I'm with you. The front should face the street; otherwise, it will just look strange. I would look for a plan with huge windows in front to take advantage of those views and a side load garage on the east side....

We are looking at homes in western NC and find many where you approach the side of the house or the back - and in some cases the true front is all but unreachable. There, it's not only a matter of view but of terrain since it's often hilly to mountainous. I can tell you that it is a major disqualifier for us when looking at a home. I don't want to pull in and approach my house day after day from the back or the side - and I don't want my guests to, either. Even the most gorgeous estate still has a 'working' side and it's usually the back. You may not be finding off the shelf plans that fit your need but you have a specific, special need. Time to consult an architect - I agree that there is a way to keep the front at the front, get your views and a floor plan that fits you.

Our last house had the backside facing the highway (we had an acreage). And the driveway came up to the side. So no one HARDLY EVER saw the front of our house. In fact, when a visitor pulled up the driveway to the garage, they were faced with a choice - sidewalks leading both right and left. Which way to go?

They invariably picked the one that would lead to the highway-side of the house - which ended up at the kitchen door.

And the oddest thing was it had a very elaborate entryway with a marble floor. No one ever saw it.

I hated that house.

Why not find a plan that actually addresses all sides of the house, not just the front façade?

I agree with palimpsest, I find all sides of our house to be pretty on their own. I would find a design like that.

I think this would be an ideal time to consult with an architect. Stock plans work best on stock lots. Your lot, and your wished-for orientation, aren't stock.

It will also give you a chance to work through how you plan to "use" your view. Will you appreciate it mainly from inside, so ample windows are most important? Or will you want to appreciate it from the outside, on a deck/patio/terrace/porch? Is the topography such that you'll want the outdoor space on an upper story? If so, the traditional "back of the house" solution -- a wooden deck -- probably isn't going to do the trick.

How will you want people to approach the house? they'll come by car, of course. But if the garage and parking are around the back side of your house, they'll need a logical way in to the house that is convenient to where they park.

I don't know where your aesthetics lie, or how it would play in rural northern Wyoming, but this could be an ideal place for a modern home. Modern homes aren't tied to traditional notions of what a house "should" look like, and even some non-custom modern plans have homes that are pretty on all four sides. I've linked to a plan I have saved in my little "someday" folder. The size and layout is probably not what you want, but it will give you an idea what I'm talking about. Have the windows face the front of your lot, with the drive along the side, going around to the carport on the other side. As that's where the actual front door is, it will make sense to visitors.

Here is a link that might be useful: modern plan that will

If you wanted a home with the primary view towards the rear, then why did you buy this lot and not one across the street? You just complicated your build immensely if you want the private spaces to face the view.

If you are looking for stock plans, you could get some ideas from Sunplans. The plans are all passive solar, so the big windows are on the south side, which many times are the public rooms. You can sort the plans by the direction of the front door, so you could look at just the ones with the front door on the south to get some ideas.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sunplans House Plans

Sometimes placing the house backwards works well.

My house is a ranch with a finished walk-out basement. Since the street is built on a hillside, my house and the other houses that are upslope are all oriented backwards, I.e. the basement walk-out faces the road. So from the road my house kind of looks like a 2-story brick house, but drive up the drive and around the circle in the back to the main entrance and you see that it is a ranch.

As a result we have views from almost every room in the house, even the downstairs kid's rooms. Plus, my house is nicely finished on both front and back.

I agree that you should pick a plan that looks nice on both sides, and also make sure your driveway and/or walkways clearly lead to a main entrance.

We had the same issue as you since our view is oriented to the south, which is where the road and driveway are as well. Most house plans seem to be designed with the "view rooms" (living room, MBR, kitchen) on the rear of the house, and usually the rear facade is not nearly as attractive as the front facade. So, it's difficult to just rotate a plan 180 degrees. What style of house are you hoping to build? the Monster House Plans website advanced search allows you to search for plans that are suited for a front view. Also, the Southern Living Tucker Bayou house plan is one of my favorite plans suited to a front view.

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Tucker Bayou house plan

Our new house faces the lovely meadow and woods at the rear of our lot instead of the ugly, noisy road. We're extremely happy with the choice. We're using plantings to hide the "back" door and not giving visitors much choice other than to drive all the way up the driveway. With this orientation we get to enjoy the view from the primary living spaces in the house, create an outdoor living area that is shielded from the road noise, and create a nice element of surprise as visitors come around the corner into the "front" yard.

Who gives a hoot about what the random people driving by get to look at? Orient the house to please the people who live there every day (unless of course you can charge a fee from all those strangers driving past to admire your front facade).

Throw a couple of curves into the driveway with appropriate plantings and your visitors won't even be sure which way the house is facing (other than towards the nice view) by the time they get there.

I'm with pal....make all sides of your home attractive.

This is the rear of our home...it could easily be finessed to become a front facade.

Also, how you design the driveway and the view to the house from the driveway and landscaping will direct people where you want them to go. There is nothing wrong with having a main entry on the backside of the house which unfolds to reveal the beautiful views as they enter into the main space.

How nice, Annie. Umm!

I'm with just about everyone else, Allibaster, including Mrs. Allibaster. Five acres are empowering. The "front" should be where YOU say it is, and the rooms you want to enjoy your various views from should be oriented to them. Making all this happen in a graceful way that looks very right is the province of positioning and landscaping.

Regarding the plan you guys ultimately choose, you're not building on a tiny subdivision lot, and if your plan would need little adjustment to be lined up with several others and sold as a plan for attached housing, it's almost certainly a sadly inadequate plan for land- and opportunity-rich people like you. Maybe you don't need this advice at all, but I see this sad mistake happening every single time I drop by this forum--without fail.

Another extremely frequent mistake to watch out for is that, unlike subdivision builders, you don't need to squeeze in a garage extending down one side of the house that'll at least provide a scrap of privacy on one side by blocking all sunshine and views in that direction... The vast majority of stock plans have attached garages down one side, and most of them are real spoilers for country properties.

You might want to print out plans you're interested in, cutting off the garage, and experimenting with setting it where it'll block something that needs blocking. Like those interesting Wyoming winds sweeping across your beautiful patio while you try to enjoy the sunset. (I've been there.)

We have front, rear and side views. I wanted a particular style of house that when I searched... I could not find with all the details that we needed/wanted. We found a few plans that could have worked, but were always missing a key element. So we started putting together a list of exactly what we were looking for. I probably looked at 500+ plans. We eventually started putting rooms on graph paper. Created a plan that we loved with ALL of our "key elements".
I will probably catch grief from someone for even saying this... we didn't use an architech or a designer. We did have a consult on the spans and beams for support. On everything we went above the recommended. We didn't pay for plans and they are unique to us. Living on acreage allows you to have more flexability.

Hope you find or create exactly what you want.

Jen

Thanks for your input, everybody. It is very much appreciated.

The passive solar houses designed to face the south are a great idea. We've found several plans that we both like.

Again, thank you.