This case study on how to recognize the sitting and facing sides of a house is essential information for anyone who consults or wants to utilize what they have read about diagnosing a house, based on its orientation.  There are so many feng shui principles tied to orientation, that you’d be missing out if you didn’t access those techniques or if you simply assumed that all houses face the street they are situated on.

While my books cover the basics of sitting (back of house) and facing (front of house), there is a lot more to explore and understand. Some of the criteria is based on Yin-Yang Theory, for both interiors and exteriors.I have written articles about Sitting and Facing, but this Case Study gives even more descriptions and photo examples.

Following is an excerpt from the actual case study:

“It is possible for an architect or builder to design a living space that contradicts the ideal arrangement of rooms.  You could walk into a house where the street side has the kind of architectural details that definitely spell the facing side.  And yet, that might be a darkish part of the house, perhaps a small receiving room, and then juxtaposed with a Great Room that looks out to the backyard. 

The rooms on the backyard side of the house might be much grander and larger, and yet the backyard might be rather private and enclosed, not open like a hillside home. 

There can be a number of conflicting influences.  So in the scheme of things, even though I recommend tallying ALL of the yin and yang features, the usual order of priority will be to consider the influence of the exterior environment first.  Then the exterior architecture will give you clues as to sitting and facing.  Finally, consider the interior arrangement of rooms.

As a guest in a home, you might not be able to settle into the orientation immediately, but another giveaway is how the occupants have arranged their furnishings.  It is even sometimes insightful to ask the occupant what they feel is the front and back.  Sometimes they don’t know.  But sometimes they have an adamant opinion about what feels like the front and back to them. I’m not suggesting that you rely on the untrained occupant to determine the sitting and facing.  They might just be helpful, among other details to compare.”

Of course, it goes without saying that it is vital to know how to take a compass reading and not just assume a house faces a certain direction based on loose, generalized exterior criteria.

Author: Kartar Diamond

Company: Feng Shui Solutions (R)

From the Architecture & Design Blog Series