My preference would be to have the house face the road. I use the back porch much more than the front - it's where the grill and pool are.

What's your climate like? Would passive solar be helpful in the summer and/or winter? That might help affect orientation, too.

Passive solar strategies mean using the sun and nature to help cool your house in the summer and warm the house in winter. Ideally, to take advantage of passive solar, a house would face north, and the longer axis with the main living areas -- living room, dining area, kitchen -- would benefit from the southern exposure to maximize the natural light and for passive solar heating and cooling, which is a great way to save money on heating and cooling costs and make the house more comfortable for everyone who lives there. You also want to align the short axis facing east and west to minimize glare and heat gain.

Since it sounds like you'll have a bit of land, you can also look into passive solar landscaping by planting trees, evergreen and deciduous, around the house; evergreen trees on the north side to provide a windbreak if necessary, and deciduous trees on the south side of the house to provide shade in summer and then in the fall/winter, after they lose their leaves, they'll allow more natural light into the house.

I agree with sonni1, always prefer the front faces the road; without an aerial pic or topography details I'm guessing but if you can drag the south facing home all the way to the east end, you'd have best of both worlds. Focus prime activity areas in the east section, master bedroom, laundry and kitchen (in our case) with a wrap around deck to the rear. You'll wake up to morning sun in any season, have lots of natural light in primary areas and live healthy.

Our last home was built to take advantage of passive solar energy. It faced north and had 36 (!!) windows on the south. The problem was that the street was on the south. And the driveway led to the east end where the garage was. So visitors were immediately faced with a dilemma - take the south sidewalk (which led to the back door) or the north sidewalk (which led to the front door). 95% picked wrong. It was awkward and a pain in the keister.

Why would anyone build their house to favor a view across the street when you cannot imagine or control what will be built on that land, sooner or later?

Position your house so that the major public spaces face south and you have views and usable outdoor areas on your property where you can control what you see and how you use your property. You can always create a landscape plan for outdoor privacy and shielding views into your house.

Good luck!

This land is part of our family's farm in a rural area. Will try to post pics soon. I really appreciate everyone's input. It helps bring up things we had not thought of yet. Thanks!

If you build facing east, the back yard is on the west, in afternoon/evening sun. If you like sitting on the front porch in the evening, no problem.

Build on the opposite end and the reverse applies. Back yard shaded(easier to shade) in afternoon/evening.

Work with your architect to design the house to best use the land and use passive solar heating and cooling. Do yourself a favor and read up on passive solar heating and cooling too.