning you will be able to watch beautiful sunrises out the front windows, and then every evening you can watch the sun set from the front windows.
In the summer months a reasonable length back garden will have sun all day until early evening, at which time you can to move down to the far end of the garden to get the evening sun. If you get table and chairs for both ends of the garden, you will be able to enjoy the sun at both ends of the day, with sunny breakfasts on the patio and evening BBQs at the bottom of the garden.
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Article written by Russell Bowyer who has been investing in property since purchasing his first commercial property in the 1990's for his own Chartered Accountancy business. But his first property investment project was to turn an old dilapidated restaurant into a large 5-bed home, which he purchased for £117,500 and sold for £450,000 (to see an "after" photo of the house before it was sold see here: About). Russell owns a number of investment properties, which includes houses, flats and HMO's. More recently he has turned his creative side to investing in property using lease options. His largest lease option deal to date was to acquire 12 properties worth over £2 million for just £12, which means he paid just £1 to acquire each property!
