Firstly, describing a blocks orientation, just be aware that the terms "facing" & "frontage" are often confused. Usually the term "facing" is used to describe the direction from the house to the backyard (as this is often the direction the living areas will face). So a north facing block actually has a southern frontage.

Before talking about the ideal block (with regards to orientation), lets talk about the ideal house. Note, these are generalizations, & will be affected by your location, & local climate.

The above website tells us, that for most Australian climates, the ideal house shape is rectangular, stretched along the E-W axis. That is, the longer sides of the house will face N & S, the shorter sides will face E & W.

We also learn that it's beneficial to locate living areas (& a large proportion of your glazing) to the north, where they'll be warmed by the winter sun, but shaded in summer by appropriate length eaves (when the sun is higher in the sky). As glass is a poor insulator, a lower proportion of glazing should face S. Southern windows will cool the house in winter (as they will not receive sun). When the sun is to the E & W it is lower in the sky, so eaves become less effective. So a lower proportion of glazing should face E, & W facing glazing should be minimised or eliminated (as hot afternoon summer sun can make a home unbearably hot). W facing bedrooms are particularly bad, & can become unbearably hot on summer evenings.

So how do we find a block that accomodates a rectangular house, that is not overshadowed from the North? It's often possible on a large rural block, but not easy to do in an urban environment, where blocks often have narrow frontages. So compromises often have to be made.

A southern frontage block, with a north facing backyard, is the most sort after block. This is because a living area facing north will also face the backyard, offering privacy (your husband will be happy). This type of block also reduces the chance of being overshadowed to the north. But as mentioned above, urban blocks are often long, with narrow frontages. This limits the length of the northern & southern sides of the house, increasing the length of the east & western sides, which is not ideal. Our rectangle doesn't face the ideal direction. So it's great to have a large frontage, building right out to the side boundaries, increasing the length of the northern & southern sides (& reducing the E & W sides). Also care must be taken, that an alfresco doesn't rob the home of northern sunlight (north is not an ideal location for the alfresco).

An eastern or western frontage isn't bad, if you're happy to locate your living areas facing north, down the side of the house. But this can cause privacy issues, so is not for everyone. Also, for narrow E or W frontages, it's likely that northern living areas will be overshadowed by northern neighbours. So, again, a wide frontage is ideal, & it's a good idea to build close to the southern boundary, & have a side yard to the north. This will prevent overshadowning. One advantage with a western frontage, a large double garage will block western summer sun. An eastern frontage home can have a large W facing alfresco, which can help shade the home from western sun.

For a similar reason, a northern frontage usually not a great idea. This is because a double garage will block northern sun, making the house dark, & cold in winter. For a northern frontage block, sloping down to the road, it may be possible to have the garage under the house, so that it doesn't block northern sunlight, but as you say, sloping blocks will increase the cost of the build (though it may be an interesting build).

I've just described the four main compass points. Moving away from These complicates things, making it harder to shade windows. I'd certainly steer clear of NW facing living areas, as NW facing glazing is difficult to shade, & will become very hot in summer.

Note also, that designing for local breezes & cross ventilation will complicate window placement a little more. The direction of summer cooling breezes in Perth is very different from breezes in Sydney.

To your other question. As mentioned earlier, glass is a poor insulator. So, if you plan to use a lot of glazing to highlight views, it is best that the views (& the glazing) DO NOT face south. You'll have a cold house in winter, or very high energy bills, or will have to pay for very expensive glazing to minimise the heat loss. It's much better if the views (& the glazing) faces north, as long as the glass is shaded in summer (appropriate length eaves will do this.

So for me, the ideal block (which would be very hard to come by), would be a very wide southern frontage block, with views to the north. Living areas to the north, bedrooms to the south, garage in the SW corner.

So yes, if you can, I'd hold out for a block with views & the backyard facing north. Though there's compromises with every block.