House Facing Direction: North, South, East and West Homes Explained

How the facing direction is determined

The facing direction of a home is the direction its main door faces, not the direction of the street it sits on, and not the direction the building points along its length. This distinction catches people out constantly: a house on a north-facing street with a south-facing front door is a south-facing house for feng shui purposes.

Two methods are used, and they give slightly different answers.

The simple method divides the compass into eight sectors of forty-five degrees each, and the door’s bearing falls into one of them. This is the method most home advice uses and the one the luopan direction finder applies.

The refined method divides each forty-five degree sector into three fifteen degree mountains, giving the twenty-four mountains of the compass. Within each trigram, the middle mountain is the trigram’s true core, and a door pointing squarely at it is described as a proper sitting position. A door that falls on the outer fifteen degrees of a sector is described as facing out, and is considered weaker. This is the level of detail a luopan compass measures and a phone compass cannot reliably give you, so it is worth knowing about but not worth chasing.

For most home work, the eight-sector method is entirely sufficient. Take the reading outside, at least three metres from the building, and take it three times. If the three readings agree, you have your answer, and you can check it against the bagua map to see what each palace of your house governs.

The eight facing directions and what they mean

Each direction belongs to an element, and each element carries a character that describes the whole house.

The practical value of this table is that it tells you what to add to the house. A fire house already has plenty of energy in the south, so it benefits from water and wood — cool colours, a north-facing water feature, plants — rather than from more red. A metal house benefits from fire and earth, so warmth and warmth of texture rather than more chrome and white. A water house benefits from wood and earth.

It also tells you where the wealth corner sits, which is where the water and the money gather, and it is the starting point for the wealth corner guide.

South facing: the favourite, and its one weakness

A south-facing door is described in the tradition as sitting on the fire palace, and it is widely regarded as the most favourable orientation. The reasoning is practical as well as symbolic: in the northern hemisphere a south-facing house receives the longest, most consistent daylight through the day, which in the classical account means abundant sheng qi — active, rising, life-giving energy.

The character of a fire house. Warm, sociable, prominent. The fire element governs fame, recognition, beauty and clarity. People in south-facing houses are classically described as more outgoing and more visible. The south itself is the fame and reputation palace, which is why a living room or a main entrance oriented south is a good position for a person whose work depends on being seen.

The weakness. Fire is easy to over-stimulate, and the modern versions of a fire house are everywhere: bright lighting, screens in every room, a red accent wall, hard reflective surfaces, a constant stream of information. A south-facing house with all of that in it can feel restless and hot to sleep in, and the traditional remedy is water and wood rather than less fire.

What to do in a fire house: use water elements in the north and east — a small aquarium or fountain, cool colours, a wooden floor. Keep the south itself clear and bright rather than adding red to it. In the bedroom, favour blue, green and wood tones over red and orange, which is the practical reason the bedroom colour guide recommends exactly those tones. Do not put a water feature in the south of a fire house — that is the classic elemental conflict.

North, east and west facing homes

North facing — water. The most contemplative and least sunny of the eight. A north-facing home is described as intelligent, adaptable and career-oriented, with the north as the career palace and the place for water features. Its weakness is the same as a south-facing house’s is, only in the opposite direction: too little light and a tendency towards coolness. A north-facing house benefits from more warmth, more light and more fire — warmer colours, better lighting, timber and textiles, candles, a south-facing seating arrangement. And because north is a water palace, it is the one direction where a fish tank or fountain is naturally at home, which is why the water element guide singles it out.

East facing — wood. A rising, growing direction, associated with beginnings and family. East is the classic direction for a house where a family is growing, a new business is starting or a move has recently happened. The character is optimistic and forward-looking. A wood house benefits from fire and earth — warm light, red accents, ceramics, timber — and from green and living plants. The east is also the “success” palace in the flying star system for the relevant years.

West facing — metal. Ruled by the Dui trigram and associated with joy, sociability and money, a west-facing home is described as commercially minded, with the west as the wealth palace. Metal houses benefit from fire and earth — warm colours, timber, ceramics, warm lighting — and they are the natural home for the metal-element objects the tradition recommends, including a metal front door. Their weakness is coolness and austerity: a metal house with white walls and chrome fittings everywhere can feel severe.

Northeast and southwest facing homes

Northeast facing — earth, the Gen trigram. The most studious and quiet of the eight, associated with stillness, study, concentration and the northeast as the knowledge palace. It is a good orientation for a home where someone works, studies or writes, and it is the direction the tradition favours for a study corner. Earth houses benefit from wood and fire — a bit of green, warmth, light — and they are the easiest orientation to live in, because earth is a neutral, stabilising element. The northeast is also the direction associated with the eight trigram of the mountain, so a house facing northeast is classically described as having a solid, dependable quality.

Southwest facing — earth, the Kun trigram. Nurturing, loyal and supportive; the southwest is the relationship palace, associated with partnership, family and the mother in the family, and with physical support of the body. A southwest-facing home is described as stable and family-oriented. Earth houses are comfortable and dependable but can be slow to change, and the remedy for that is wood — growth, movement, plants — rather than more earth.

Both earth orientations have a common characteristic worth noting: they reward subtle adjustment rather than dramatic change. A plant here, a better light there, a colour shift in the right room. Earth is also the element of the number five, and the centre of a home is never a place for the heavy or the active.

For the elemental advice behind all of this, the element and colour matcher lists the colours, directions and applications for each element side by side.

How facing direction changes the rest of your feng shui

The facing direction is not a standalone fact. It is the reference frame for four other calculations, which is why it is worth getting right first.

1. Your personal auspicious directions. Your kua number gives four favourable bearings, expressed relative to your home. The eight mansions calculator handles this, but it needs your facing direction as an input.
2. Where the wealth corner sits. The southeast for a south-facing house, the north for a north-facing house, the northwest for a west-facing one. Use the wealth corner finder to work it out from your bed, your door or your element.
3. What the front door should look like. The colour table in the front door colour guide is entirely built on the facing direction, and it is the most visible application of the whole calculation.
4. Where to put water. A water feature belongs in a water palace, or where the house needs water. Placing one in the south of a fire house is the classic elemental conflict; placing one in the north of a north-facing water house is exactly right.

A note on the sitting chart

A complete reading would also need the year the house was built, because the stars fixed in the structure then interact with the annual stars that fly through it each year. That layer is the sitting chart. For most home decisions, the facing direction, the kua number and the annual chart are sufficient.

Finally, what the facing direction does not determine. A south-facing house with a blocked front door and no daylight is still difficult to live in. What the direction gives you is a working brief — strengths to build on and a weakness to compensate for.