House is perfect but has an east facing garden

[NavyNails2]

After months of looking we finally viewed a house today that we love, the inside is pretty much perfect. Only problem is the garden, it's smaller than I'd really like but could compromise on this, but it's east facing. We spend a lot of time in the garden during the summer with the kids and I'm trying to be realistic and not let the great house cloud my judgement. The garden isn't long enough to have a sunny part in the evening. Anyone not regretted their east facing garden?

We have a really narrow east facing garden. The sun is fine until about 3pm in the middle of summer, and then it's gone. Our front garden is nice so we have a bench outside our house. The house before was north facing, so whilst you could always get a slither of sun until later in day, we had no sun at all from September through to March (tall 3 storey houses). I love the fact we always get sun compared to the last house - I guess is what you're used to!

The east facing boy doesn't bother me, our very very narrow garden does when all the other houses around here have HUGE gardens!

Mine is east facing. I thought I'd hate it but actually it's been great. I think this is partly age related I get up earlier than I did so enjoy a cup of coffee in a sunny garden in the morning. As DC has got older, the garden is never used for child games or running around so that is no longer a factor. I don't enjoy eating outside and I would not have a barbecue, so have no need for full afternoon sun and pottering in the garden is much more pleasant without overheating.

We are east facing, not ideal but beggars can't be choosers (we wanted a big garden for our son, we could afford this house and not others).

In the summer, we get sun to around 7pm. Not a problem, I'm not into sunbathing in the evening, and it's warm enough to sit outside.

In the summer, we get (ha! in the northwest) sun to around 3pm. Not a problem, it's not warm enough to be out there anyway.

Even in a small east facing garden you get sun from the south if there are no buildings to block it. Plus for a lot of the year it’s high in the sky.,

Thanks for the continued replies, we've decided that we won't be putting an offer on the house. I've had to reread this thread a few times though to remind myself why! We currently have a south facing garden and use it all the time, so I know it would be greatly missed. Unfortunately there is very little garden area at the front too so moving around the house for the afternoon isn't really an option. Hoping the housing market picks up soon, it's very slow around here (SW). I hope the patience will pay off soon.

@NavyNails2. I just did the same, liked the house, liked the garden, LOVED the huge Oak Tree, but not the direction of the garden. It made the inside of the house dark too. Disappointing, but I know I'd have regretted it!

I have decided I'm clearly weird as I love our East facing garden! Shade is great for kids and, as a PP says, if you're in a hotter part of the country you'll be grateful for it.

I had a south facing house before and if it was a sunny day in the midst of winter I had to have my windows open because it was too hot indoors, which then ended up with an annoying routine of opening the windows because I was hot, then shutting them because the outdoor air was flipping freezing, then opening them again when it got too hot again.

There was never any respite in the summer. All my main living accommodation (kitchen, living room and dining room) were all at the back of the house so unbearably hot all day. Every summer at some point I would have to retreat to my bedroom because it was the only north facing room in the house.

As you can probably tell, I'm not a sun worshipper and I hate being hot, so a south facing house is my worst nightmare! East-West facing is perfect for me!

We have a small north-facing garden, but nothing at the sides to shadow it so we also get sun from the east and west. If nothing over shadows the garden it really shouldn't be a problem.

We had an east facing small garden in our last house and it was a sun trap, but you always had a bit of shade. I'm surprised how many people are against them!

Blanket rejections of places based on which way the garden faces always surprise me a little bit.

We have a north facing garden, but nothing really to block the path of the sun as it works round from east to west. In summer it gets sun most of the day.

We’ve just offered on a house where the back garden is north facing. It’s a large garden though and there is a smaller west facing garden to the side which we think would be lovely to sit out in when summer comes. Hope we haven’t made a big mistake!

When I was house-hunting, my only non-negotiable was to have a south or south-west facing back garden.

My view was that I can change almost everything else about the house (budget allowing), but I can't change the direction of the sun.

Our garden is pretty much north facing but gets sun in most parts as it is open on both sides. We love it as it's great for mornings on the patio and not blazing hot in the afternoon. We used to have a house with west facing garden and the west side became so hot and the light was blinding so we'd have to put the blinds down in the afternoon.

We much prefer our house - the north light is great for the kitchen and my work office, and the south light means we get a lot of light flowing into the house as the downstairs is fairly open plan.

So be open-minded and really consider all aspects of the house & garden before discounting options (prior to buying the house we're currently in we would have automatically ruled out north facing gardens on principle).

@morningbell

Blanket rejections of places based on which way the garden faces always surprise me a little bit.

We have a north facing garden, but nothing really to block the path of the sun as it works round from east to west. In summer it gets sun most of the day.

But regardless of what surrounds the house, a north facing garden will always end up being shaded by the house. If your garden is long, then you can obviously have a seating area at the bottom, but OP said it's a small garden. You can often tell a north facing garden in rightmove pics by where their seating area is.

It does boil down to how important the garden is to the individual. For me, I wanted my seating area by the house and it isn't about blazing sun to lay out in throughout our short summer. It's about the rest of the year, especially the winter, when the sun is low and North facing gardens are bleak and gloomy. The main area I'm in during the day, kitchen diner area, is sunny all day at the back of the house. Obviously the front of my house is north and dark. But this has it's advantages too. My furniture doesn't fade, I don't need to shut blinds to watch tv, and in the evenings it's lovely to retreat to.

It's all about priorities... and mine was the garden, after being stuck in a flat for 18 years. Nothing surprising about that!