Mountain View Farmhouse in Morni — Siting a House for the View

On a small plot, the view is whatever the plot has. On a farmhouse holding of an acre or more, you decide — and most people decide badly, by putting the house where the road already reaches rather than where the land is best.

This page is about making that decision deliberately.

The four candidate positions

Our usual advice is the third. A flat terrace part way up gives you outlook without the exposure of a summit, and the cost of a short access spur is smaller than people expect.

Walk the whole holding before deciding

1. Walk every terrace and stand on each one, seated if you can.
2. Note the outlook from each, and where the sun is at that hour.
3. Come back at a different time of day and repeat.
4. Note where water runs during and after rain.
5. Note where the wind comes from — usually more noticeable higher up.
6. Consider where the approach spur would come from, and what it would cost.

An afternoon spent doing this before you build is worth more than any amount of design work afterwards, because the position cannot be changed once foundations are in.

Practical constraints that override the view

• Water. Building high means lifting water higher. Know where the source is first.
• Drainage. Never site below a natural water course, however good the outlook.
• Access for construction. A position a truck cannot reach adds substantially to build cost.
• Slope stability. Take a local builder's view on any position needing heavy cutting.
• Setback from boundaries, which limits how close to the edge you can build.

Designing the house around the outlook

• Put the verandah and main living space towards the view, service areas behind.
• Make the verandah deep enough to sit in through rain and through May afternoons.
• Keep the foreground clear — a boundary wall in the middle distance ruins a good outlook.
• Plant for shade on the exposed side, not in the sight line.
• Place the approach so that arriving does not cut through the view from the verandah.

Keeping the view after you build

• Establish what is beyond your boundary in the sight line, and who owns it.
• Check whether that land is classified for building.
• Watch tree growth on your own land as well as beyond it.
• If a small parcel in front is available, consider buying it at the time you buy the holding.

Live on the land before you build on it

The best decision available to anyone buying a farmhouse holding is also the cheapest: wait a year before choosing where the house goes.

• Visit through all four seasons and note where you naturally end up sitting.
• See where water runs in the monsoon, which no survey will tell you as clearly.
• Learn where the wind comes from, and at what time of year.
• Notice where the sun falls at the hours you would actually use the house.
• Find out which terraces stay wet and which drain quickly.

Owners who build in the first excited month frequently site the house where the road already reaches. Owners who wait a year almost always choose somewhere else, and are happier for it.

The approach spur, costed properly

If the best position needs a short access road built to it, price that before ruling it out.

1. Get a local contractor to walk the line and give a figure.
2. Ask what it needs to carry — a car, or a loaded truck during construction.
3. Ask how it will drain, since a track that channels water is worse than no track.
4. Check it stays on your own land, or that any crossing is recorded.
5. Compare the cost against the value of the better position over thirty years.

In our experience the spur usually costs less than buyers fear, and a badly sited house costs more than they expect.

What buyers actually ask us

• Should I build on the highest point? Usually not. Exposure and water lifting cost more than the extra outlook is worth.
• How much does an access spur cost? Less than most people fear, and it is worth pricing before choosing a position.
• Can I site the house later? Yes, and a year of visiting the land first leads to better decisions.
• Does the position affect resale? A well sited house sells better than a badly sited one on identical land.

Walk it with us

On any farmhouse holding we will walk every terrace with you and give an opinion on where the house belongs, including when that is not where the seller has assumed.

Call or WhatsApp +91 83073 77270, or use the enquiry form. Current listings are on the properties page. See also building on a slope and how to check a view will last.

For photographs of the land before you build and the house afterwards, Sandeep Photography covers Panchkula and Morni.