The direction "north" was weighed by negative baggage, associated with the goddess Hel of the underworld and in general being the direction of death and pestilence. Some of this can be explained by the fundamental climate issues identified by /u/Bodark43. The following is an excerpt from my Introduction to Folklore dealing with the general feelings associated with the four directions (and north in particular):

The origins for the terms east, west, south, and north hint at an ancient posture facing east with the left side of the body to the north, the right to the south, and the back to the west. Even the word “orientation” descends from a Latin word for sunrise, and hence the east. It appears that facing east has had premier importance for centuries if not millennia, particularly when dealing with the supernatural. Most cultures share this point of view. Traditionally churches situated the altar at the east side of the long axis so that the congregation faced in that direction to view the priest and the Elevation of the Host.

The idea of facing east gave each direction a specific meaning. East (front) and south (right) had positive value, while the contrasting west and north were negative. North was a direction of disaster and unhappiness. Diseases, for example, could be magically discarded in rivers that flowed north. In medieval Scandinavia, the land of death was to the north. For the Irish, Tir na nOg, the land of everlasting youth (and death), was to the west. In Arthurian literature, King Arthur goes west to Avalon after receiving his mortal wound. The power of this direction gave meaning to the western islands that eighth-century Celtic monks inhabited as they awaited their final meeting with God.

edit: I see the entry by /u/Bodark43 is not longer with us. I thought it was a valid observation that the winter winds from the north and northwest in Europe generally made placing a door in the direction undesirable. The comment focused on weather rather than history, but it is a valid observation that physical reality was certainly a factor in how one perceived the north.