Sundial House
This south facing site with its view across foothills to Massanutten Peak and the Blue Ridge mountains drove the overall layout and organization of this modern country house. Selecting this site also served the goal of integrating active and passive solar systems into the design of the Sundial House.
Inspired by the concept of two houses with a street between, the functions were divided into a “Day House”, with shared open space on the south side, and a “Night House” with private rooms on the north side. The street became an “Atrium” serving both houses.
The Day House common space includes kitchen, dining room, living room, and the suspended Loft floating above the kitchen. With a full height south glass wall, the Day House is the heat generator that powers Sundial’s passive solar design.
The beauty of a south facing view is that a large glass wall there not only delivers the view but integrates passive solar heating into the concept of the house. The canopy roof which shelters the south terrace is designed to allow the sun deep into the house in winter but shade the house in summer.
The Night House is divided into bedrooms, bathrooms, office, and laundry. These private rooms are accessed through doors off the central atrium.
The Atrium provides the 3D crossroads of the house: lengthwise it connects front door to back door, vertically it connects the three stories, and crosswise it connects the two houses, including the bridge from the Night House to the Loft. The Atrium skylight, with its three foot rod, casts a shadow on the North House allowing the occupants to tell time and inspiring the name Sundial House.
The active solar photovoltaic panels are optimized by the south orientation of the house and the pitch given to the house roofs.
The passive solar system depends on the thermal mass in the concrete floor and the solid 12 inch masonry walls to store daytime heat in winter and nighttime coolness in summer. Without this concrete mass to draw the heat during the daytime, the house would overheat in winter.
Location: Keezletown, Virginia
Square feet ground and second floor: 3660
Square feet basement and garage: 2340