Which Direction Should Your House Face in Middle Tennessee?

You've narrowed it to two houses in the same subdivision. Same builder, same floor plan, close on price. One backs to the east and one backs to the west, and nobody has told you that's the biggest difference between them. On a July evening, one patio sits in the shade of its own house. The other takes low sun in the face until about 8 o'clock.

In Middle Tennessee the sun crosses the southern half of the sky, so the direction a house faces decides where its shade lands. When people say a house faces north, they mean the front door faces north, which puts the backyard on the south side.

If you want a shady patio on summer evenings, look for a backyard that faces east. If you want the sunniest yard for a garden, look for one that faces south. If you want the front walk and driveway to thaw first after a winter storm, look for a house that faces south. There's no single best direction. It comes down to what you'll do with the back of the house.

I've been selling real estate since 2013 and investing in it since 2005, and I live in Canterbury in Thompson's Station. Which way a house faces is one of the few things you can't change after closing, so it's worth ten minutes before you write an offer.

What's the best direction for a house to face in Middle Tennessee?

It depends on which side of the house you'll use most, and when. Here's what each direction gets you in Franklin, Thompson's Station, Spring Hill and Columbia, where the sun behaves the same way.

Where does the sun sit over Middle Tennessee in summer and winter?

In summer the sun climbs nearly overhead, and it rises and sets north of due east and due west. In winter it stays low in the southern sky all day. These are the US Naval Observatory figures for about 35.8 degrees north, the latitude of Thompson's Station and Spring Hill, rounded:

• June 21, 2026: sunrise about 5:32 AM CDT, toward the northeast side of east (about 60 degrees on a compass). The sun peaks at about 12:50 PM, roughly 78 degrees above the horizon. Sunset is about 8:07 PM, toward the west-northwest (about 300 degrees).
• December 21, 2026: sunrise about 6:54 AM CST, toward the east-southeast (about 119 degrees). The sun peaks at about 11:46 AM, only about 31 degrees up, due south. Sunset is about 4:38 PM, toward the west-southwest (about 241 degrees).

Franklin and Columbia come in within a couple of minutes of those times.

Those angles decide how long a house's shadow is. At noon in late June, the shadow is only about a fifth as long as the house is tall. At noon in late December it's about 1.7 times as long, and it points north. Say your roofline is 25 feet up. That's a shadow about 5 feet long at noon in June and about 40 feet long at noon on the shortest day of the year.

Is a west-facing backyard too hot on a July evening?

It can be. On July 15, 2026 at 6:30 PM, the sun over Thompson's Station sits about 17 degrees above the horizon at about 285 degrees, a little north of due west, and it doesn't set until about 8:04 PM. A west-facing backyard takes that sun head on, and so do the rear windows of the kitchen and living room.

A patio cover won't solve it. The Department of Energy makes the same point about windows: an overhang works on the south side, but on the east and west sides the sun is so low that no practical overhang will shade the glass. For west windows it suggests awnings, sun-control film, and closing the drapes on sunny summer days. Out on the patio, I'd look at a shade sail, a screen on the west side of a pergola, or a tree on the west side of the yard.

An east-facing backyard is the opposite. It gets the morning sun and sits in the house's own shadow by evening, which is why it's the one I'd point you to if you want to eat dinner outside in July. A north-facing backyard catches some of that evening sun from the side, because in summer the sun sets north of due west.

If you love a sunset, west is your direction. Just see what 6:30 in July looks like before you buy it.

See Tollgate Boulevard in Thompson's Station at 6:30 PM on July 15, 2026 on ShadeMap

Does a north-facing house hold ice and snow longer?

The front of it usually does. In late December the noon sun is only about 31 degrees up in the southern sky, so a north-facing house throws its shadow across its own porch, steps, front walk and often the driveway, most of the day. When a winter storm comes through Williamson or Maury County, those are the last surfaces on the lot to get direct sun. The National Park Service describes the same pattern on hillsides: south-facing slopes get more direct sunlight and their snow tends to melt, while north-facing slopes get less.

That doesn't make a north-facing house a bad buy. The same house has a south-facing backyard, the sunniest one of the four. It just means you keep ice melt by the front door, and you pay attention to a driveway that slopes down to the street.

See Tollgate Boulevard at 9:00 AM on December 21, 2026 on ShadeMap. At that hour the sun is only about 19 degrees up, in the southeast.

Is a south-facing house a good choice in Middle Tennessee?

A south-facing house gets the sun on its front all winter, so the walk and driveway clear first after ice or snow, and in winter its front windows take in the low sun. The trade is the backyard. It faces north, so the part of the yard closest to the house sits in the house's shadow for most of a winter day. In summer, with the sun high, that noon shadow shrinks to a few feet. If you'd like a backyard that stays out of the sun more of the year, that's a point in its favor. If you want a vegetable garden behind the house, it's a point against.

What's the best direction for a garden, grass and trees?

For a vegetable garden, south or southeast. UT Extension's Master Gardener handbook calls full sun optimum and says most crops need a minimum of 6 to 8 hours of it. It adds that garden sites facing south or southeast get sun for longer each day, and their soil warms up and dries out faster than soil on north-facing sites. It also warns that trees and buildings cast longer shadows in spring and fall, when the sun is lower, which matters if you plan early or late crops.

Grass cares about this too. UT Extension says bermudagrass is generally intolerant of shade, zoysia is slightly more shade tolerant than bermuda, and tall fescue is moderately shade tolerant. If the backyard you're looking at faces north, or sits under big trees, ask the seller or the builder which grass is down before you count on it filling in.

A big shade tree on the west or southwest side of a yard does what a patio cover can't at 6:30 in July. The same tree hanging over the south side of the roof is a problem if you ever want solar panels.

Which way should solar panels face in Tennessee?

South, when you can. The Department of Energy says panels typically perform best on south-facing roofs with a slope between 15 and 40 degrees, though other roofs may work too. Its guide for homebuilders adds that any orientation between southeast and southwest can work well, and that orientation matters less on a shallow roof than a steep one. DOE also says that if trees throw heavy shade on your roof, rooftop panels may not be the best fit.

For solar, the roof planes matter more than the front door. A house that faces north or south, with its main ridge running east to west, usually has one big roof plane facing south, front or back. A house that faces east or west often has its big planes facing east and west.

Savings depend on your roof, your electric use and the system design, so get that estimate from a solar professional who looks at the roof. DOE points homeowners to NREL's PVWatts calculator for production estimates at a specific address.

How do I check which direction a house faces?

Use your phone first, then a map, then ShadeMap.

1. Your phone's compass. Stand at the front door with your back to the house, facing the street. The heading on the compass is the direction the house faces. Apple says to hold the iPhone flat for an accurate reading and warns that magnetic interference can affect it, so step away from the car and any metal railing.
2. Google Maps. Pull up the address, switch to satellite view, and make sure north is at the top of the map. Check which side of the house faces the street and which way the back patio points.
3. ShadeMap. This is the one that shows you what a direction means on a real street at a real date and time.

How to use ShadeMap on a house or a lot

1. Open shademap.app and move the map to the street you're looking at. Zoom in to street level.
2. Click the date and time button at the bottom of the screen and set the day you care about, like a July evening or a December morning.
3. Drag the time and watch the shadows move across the yards.
4. To see a whole day at once, open the Layers menu and choose "Hours in the sun."
5. In Settings, turn on the lines that show the sun's current direction, sunrise and sunset.
6. If the house isn't built yet, use the drawing tool in the upper right corner to add a shape where it'll go and set its height.

What ShadeMap shows and what it doesn't

ShadeMap simulates shadows from terrain, buildings and trees. Its building outlines come from OpenStreetMap, Overture Maps and Mapbox, and a building with no height on file is set to one story, about 3.1 meters. So a two-story house can show up with a one-story shadow.

Its default data are estimates built from crowd sourcing and machine learning, and ShadeMap says the errors can run several meters. Tree shadows are part of that estimate. In an older neighborhood with big trees, the map can be off on any given yard, so walk it at the time of day you care about. On a brand-new street, a house that isn't built yet, or isn't on the map yet, won't cast a shadow at all. And ShadeMap only calculates what's on your screen, so zoom out a little if a tall building or a ridge sits just past the edge. If you see no tree shadows at noon, ShadeMap suggests switching between Above canopy and Below canopy in Settings.

How do I pick a lot in new construction?

Decide what you want from the back of the house, then pick the lot. You can change a floor plan. You can't change which way the lot faces.

If you're choosing between lots in a Spring Hill community like June Lake, Harvest Point or Southern Springs, I'd work it in this order:

1. Ask the sales office for the community site plan, find north on it, and note which way the back of each lot you like faces.
2. Match it to what you care about most: evening shade out back (back faces east), the sunniest yard (back faces south), the front that thaws first (house faces south), or a roof plane facing south for solar.
3. Look at what's going up next door. A two-story home on the lot to your west will shade your summer evenings, and one to your south will shade your winter yard.
4. Put the lot in ShadeMap, draw your plan's footprint with the drawing tool, and check it at 6:30 PM on July 15 and 9:00 AM on December 21. Here's Harvest Point Boulevard in Spring Hill at 6:30 PM on July 15, 2026 to start from.
5. Ask whether a covered patio or screened porch is an option on the plan you like, and weigh its price against a lot that faces the way you want.

Then stand on the lot at the hour you'd actually use the patio. My full rundown of builders is on the Spring Hill new construction page, and there's more on each town on the Thompson's Station, Spring Hill, Franklin and Columbia pages.

Frequently asked questions about which way a house faces

Is a north-facing or south-facing house better in Middle Tennessee?

Neither is better across the board. A north-facing house has a south-facing backyard, the sunniest one all year, but its front steps and driveway sit in shade most of the winter day. A south-facing house has a shadier backyard and a front that thaws first after a winter storm.

Which direction should a backyard face for evening shade?

East. In Middle Tennessee a backyard that faces east sits in the house's own shadow on summer evenings. A west-facing backyard takes low sun until sunset, which was about 8:04 PM on July 15, 2026.

Do north-facing driveways stay icy longer?

Usually, yes. In late December the noon sun is only about 31 degrees above the southern horizon in Middle Tennessee, so a north-facing house shades its own front walk and driveway most of the day, and ice there melts last.

Which way should a roof face for solar panels in Tennessee?

South when possible. The Department of Energy says panels typically perform best on south-facing roofs with a slope between 15 and 40 degrees, and that any orientation between southeast and southwest can work well.

Does ShadeMap show trees?

Yes, as estimates. ShadeMap simulates shadows from terrain, buildings and trees, but its default data come from crowd sourcing and machine learning and can be off by several meters, so check big trees in person.

Comparing two houses or two lots?

Send me the addresses. I'll pull both up in ShadeMap with you and tell you what I'd expect out back on a July evening and out front on a January morning, before you sign anything. Text or call me at 615-392-1186.

Sun times and angles: US Naval Observatory, Astronomical Applications Department, for 35.80 N, 86.91 W, 2026 dates, rounded.