The optimal orientation for the major public spaces of a house in the northern hemisphere is...south! Avoid east, and at all costs, avoid west.

Since you are in Houston, and so far south, even north light will work as a "secondary" source of rather constant illumination levels during the day. Many artist studios are oriented to the north since the quality and lighting intensity tend to be constant throughout much of the day.

The second important principle is to design your house so that it's only 1-2 rooms deep (not a "fat" house, many rooms deep), and to find ways to put windows in at least two walls for important rooms.

Unfortunately, you won't find many tract, builder or Internet plan factory houses designed like this.

Good luck on your project.

Face the front northeast and put as wide an eave on the house as you can manage.

This Book from the late 70's is a great easy read on home orientation. Explains why southern window exposure is best, why overhangs are important. Not necessary to focus on the solar heating aspects, but more on keeping cool in the summer months.

. Link to Edward Mazria Solar design Book

or copy paste

https://www.amazon.com/Passive-Solar-Energy-Edward-Mazria/dp/0878572600

For the most natural light, keep trees away from the house so as not to block the sun. And all porches will also block sunlight. Install the largest window possible and on all outside walls.

Any windows facing west in Houston will be hotter than blazes, so forget capturing any natural light from that direction.

Would agree it would be a good idea to keep conifers away from the house; however, feel free to add broad leaf trees on any side, especially on the west for winter sun but summer shade.

What Cpartist said. She lives in FL and understands the intense sun, too.

Trees on the west side is an excellent plan but you'll still want some kind of blind/shade for when the sun pierces through the leaves. My kitchen window faces west with a huge live oak blocking some of the rays and it was blinding in the evening.

Something you should also consider. The best windows to reduce solar heat gain have the LoE-366 coating. This coating also reduces the amount of light transmittance into the home. I'm south of Houston and went from single pane aluminum to double pane with 366. There was a big difference in the quality of light that I wasn't sure I liked. Then I realized how much heat was being blocked! You can use a variety of coatings, depending on which direction the window faces. When you're ready to look into that, the Windows forum is helpful. Here's a link to the manufacturer's page.

Coated glass from Cardinal

My north-facing home has tall archtop windows (Kitchen, Library, MBA). There are 15 tall french doors in the breakfast room, leading to the screened porch, in the DR and LR. (All facing East and South). The breakfast room is East. The screened porch is SE. This is a two-room deep, one-floor home, so -- although I'd prefer an east-facing MBR, it had to go SW.

It's a 2900 sq ft house with 26 tall casement windows. . The archtop entry door (North) is set into an arch with sidelights. I want natural light -- and shade -- in certain places throughout the day. I think that applies to wherever you live. (We're near Chicago.)

I guess it depends on where you live. The sun is our friend with us having so many cloudy days.