Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction Locating the House

I have been racking my brain with 2 major questions:

1. With a predominately Northeast to Southwest running pond (it is oval), which side is the "best" for the house? The dam is on the Northeast side if it makes any difference. Does the setting or rising sun matter on a smaller 2.5 acre pond?

2. How close would you put your house next to a 2.5 acre pond. The total lot is 50 acres so distance isnt an issue!

Personally, I would put it closest to the utilities side, and I would want it higher than the highest possible flood stage.

I've never had an issue with gnats or odors, so I would be interested if anybody has had any issues with homes right on the edge of a pond.

Some things to consider:

View of pond is nice, so higher point might be good - can watch fish feed, set up telescope and rifle mount to discourage invasive critters [coons, rats, beavers, ect.]

The sounds of the pond on Summer evenings are also enjoyable [bullfrogs, birds, ect.]

So I would choose high and close, if that's possible.

TJ, how close is "to close" if there is such a thing.....is 150-200 feet to far?

Hmmm...I don't know I'd think every situation is unique. I know Lusk Lodge 2 is pretty close to his main pond - maybe 50' or so. He is also elevated quite a bit, IIRC maybe 10-15' above high water mark. I've seen some forum guys with cabins right on the water's edge, some are up a ways...all depends on what you want and you need to keep water in mind, too. If you get a significant rain event you need to make sure your home is safe from flooding...as long as you have that resolved, I think you can get as close as you want.

Ok then how far is to far to "enjoy the view" of a pond?

Walk around the pond, vary your distances, see what looks right, measure the distance. Pond size matters, too. A 1 acre pond can be completely viewed even close up on the pond, while a 4 acre pond you'd need to sit back a ways. This is all personal preference...maybe I'm missing the thrust of your question?

On another topic, apparently congratulations are in order - you ended up buying that parcel evidentally? Good job! Any luck on finding a contractor? Check all local pond owners and ask them who worked on theirs, NRCS, etc.

We had very little choice on the actual location of the structure, so our primary view points NW. The resulting pro's and con's:
1) When the sun comes up in the morning, it is behind our backs and bathes the view beyond. Because we have tall trees all the way around, the first couple of hours as the sun starts to top the trees behind us creates fairly dramatic shadows as it hits the trees at the other end of the pond. As the sun rises, the morning light show fills in the pond as the shadows shorten. This has turned out to be a great vantage point decision. The downside is that we do not have the bath of light in the morning that some people desire inside their homes in the main living space.
2) During the warm months, when the sun rides higher across the sky, the afternoons - early evening pour the sun into the main living space. When it's hot outside, we will likely want to filter or even curtain this heat and UV element. This, in turn, will directly affect the view by covering or masking it. I am still uncertain how to properly handle this one.
3) We pulled the house back from the shoreline about 100 feet or so. This was done for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, our primary view is happening from the second floor (our main living space is upstairs, the garage and shop are down). Being elevated, we did not want to lose the "big picture" by looking across the top of the near shoreline. Pulling the view back gives a much more full view of the entire picture. Also, pulling the structure back gives us a front yard area; a nice element between the house and the pond. Also, having this front yard, we have bird feeders and a blue bird house that become part of the view. Very cool to include; watching wildlife with the backdrop of a pond view....even the deer when they work the shoreline, ultimately walking across the front yard at dawn and dusk.
4) The real unintended bonus; a view from the second floor. We put function before form in this arena by designing to meet our needs. We were concerned, tho, about putting the living space on the second floor. I was worried how the view would wind up. We are absolutely thrilled with the results. By pulling the home back a bit from the shoreline and elevating the vantage point...and adding a bank of 5 x 5 picture windows, the resulting view could not be better.

Absolutely beautiful, Brettski!

First stop and think long term - 3 to 4 generations out. What do you want the place to be.

Consider :

ages of people who will use
docks , picnic table , boating access , outdoor parties ,swimming , swing sets , etc

trees - size now and later , bushes , walkways and paths to lake and around the lake for people and wildlife

view from the house to lake (see B'ski windows)

house orientation to water and woods (drive in and out).

Look for other people's set-ups here on the forum. B'ski threads (more than just the house thread IIRC) will help a lot with the thought process.

Thanks for the input so far guys......TJ, while we havent closed ont he property yet, we did put a contract on it. We are just waiting for the title paperwork to come back, we should close by mid December at the latest.

Here is the gist of why I am asking and yes it is "premature" but I like to have things planned out in my head way ahead of time, I might have a touch of OCD....

It is difficult for us right now to look at the view from way back. There are trees surronding the entire pond and we want to leave the trees on all the sides except where the house will be....thus is makes it tough to judge.

Our initial thoughts were to put the house 150 or so feet away from the pond, that way we could have an actual "backyard" (not a huge issue with 50 acres) where the kids etc can play without being right up against the pond, we would have a "big view" meaning that if we sat on the back porch you would see the entire 2.5 acre pond and that location works best with where the property percs best (that far away we can use a traditional gravity fed septic instead of pumping). We thought we had the spot picked out.....on the SE side of the pond oriented to the NW.

Then we visited friends that live on a 1300 acre lake. They brought up some things that we never thought about. Things like, in the summertime the people facing to the west on the lake get horrible glare fromt he lake that almost eliminates their ability to enjoy the lake after about 4pm.

So that is where the questions came from.....I understand the scale of a 1300 acre lake changes the "rules" froma 2.5 acre pond and we arent looking to orient due west but I was worried the sun reflecting off the pond late in the day could cause issues if we had the house oriented to the NW.

Breetski, I am glad you chimed in, I was looking at your website yesterday trying to figure out how far from the pond you have your place.

Put up a tent in the various places and do a little camping to get a feel for what is "right".

Some thoughts: On the west side, you will get morning reflections from the water, on the east, sunset. Do you prefer extra light in the morning or evening?

Humidity on construction, you will get more too close to the water. Consider that.

My personal opinion is somewhere in the range of having some grass in the front for a buffer and area to walk around, so maybe 50' or so.

My house is to the North of my pond.

We have a house on the South side of a lake.

I prefer having the house on the South side looking North much more than the other way around. Too hard to look into the sun when wanting to look at the pond.

As for distance, think about how the trees will grow/die over the years, how leaves on the trees will obscure your view as the treees grow.

I don't see Relative Humidity changing around a pond, at least I don't feel any difference.

When building a house, take into consideration that dirt cannot be put around the trunk of a tree, nor should heavy equipment be driven over the roots of a tree - it will damage the roots and the tree will have a good chance of dying in the next 2-5 years. A rule of thumb is that a trees roots spread out the same distance as the crown of the tree.

Also take into consideration where the most storms will come from to prevent limbs/branches/trees from falling on any structures. I recommend gutters on the roof, to direct water away from the house. Trees close to the house = clogged gutters from leaves/seeds. I have yet to see a good system for keeping leaves/seeds out of gutters, and still allowing for large quantities of water to find the downspouts. As you get older, it gets harder and harder to clean out the gutters.

How far from the house depends on how much of the pond you want to see from the house, and how the windows are laid out in the house, and the floor plan of the house.

For smaller children, I think I'd prefer them to be playing around behind the house, away from the water if they weren't watched 100% of the time. Take into consideration their childhood friends too - they might not be as water wise as your kids. Once they become more in tune with the world, and know how to swim, then they can play nearer the water.

Let us know about your plans for the pond. And, I'm here for a chat anytime, too. Good luck, can't wait to watch your project unfold. Should be very instructional journey for the forum, too. Please document carefully and provide tons of info/photos!

I wouldn't want it so far away that it would be a hassle to walk "all the way down to the pond" kinda deal. I'd have it close enough that you could still enjoy it and have easy access to it when you're in your senior years.

Mike, everyone has their two cents so hears mine:

Our pond is NW-SE oriented with the dam on the south end of the pond. It is about 11 acres. The cabin is on the NW side of the pond and gets a lot of early morning sun from the pond. It does not bother us as we love the view. As for the house, when we build, it will be on the south west corner of the pond oriented so that the family room will look north, down the length of the pond. The side windows will look out on the little pond as well. I plan on putting the master bedroom above the family room to have the same views. Because of the small hill, we will have the house about 100 feet from the big pond and about 150 yards from the little pond. Our cabin is about 60 feet from the water on two sides and we have no problems and love the placement.

As for the humidity, I do see a lot more fog in the fall due to the ponds, But it looks great, except during deer season and duck season.

I also agree that you should try to place the house near the utilities. But only if the view allows. In the end, you only have to pay for them to be put in once, but the view is there day after day....

In short, go with the best view after considering all four seasons and your needs.

There is another issue regarding where to locate a house and it is weather. Make sure you can always get to the road without the benefit of 4WD.

The family farm guys built in the pond all things are possible.

I chose higher ground father away to overlook everything.



Oh yea remember to check Septic System laws for the area building. Also in some states it is required to put a silt barrier between the building site and water. That last thing you want is extra expenses or fines.