We will be building a cabin around a 5-acre lake on 90 wooded acres in east Texas. We can position and orient the house pretty much anywhere. The views of the small lake are going to be the emphasis of the cabin with the outside deck and inside living and eating areas located along the back wall of the house and that wall consisting mostly of windows.

I am an anti sun guy and I enjoy being outdoors in the shade. My initial thoughts are to position the cabin on the south side of the lake to allow the deck and living areas along the back of the house to have a northern exposure. That would position the sun behind the living areas and keep those areas cooler when it is hot. An architect has told me the house needs to be on the north side of the lake so the deck and living areas have a southern exposure. He says that with the proper porches you protect yourself from the sun during the summer when the sun is higher and there is benefit from passive solar gains in the winter when the sun is lower. He says that the house will be "cold and dark" with my thoughts on it's position.

Everything I read on the Internet agrees with the thoughts of the architect. But these articles all reference cold climates and every article lists the benefits of southern oriented living areas by emphasizing passive solar gain to help heat the house which is exactly what I do not want to do. I understand that extended overhangs on the porch would block most of the summer sun but I don't understand why you would want to fight it.

I have run across other articles that reference "northern climate bias" regarding home orientation but they don't specifically address how to orient a house in a hot weather climate.

So I come to TexAgs as my source of random knowledge and information. Does anyone have an opinion or advice on this issue? Thanks in advance.

I've thought about this a lot myself when planning/looking for houses...

I agree with the architect for the reasons mentioned. If you're not getting direct sun (i.e. you have proper porches/overhang) on the back/windows/doors, I can't imagine the temperature in one side of the house vs. the other will be much different in the summer with the high sun. This is especially so if it's a small-ish "cabin." And you'll really appreciate the sun in the winter. A north exposure would feel much darker, especially in the winter.

Basically...I agree with architect.

Here's the sun chart for Corsicana's latitude

The east/west line shows that the sun will be to the north from sunrise-9am and from 3:30pm-sunset in the summer. It will be to the south from 9am-3:30pm in the summer. It will be to the south all winter.

It comes down to when you want the shade and when you want the sun. If you just don't like sun in the summer or the winter, face north. You'll have to deal with it in the summer in the morning and afternoon, but will be in the shade the rest of the time.

Edit: My personal opinion is to face the back porch to the west and try to get as much covered porch as possible. It's really hot and sunny, but the sun setting over a body of water every evening is worth it to me. But that's probably the worst option for OP.

I live on a lake in East Texas and I'm a master porch sitter. I prefer house on the west side of lake with porch facing east at the water. That'll give you the sun coming up over the glass-like water in the morning and lots of cool shade and long shadows in the evening with a southern breeze blowing right to left. I'd definitely put the bedroom(s) on the west side if you like to sleep past sun-up.

The only down side is that damned north wind in the winter.

House should face north.

Ours faces NNE and the way we built it we get good shade on the back porch all summer, + the southerly breezes.

+1 for porch facing east.

I'm a bit further south than you, but my house faces almost due north (6 degrees off of north, to be exact).

We get great breezes out of the south during the summer time, which makes it nice to sit in the shade on the back porch even on most hot days. The house blocks the brunt of the few north winds we get during the winter time. Mornings are usually nice because we get a great view of the sunrise and only have a small window where we have to keep the blinds down while the sun starts it's climb during the day.

Drawbacks - the master bedroom is on the south side of the house, and it heats up a bit faster than the north side of the house. The front of my house also requires me to power wash it a couple of times a year because it just doesn't get a whole lot of sun and needs a good cleaning on the siding and windows as a result. I also have a pretty substantial front porch that adds additional light blocking on most of the front of the house.

Thank you all for your input and advice - it is helpful and very much appreciated!

Last house (of 13 years) faced North and was a U planform which wrapped and roofed the porch on the South. Loved this configuration, was comfortable in all weather. No direct sun, and caught the Southern breeze.

Moved into a new house 2 years ago which faces West and has similar covered porch on East side. The porch is ok in the evening but not as comfortable as at the old house. The front (West side) of the house roasts at 5pm in August. This is all in NE Texas.

Found this website recently. suncalc.net