West facing house Vastu plan
West facing plots are cheaper, and people assume that is because they are bad Vastu. They are not. Vastu treats west (Varuna) as a perfectly workable facing — what you need is discipline about where the door sits and how you handle the afternoon heat.
What counts as west facing
Facing is decided by the direction you look when you walk out of the main door. If you step out and face north, it is a north facing house — regardless of which way the plot is longer.
The road is to the west and the main door is in the west wall. The favourable part of that wall is its north-west stretch — closer to the north, away from the south-west corner.
Room placement for a west facing house
| Room | Best zone | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Main entrance | West, towards the north-west | Favourable padas; keeps the south-west corner solid |
| Living / hall | West and north-west, extending to north | Guests stay in the outer half |
| Kitchen | South-east (first choice) or north-west | Both are accepted fire zones |
| Master bedroom | South-west | Unchanged by facing — always the south-west |
| Children bedroom | West or north-west | |
| Pooja room | North-east | Even on a west facing plot the pooja stays north-east |
| Dining | West or centre-west | |
| Toilets | North-west or west | |
| Staircase | South or south-west | |
| Open space | North and east | Give the rear of a west facing plot more setback |
The two corrections that matter
First, do not put the entrance in the south-west corner of the west wall. That is the one position on a west facing plot that Vastu treats as genuinely adverse, and it is also the position that gets the worst low evening sun straight into your hall.
Second, keep the north-east of the plot open even though the road is on the opposite side. It is easy to end up putting the sump, the tank and the servant toilet at the back of a west facing plot — which is exactly where the north-east usually falls.
Living with the afternoon sun
- Put the car porch, utility and store along the west so they buffer the living rooms.
- Deep overhang or a pergola over any west window. Two feet does most of the work.
- Cross ventilate east to west so the house flushes heat after sunset.
- Light-coloured west wall finish; avoid dark stone cladding on the west face.
Check your own plan against this
Open the plan editor, set your plot size and the facing, and the Vastu checker marks each zone on the sheet — green where the room matches the convention, amber where it is borderline, red where it is wrong — with the reason written out next to it. Move the wall, and the check updates as you drag.
A note on how to use this
Vastu Shastra is a traditional Indian system of directional planning, not a building code. Plenty of its rules line up neatly with good tropical design — a south-east kitchen gets morning sun and keeps afternoon heat away from the living room, a north-east opening brings in soft light, heavy mass on the south-west shades the house through the hottest hours. Others are purely traditional.
Treat the checker in the editor the same way a structural engineer treats a rule of thumb: it tells you what the convention says, quickly, so you can decide what to follow and what to trade away. It will never stop you drawing the plan you want.
Frequently asked questions
Is a west facing house bad as per Vastu?
No. Vastu does not consider west facing inauspicious. It is ruled by Varuna and is considered good for prosperity and fame. The common belief that it is bad comes from the afternoon heat problem, which is a design issue, not a Vastu verdict.
Where should the main door be in a west facing house?
In the west wall, towards the north-west end. Avoid placing it at the south-west end of that wall.
Is a west facing house good for business?
Traditionally, yes — west facing properties are often preferred for shops and commercial frontage, as the facing is associated with gains and recognition.