Short answer: Vastu works for a home in the USA with the same rules as in India, with three adjustments: correct your compass to true north, because magnetic declination in parts of the US is 10 to 15 degrees; read the front door and the garage door you actually use; and keep the remedies inside the house where the HOA cannot object. I do the whole session online, at a time that suits your US evening or morning.
Updated 3 November 2026
Does Vastu work for a house in the USA?
Yes. Vastu reads directions and the use of space, and east is east in Texas just as in Bengaluru. What changes in America is the kind of house: subdivision lots, attached garages, basements, open-plan kitchens and wood-frame walls. Each of these needs a clear way of reading, which is what this page sets out.
I use the same Vastu Purusha Mandala, the same 16 zones and the same planet for each direction as for an Indian flat. The Sun rules the east, Mercury the north, Jupiter the north-east, Venus the south-east, Mars the south, Rahu the south-west, Saturn the west and the Moon the north-west. None of that changes when you cross an ocean. My guide to Vastu for home, room by room has the core rules, and the 16 Vastu zones and their degrees page shows how I split the plan.
Should I use true north or magnetic north for Vastu in the US?
Use true north. Vastu’s directions come from the sun and the earth’s axis, and a compass points to magnetic north, which can be well off true north in the US. In India the gap is about a degree, so I read the compass as it is. In much of the US the gap is large enough to move a room into the next zone.
The gap is called magnetic declination. It changes with place and drifts a little each year. Roughly, it is around 15 degrees east in the Pacific Northwest, close to zero along a line through the middle of the country, and around 14 degrees west in New England. Each of the 16 zones is only 22.5 degrees wide, so a 15-degree error is two-thirds of a zone.
| Area | Approximate declination | What the compass does |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle, Portland | About 15° east | Points east of true north |
| San Francisco Bay Area | About 13° east | Points east of true north |
| Dallas, Houston | About 1 to 3° east | Close to true north |
| Chicago | About 3° west | Close to true north |
| New York, New Jersey | About 12 to 13° west | Points west of true north |
| Boston | About 14° west | Points west of true north |
These are rounded figures. For your own address, look it up on NOAA’s magnetic field calculator, or switch your phone’s compass to true north. On an iPhone, open the Compass settings and turn on Use True North. My page on using a compass for Vastu correctly walks through the reading.
- Turn on true north in your phone’s compass, or note your declination.
- Stand at the front door and take a reading, away from the fridge, the furnace and any steel.
- Take a second reading at the centre of the house.
- If you only have a magnetic reading, add an east declination to it, or subtract a west one.
- Send me both readings with a photo of the screen.
Which lot is best in a US subdivision as per Vastu?
A regular lot with the street on the north or east is the easiest, but any facing can work. On a cul-de-sac, the pie-shaped lot that is narrow at the street and wide at the back is a gaumukhi shape, which Vastu likes for homes.
Subdivision lots are mostly regular, which helps. The two things I look at closely are the lots at the end of a straight street, where the road runs into your driveway, and the corner lots where the builder trimmed a slice for the curve. A road hitting your home head-on is called veedhi shoola, and the remedy is planting and a solid feature between the road and the door, within what your HOA allows.
My garage faces the street and we always enter through it. Which door counts?
Both. The front door gives the house its facing and its main door pada. The door from the garage into the house is the one your family uses every day, so I read its zone as a second entrance.
In many American homes the garage takes the front of the house and the front door sits back, beside or behind it. The family drives in, walks through the mudroom and enters at the kitchen. If that inner door lands in the south-west, I keep the mudroom tidy and well lit, with nothing piled in the corner, and make the front door the welcoming one again: a light on, the path clear, and the door actually used for guests. The front door rules for each wall are on my main door Vastu page with all 32 padas.
Is a basement bad in Vastu?
No. A basement is read as a floor of its own. It suits storage, a gym, a home theatre or a guest area. I would not put the master bedroom down there, and I keep the heaviest storage in its south-west.
American basements often run under the whole house, which is not what old texts had in mind; they preferred a basement only under the north and east. So I treat a full basement practically. The furnace and water heater are fire, and the south-east of the basement suits them best. The sump pump is water, and the north-east or north suits it. If the basement is finished as a rental or a teen’s den, I read the bed and the desk there as I would upstairs.
How do I apply Vastu to an open-plan kitchen?
Read the kitchen by where the cooktop sits. The south-east of the house is best for the cooking fire and the north-west is the second choice, whether or not there is a wall around it.
In an open plan, the kitchen, dining and family room are one space, and the island often sits near the centre. The things I check are the cooktop zone, the cook facing east while cooking if possible, the sink and the cooktop not facing each other head-on, and the centre of the house kept free of the island’s clutter. A gas fireplace counts as fire too; in the north-east I would rather it stay unused or be balanced. My page on kitchen Vastu: where the stove and sink go covers the details.
What if my HOA does not allow exterior changes?
Then keep the remedies inside. Almost everything I suggest works indoors: furniture, colours, lights, mirrors, plants in pots and how each room is used.
HOAs often control the front door colour, the landscaping, the mailbox and anything on the exterior. I do not suggest yantras on the outside wall, a change to the front door colour or planting in the front yard unless you have checked it is allowed. Inside, there is plenty to work with. The approach is the same one I use for Vastu in a rented home without changing the structure.
Does Vastu work in a wood-frame house?
Yes. Vastu reads directions and the use of rooms, not the building material. Wood-frame walls do make some things easier, because shifting a door or a closet costs less than it would in brick.
What I watch in wood-frame homes is weight. The south-west should feel the heaviest, and in a light timber house that comes from furniture: the main bed, wardrobes, bookshelves. The north-east should feel the lightest, so I keep big furniture and dark heavy colours away from it.
Where should the primary bedroom be in an American house?
In the south-west, as in India. Many US plans put the primary suite on the ground floor at the back, or upstairs over the garage, so its zone depends entirely on how the house sits on the lot.
If the primary suite falls in the north-east, I would rather the couple move to a south-west room and use the north-east suite for guests or a study. A bonus room over the garage is usually at the front of the house; use it as a media room or a home office unless it happens to fall in the south-west.
Where should the pooja or prayer space go in a US home?
In the north-east first, then the east or north. In an American house that is often a corner of the family room or a small den, which works well.
Two things I see often and would change: a mandir in a closet under the stairs, and a mandir on a wall shared with a laundry room or a powder room. Both are common because they are the spare spaces in a US plan. A clean shelf in the north-east of the living area is better than either. My guide to pooja room placement in small homes has the details.
How do I check a pre-built house in the US before I buy?
Ask for the floor plan from the listing or the builder, and send it to me with the address before you make an offer. I can rank two or three houses in one call.
- Check the lot: shape, which side the street is on, and whether a road runs straight into the driveway.
- Find true north on the plan.
- Check the front door pada, and the zone of the garage entry.
- Check the primary bedroom: south-west is best.
- Check the cooktop: south-east, or north-west.
- Look for toilets in the north-east or the centre.
- See where the stairs are: south, west or south-west is best.
Where should the well and septic system go on a rural US lot?
The same as in India: a well in the north-east, north or east, and the septic tank and drain field in the north-west or west. Never the septic in the north-east, the south-west or the centre of the lot.
On acreage lots the county and your engineer fix the distances between the well, the septic and the house, and those rules come first because they protect your water. Vastu only decides the side. My guides to septic tank Vastu and its safe sides and water tank and borewell placement explain the reasoning.
How does an online Vastu session work from the US?
We meet on a 45-minute video call at a time that suits you, after I have marked your plan. India is 9 hours 30 minutes ahead of US Eastern time in summer and 10 hours 30 minutes ahead in winter; for the Pacific coast, add three more hours.
| Your city | A good slot for you | My time in India |
|---|---|---|
| New York, Atlanta | 9:00 PM the evening before | 7:30 AM (winter) |
| Chicago, Dallas | 8:30 AM | 8:00 PM (winter) |
| San Francisco, Seattle | 6:30 AM | 8:00 PM (winter) |
You pay online when you book, and your bank converts the ₹1,499 per floor. For a two-storey house with a basement, I confirm the fee before you book. The written report reaches you within 48 hours. The wider guide for families abroad is on Vastu and astrology for NRIs, and if you are also buying back home, the flat-buying checklist for India helps from a distance.
What do clients say after a session?
“It was a genuine, methodical session. I would definitely recommend Align Aura to all my close ones. I shall be ever grateful to Align Aura for their rational approach to all my problems and also for providing appropriate remedies.”
Saborni Dutta, Google review, July 2026
Reviews are left by clients after their session, in their own words; I don’t write or script them. Reviews from my clients on Google.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Vastu different for homes in the USA?
The rules are the same. Only the reading changes: true north instead of the raw compass, the garage entry read as a second door, and remedies kept inside the house. Living south of the equator instead? My southern hemisphere Vastu guide covers Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
What is magnetic declination and why does it matter for Vastu?
It is the angle between magnetic north and true north. In parts of the US it is 10 to 15 degrees, enough to put a room in the wrong zone if you read the compass as it is.
Is a north-facing house good in the USA?
Yes, as good as in India. Keep the door on the middle padas of the north wall and the north and north-east open. In the northern US, a north front also stays cooler in summer.
Our house faces a cul-de-sac. Is that good as per Vastu?
Often yes. A pie-shaped lot that is narrow at the street and wider at the back is a gaumukhi plot, which suits a home.
Is a basement bedroom bad in Vastu?
For the main couple, I would avoid it. For a guest or a grown child, it is fine with the head to the south or east.
Our HOA will not let us change the front door. What can we do?
Work inside: light the entry, keep it clear, place a good mat and work on the rooms. Most remedies never touch the exterior.
Can I do Vastu for a house I am about to buy in the US?
Yes. Send me the listing floor plan and the address before your offer, and I can compare two or three houses in one call.
What time is the online session for US clients?
Usually your evening or early morning. Tell me your city when you book and I will suggest a slot.
