Why the best rooms face north

Ask a painter which way their studio faces and the answer is nearly always north. North light never brings direct sun into a room, so it stays even through the day: no glare at noon, no hard shadows sliding across the floor, and colours that look the same at four o’clock as they did at ten.

Light that stays put

Most of us chase south-facing rooms for the sun, and in winter that’s the right instinct. But a home needs both. Sunlit rooms are for mornings and Sunday afternoons; rooms with steady north light are where you read, work and think. The best plans give each room the light that suits it.

What to look for at a viewing

Visit at more than one time of day if you can. Notice where the sun falls at breakfast and where it is by evening. Look at the size and height of the north-facing windows: tall windows bring light deeper into a room than wide ones do.

Designing for it

In our own projects we use north light for kitchens, studies and stairs, the places where glare is a nuisance. At The Ropery, the new studios face north over the court for exactly this reason.