Avoid North Entrances

A due north aspect is a very objectionable one for a country house, not only on account of the bad weather to which it exposes the principal side of the house, but also because of the accumulation of snow and ice about it in winter, rendering it far more difficult to keep it in hospitable order than a house with a warm southern entrance front.

For a country house which is only intended for summer use, the owner of which leaves it for town in winter, this is not a valid objection. Indeed, a northern entrance is, in our mid-summer, more agreeable, perhaps, than a southern one - its piazzas always cool, and its view opening upon the best and brightest face of the lawn and trees - that turned towards the sun. But the comparatively short season to which this can, in our latitude, be applied with truth, renders a northern aspect a very objectionable one for families residing in the country during the whole year.

A.J.Downing, Hints to Young Architects, 1847