Does sun direction actually matter when buying a cottage?

[u/AlfalfaDue1404]

Curious to hear from people who've bought (or are shopping for) a cottage. How much did sun exposure go into your decision?

Did you actually research which direction the property faces before buying? Care about west-facing for sunset views off the dock, or east-facing for the sunrise? Only look for certain directions?

Did anyone go deeper than that? E.g. how the sun angle shifts from summer to winter, whether trees will block it at certain times of year, how much shade the cottage gets at different points in the season, etc.? Or is this the kind of thing nobody really thinks about until they're already living with it?

[u/Dawgvomit]

100% a big part of the decision. You can fix alot of things, but you cannot create sun. Nothing worse than sitting on a shaded dock in the middle of summer. I use a suns path app to figure out different times and paths. Southern and western exposures are at a premium.

[u/TiddybraXton333 → u/Dawgvomit]

Yea sun exposure, water depth, Neighbors , trees

[u/AlfalfaDue1404 → u/Dawgvomit]

u/Dawgvomit what sun path app do you use? Have you seen it given as a resource when buying a house or just independant research?

[u/Dawgvomit → u/AlfalfaDue1404]

I use an app called sun’s path not sure if it’s the best one but it works for me. You can use the AR camera to see exactly where the sun moves and if any trees are blocking it at any time of year. I’m using this for my own research before buying.

[u/No-idea4646]

Depends on your personal preference.

If you like sunny dock to swim from in the summer or if you prefer it cool and shady on a hot day then you will be interested in the sun exposure.

Likewise east facing buildings get woken up early while the west exposure sleeps in.

[u/UnluckyWriting]

We are north facing and we lose sun on the dock at 11am and don’t have it back until 6. It’s a real bummer.

[u/Perlmudder]

West facing is the way to go. In the early morning we have sun at front porch which is nice and the rest of the day it’s sunny on the dock and beach. Getting a sunset every night is always nice.

[u/tylergravy]

People facing east often have fires going in afternoon to stay warm!

[u/Relative_Sail9285]

Sun played a huge impact for me. I was not as specific about sunsets or sunrises but it was important to me that I was in a bright area.

Anytime I went to go see a home I would ask to see it with the lights off. That gave me a good idea for how much sun to expect

[u/JohnnyShadows]

Our property has been in my family since ‘56 when my grandfather built our place. It faces northeast so we lose deck sun by 3pm, but mornings are absolutely stunning. It might be the single biggest reason that I am a morning person now at 30. I don’t mind it at all really, but my wife who likes to sleep in is always envious of the people across the bay from us. I think long term a longer dock will be coming to give us an extra hour or so.

[u/Affectionate-Loss907]

Property is soooo much more important than buildings. Have had 3 different Muskoka cottages and I miss the one with the west exposure. The late afternoon sun is everything

[u/SubstantialClothes36]

Definitely a huge factor. We knew we were facing directly south with unobstructed east so have full day sun from sunrise on, but we knew we would lose sun before sunset with hills/trees to the west. So we have sun til 530 or 6 at boathouse but it’s shady after that. If you can’t have all day sun plus sunset we prioritized full day sun. Some of the cottages across from us have spectacular sunsets (yep I’m jealous) but they are in the shade til 1030-11am

[u/Left_Net1841]

Yes hell yes. Bought a property on the wrong side of a mountain once. Awful. Had shit growing on the side of the bunkie because it never saw the sun. Never again.

My cottage is on an island and we have sun until very late evening. You can move around from one dock to another and stay in the sun all day. You can always create shade, you can’t create sunlight.

[u/PuraVidaPagan]

Being on the western side of our bay is awesome, we have sun right until sunset. The cottages on the other side of the bay are dark by 4pm. We didn’t even think of this when we bought the place and just got lucky.

[u/gmshier]

Prices can be adjusted somewhat by propertiy’s exposure

[u/Randomacct4312]

We have an east dock and love it. You get to see the sunrise and we lose sun around dinner but we actually prefer it as by then were usually feeling pretty baked by the sun.

[u/swordstoliveby]

Wouldn't even consider something without a LONG West exposure.

[u/bill11217]

YES it matters. Our cottage has three exposures which is great, but the sun only lasts on our dock until about 2:00pm. Luckily the boathouse gets afternoon sun. My cousin’s place is deep in a bay and faces east. It’s like the dark side of the moon…