preferred way to face a house (garden, design, pool)

[tallpines]

I'm in the early design phases for a wooded lot I just purchased. I'm trying to decide which direction I want to face the home. The lot will be pretty open by the time it's cleared, but I can leave some bigger trees for shade, if necessary, once I decide on the direction that the home will face. If I place the home parallel to the road looking directly out to it, the home would be NorthWest. I can also turn it and face it mostly South, or turn it the opposite way and be facing North. I can't face it East or I'd be completely back to the road and that's too much. I've got plans for a fairly big yard to be primary used for play space for the kids as well as a spot for an above ground pool. I'd like to have a deck coming off the house that leads to the pool. A spot for a small garden would be ok, but it's not a big driving factor. A good direction where I won't get the worst of the winter winds and snow drifts would be preferred. I can work my house plan around which way I face, as far as what rooms to face South, etc. From what I've heard, South facing is a good way to go, but I 'm not sure that's the ideal spot for a front yard and pool that would be heavily utilized during the summer. Just looking for some opinions and experience anyone has picked up from their own layout and if they wish they had chosen one way over the other.

[Coaster]

Face the home toward the best view. The road is really second or third or tenth on the list of things to worry about. A lot of homes in Maine face away from the road. No big deal. Put the most windows on the south or southeast side of the house, and the fewest on the north/northwest side. Any trees that shade the sunny side of the house should be deciduous, so they have bare branches in winter when you want the most solar gain and leaves in the summer to shade the house. Either keep or plant trees on the north side to break the winter wind and trap blowing snow.

[Submariner]

It is smart to focus a lot of your design criteria on solar gain.

There are a few homes in Maine whose heating fuel requirements equal less than one cord of wood/year. I have not visited any of them, but I have seen photos and heard presentations on them.

Last week I attended a presentation about a home that does that.

[tatans]

A VERY important point in establishing which way your house faces, probably the most important decision you will make, take a day and a chair and see what time of day suits you best, point of view, sun location, shadows of trees, how it looks from the road, imagine what it may look like under 3 feet of snow. Will be the best decision you will make.

[Submariner]

The house site that I selected has/is surrounded by trees. I don't think it ever occurred to us which way it 'faces'.

Before we started building, I made a sun-dial so I could determine true North and workout the exact cardinal angle to align the South side of our house.

Individual trees will change.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Just stand in a spot and look at the North Star. It has not moved and will not move. That's true north.