For example, in my region, the south-west of France, the old farms face directly to the south: the inhabitants had realised that the direction in which the house faced protected them from the easterly and westerly winds, and made them lighter and warmer in winter and cooler in summer thanks to shade from the trees.
Pour être plus concrète, dans ma région, le Sud-Ouest de la France, les anciennes fermes sont orientées plein sud.