Shortest day of the year today – June 21 is the winter solstice, which means the shortest amount of daylight hours.

In Melbourne this also means one of the coldest days as well.

When assessing property, one of the most important criteria I believe is rear orientation. Due to the tilt of the Earth’s axis, in Australia we prize a north –facing rear orientation. Why is this? There are multiple reasons……..

1. Light from the sun is direct and powerful into rear open plan living areas and backyards - this is where we live and entertain
2. Warmth from the sun helps tremendously with passive solar gain – how often do we as humans sit by a table near a window on a cold day that is bathed in light?
3. Shadows are minimised in the rear yard, gardens grow better and pools are not in shadow
4. Due to building regulations assessing energy efficiency, houses with north facing windows score much better (and are cheaper to build) than those with south facing windows.

Now some people (particularly skilled real estate agents) will defend houses with south facing rear orientations, claiming that that the light is good in the rear living areas – while this may be partially true, what about the warmth and also the shadows?

Against the trend of the market, I attended two auctions on the weekend (51 Murray Street Prahran and 77 Page Street Albert Park) and they both flew, selling well over reserve. Three common factors with these properties –

1. Pretty, original facade (one was Victorian, the other Edwardian);
2. Great location;
3. North facing rear orientation – the back areas even on cold day were light filled and uplifting – areas that you subconsciously gravitated to.

The rear orientation of a property is really important – our James Rating system gives additional points for properties with north facing rear aspects and rightly so.

Design Smart

Adam

 

 

 

 

77 Page Street Albert Park (Michael Coen, Hocking Stuart)