property dilemma - advice?

[efmach]

I feel pretty stupid asking this one. So here goes.
Having searched for a property for months we have finally found one that we possibly like. I was very much wanting a west-facing or south-facing garden but this one is north-facing. The garden itself is about 80 feet in length and is not particulary overshadowed by trees, etc. The two rooms at the back of the house are the kitchen and dining room. I know these rooms wont receive direct sunlight but I'm worried that they will be permanently overcast all year round.
For those that do have northfacing gardens, do you find light levels a problem.
Thanks in advance.
E.

[musica]

Not at all - the rooms at the back aren't at all sunny, but that suits us - they're certainly not dark! I don't find I need the lights on during the day. And we have our bedroom at the back, which is nice because it means the rooms never get too hot, which the front rooms really suffer from.

[Bozza]

I don't really see that much of a problem with some rooms being north-facing - surely a couple of rooms are in most houses? OK our house is the opposite of the one you are looking at so the kitchen and dining room are south facing but that means that our living room is north facing. It is not a dark room but we decorated with a warm cream colour (actually called toffee cream)whereas in the south facing kitchen we went for a stronger colour.

The garden could potentially be more of an issue but I don't think so in this case. Since it is quite long you could consider installing a patio area away from the house to catch the afternoon/evening sun. Because the bottom of your garden (once you get beyond the shadow of the house) could be classed as south facing.

[Marina]

Our house faces NNE/SSW (so just off due North) with the dining room and kitchen getting little direct sunlight, especially in the winter. I would not describe them as "overcast" however, especially as they have an open-ish aspect, like your house.
Remember that in summer your back garden will have plenty of sunshine at the beginning and end of the day, and it might be quite nice to have the area closest to the house shaded in the hottest part of the day. Our garden is shorter than yours by about 10 feet and the bottom end of it gets continuous sunlight in summer. But a shady patio/area of lawn for paddling pools etc has its advantages.
Inside, you can maximise light levels in the dining room by using mirrors, light, warm colours and not bothering with nets/voile (if you were going to).
Good luck with the house-hunting...

[RosieT]

Our last house had a north-facing garden, but it was very small (35ft), so we did have problems with it, particularly as there were a lot of mature trees in the surrounding gardens which sucked nutrients and moisture from the soil giving us no end of problems with our grass. We usually managed to find a bit of sun at the back, though, which is where we put a patio. I'd imagine if you had an 80ft garden without huge trees along the border, you'd be fine. Our grass kept dying, but we found some grass seed called Canada Green, which seems to grow anywhere. And think of all those lovely hostas and ferns you'll be able to grow in the shady parts!

[grommit]

efmach - it depends how much you value time in the garden - I have a friend who bought with a north facing garden and really regrets it. The areas outside the house is always in shade and it is inconvenient to have a patio right at the end of the garden (and also not private). I also find the rooms at the front of my house, which is north-facing, can be very dark. I would always go for S or SW...

[Bozza]

Also are the windows in the noth facing rooms reasonably large to maximise the light? Our living room has a bay window which I think helps. The dining room which faces due south has patio doors which cover most of one wall and it becomes uncomfortably stuffy in summer.

[aloha]

My garden faces east, and in my next house I'm having a south or west facing garden. I would love just to sit outside the kitchen basking in a suntrap.

[Tinker]

I have a south west facing garden and I love it! Personally, I wouldn't really consider a north facing garden if I had a choice. I wouldn't like the idea of that long walk to house to get another beer.

[janh]

My kitchen windows face east and south and it is DAZZLING - worst in the winter when the sun is low. North-facing rooms are much better for watching TV, too. (Our sitting room faces west and we have to draw the curtains in the afternoon/evening or we can't see the screen for the reflections in it.)

Most of your 80 foot garden will get lots of sun in the summer - I'm thinking of a friend whose house is quite tall and is north at the front, they have a short front garden which is usually in shade, but the road and the house across the street is usually in sun. And you'd get the morning and evening sun slanting across. And as Marina says, it can be very pleasant (and cool) to have shade close to the house in the summer - your dining room and kitchen will be nice to retire to!

Also Busy Lizzies and begonias (and lobelia) do incredibly well in shade! The top part of our back yard only gets a bit of sun first thing in the morning in the summer but we have had some superb displays in pots.

[efmach]

Thanks for your helpful replies. It's nice to see it from all angles (no pun intended). I just wish we could make a decision. Problem is, this house will definitely be snapped up by someone else if we deliberate any longer. Help!!!!!

[zebra]

efmach: is it a detached house? If so, the description would perfectly describe the Inlaws' house -- and definitely, light levels in the back are fine. I'd have their house in a heartbeat!

[efmach]

Thanks Zebra - No it's semi-detatched on the eastside. I'm hoping the sun would peak through on the westside in the gap between the houses. I wish I could view the place in the summer and then make a decision!!

[berries]

Efmach - sound like our house, except ours is detached. Kitchen and lounge (now playroom) are at the back, garden is about 80 - 90ft long. Large trees (think oak, horse chesnut etc) at bottom.
Bad points - patio area at back is not used for sitting on, mainly bike riding etc as doesn't get much sun.
lounge can seem dark on occassions, but only in winter (like now) when skies very overcast anyway.
No problems with kitchen at all, painted lovely sunny yellow & never seems dark.
Good points - always somewhere in the garden with sun - advantage is that sun moves round garden so just move the chair!
We also have a small patio about 1/2 way down the garden, nicely hidden from the house by some large shrubs, which is exactly positioned to catch the last of the days sun. Perfect for the glass of wine or G&T & if you stay really quiet the kids don't know where you are - ahh peace, looking forward to it already!
Back room gets plenty of light in summer, and its decorated in warm terracotas so in winter its lovely and cosy - great on cold winter days.
As you can probably tell, I love my house & definately would not swop it, even for a South facing garden - my advice would be go for it!

[Inkpen]

Our house was north facing to the back and we definitely had sun problems with the garden, but that was as much because it was very narrow (15 feet) and our neighbours had an extension. In summer it was OK, but in winter the sun never came within about fifty feet of the house - in fact the whole garden acted as a kind of giant sundial: 'It must be April because the sun's reached the patio at last' ... the rooms at the back were OK, however, though it depends on which ones you want to sit in during the day (is it a kitchen-diner that you'll want to be in?). It was nice to have a dimly lit bedroom on a sunny day, for example and we put on a conservatory style extension which was all the better for being north facing - lots of light and it didn't turn into a greenhouse come summer ...