After living in an Ozark hollow for decades, some points in the
selection of land and house site in deciduous forests.
Pick a low site in a wash on a sunrise facing slope.  Lotsa folks
pick a fine view on a ridge or mountain top, saying further that
it picks up the summer breeze.  Which it would, *if* there was any
during a heat wave.  The rest of the year, it is in the teeth of
wind from the Yukon, and the only thing between the side of the
house and the north pole is some barbed wire fence.
A SE facing slope cuts the usual NW cold front down to size some.
With the canopy bare, the ground heats up quickly in the colder
parts of the year facing the mourning sun at a higher angle.
In the summer, with the canopy in leaf, the sun, after 3 or 4 pm,
will no longer penetrate to the forest floor, and the earth will
naturally begin to cool the air at ground level.  That denser air
begins to flow down the slope, and if your house is in a funnel
shaped wash, you will notice a 3-4 mph breeze at the same time
when the air up on the ridgetops is still heating and stagnant.
When the 5pm temp in Little Rock is 100, it is usually around 96
in Clinton, about 92 out at the country store, 89 back on the
north side of the mountain, and 86 in my front yard.  An hour
later, it has dropped 5 degrees in the hollow, but not at all in
town.  because this goes on all night, by mourning, it is 58 in
the garden, and 73+ in the city.
If you are lucky or smart, you'll orient the house so that it has
windows and/or doors on the sides that face the downflow breeze,
which can be opened as soon as the heat breaks, and with a well
insulated house, never see inside temps over 77 inside the house
without having to cope with airconditioning expenses.  And, while
the *air* in the house may reach that temp from doors opening and
heat passing thru themoconductive windows, the walls, floors, and
furniture- or anything with thermal mass is still cooler, and it
will let the house cool down promptly.
OTOH: such low sites are also prone to frosts, so I loose 3 weeks
of the season in both spring and fall for tender veggies.  Those
greens and such that are not so fussy however, do rather better,
and if you have a spring in the creek, the cooler air makes a fine
spot to have sweet lettuce all summer long. 
 
... Spending in the American way- over our heads.
--- Blue Wave v2.12 [NR]
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