Of all the considerations of home building in Greenwich and the Northeast in general, there is one that may be overlooked, and once done is near impossible to correct. It’s not the number of bathrooms or the size of the kitchen—but the orientation of the home for light. Every homeowner, whether building or buying, should consider how a home is situated for sunlight and learn to assess how light will pass through the home during the day and the seasons.
Sunlight has a significant impact on your daily quality of life, especially here in the north, where our late fall and early winter days are so very short. Isn’t it easy to hunker down this time of year? In the early summer, do you find yourself celebrating each hour of a long June afternoon with a favorite outdoor activity? Sunlight plays a key role in our daily rhythms throughout the year. In some cases, sunlight, or the lack of sunlight, can cause us to strongly dislike a room we would otherwise find appealing. Light profoundly influences how a person perceives and enjoys the surroundings.
Although it’s not as easy to change as wallpaper or carpet, you can learn to take advantage of the available light offered by the orientation of your home.
When the back of a house faces north, light is limited. Ideally, that is where you want your front door and the garage. When the back of the house faces southwest, this is an ideal placement for maximum light in our hemisphere. North-facing rooms are the darkest in the home with neutral light most of the day. South-facing rooms are the brightest in the house, with the dominant daylight from late morning to mid-afternoon. These spaces have consistent light all day. East-facing rooms are brightest in the morning and west-facing rooms have their strongest light in the late afternoon and early evening.
A south-facing home allows you to take advantage of the sun’s warmth as much as possible. During the winter, owners of south-facing homes can lower heating costs by opening curtains in the front rooms.
As you plan your dream home, prepare to install a home office or consider a land purchase, remember to look at the light! You’ll enjoy it for years to come. And please let me know if you are interested in looking at houses in Greenwich, CT or internationally. You can look at homes via my website: charlespaternina.com.
