Do you know what an envelope home is? There is one located in Williamsburg, Virginia!
This striking one of a kind home, located just blocks from the College of William and Mary and Colonial Williamsburg, truly brings the outdoors in through four floors of windows facing a southern exposure and a panoramic wooded view. 950 Jamestown Road was built by the late Dr. Lynn Doverspike, a physics professor at William and Mary, working with well-renowned local architect, Roger Guernsey. Together they conceived of this home, one of the most unique contemporary passive solar homes in the Tidewater area.
Dr. Doverspike chose this particular location because it lent itself so perfectly to his desire to build an “envelope” home. The living quarters are surrounded by an envelope of tempered air between inner and outer walls on the north and south face. The south facing windows admit the light and warmth during the winter, and the airspace (and open flooring concept on the south side) provide a passageway for the flow of warm air. This creates a convective loop of warm air between the inner and outer shell which heats the house. The outer shell of the home also provides a “buffer zone” to the cooler outside air. Heating is supported by a Kaclelovin German Ceramic Woodstove, as well as a conventional gas heat system and supplemental electric baseboard heating in all the bedrooms. In the summer months the mature trees shade the windows and help cool the home. The shell once again 
provides a buffer from the outdoor temperatures, while a 16 seer central air conditioning system provides auxiliary cooling as needed. Most interior walls have additional insulation with fiberglass bands, and exterior walls have heavy insulation to provide even more energy efficiency.
This home offers so many advantages - proximity to downtown and the college, contemporary construction combined with innovative, energy efficient design, artful updates throughout, and gorgeous outdoor living areas, all found in a spectacular wooded setting. It is truly a beautiful and special place to call “Home.”
For more information, or to see more photos of this home, vist www.lizmoore.com/950jamestownroad.
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