BELHAVEN — Down a long, gravel drive, tucked away amidst trees, is a one-of-a-kind home that embraces its natural surroundings.

Secluded on 2.2 acres, the home of James McKelvey and Yvonne Sedgwick, owners of the downtown Washington wine and gourmet foods shop Wine and Words, is a dream — their dream. Designed by McKelvey, it’s a masterpiece of efficiency that needs very little maintenance, and a place that invites the visitor to be a part of the outdoors.

“That’s where we live most of the time — outside. We’re fortunate we can be outside probably 10 months of the year,” Sedgwick said.

Situated on Ashton Gut, a 30-foot-wide shallow creek that empties into North Creek, 750 square feet of deck backs the home, while screen porches off the first floor master bedroom and kitchen provide indoor living outside. Where the 210-foot pier joins the deck to a platform on the water is a favorite spot to sit and simply enjoy, Sedgwick said.

“We often sit out on the dock with a glass of wine and watch the fish jump,” she said.

The connection with the out of doors does not end there: each room of the house is designed to showcase nature. Picture windows throughout the house frame scenes of natural beauty: marsh grasses swaying in the breeze; a fox and her kits strolling to the shoreline. With windows on three walls, even the kitchen looks to the outside for nature’s inspiration — a departure from the professional kitchens in which Sedgwick, a former chef, spent many years.

“James designed the house, and I designed the kitchen,” Sedgwick said. “I didn’t want anything big. I wanted it to be a working kitchen because of my background.”

It’s common theme throughout the home.

At a total of 2,050 square feet, there’s an efficiency of space, though it’s one maximized by a soaring cathedral ceiling in the main living area. Cement floors, stained and buffed to look like marble, hide a heating/cooling system that is a masterpiece of efficiency: water pipes. In the winter, hot water flowing through the floor sends radiant heat throughout the house.

“In summer, we reverse it and put cool water through the pipes, so it cools it down,” Sedgwick said.

A Hardie Plank exterior, 50-year galvanized roof and the expansive deck, its planking made from a composite of recycled plastic that only requires cleaning once a year, the house is made for those who enjoy a low-maintenance lifestyle.

“We wanted a house that was efficient, no maintenance, and I think that’s what we got,” Sedgwick said.

Even major storms, and the maintenance they bring to most waterfront homes, aren’t an issue for McKelvey and Sedgwick. Their lot sits 9 feet above the mean water level, so even in 2011, when Hurricane Irene unleashed the largest storm surge the county had seen since the 1950s, water didn’t reach the house.

“We picked out this lot. It’s high and peaceful and private, as well,” Sedgwick said.

That peace seeps through the open windows year round. From the neighborhood’s parklike common area, with boat launch and 21-slip pier, to McKelvey’s workshop just across the gravel road, from the loft where the grandchildren sleep when they visit to the picture window above the kitchen stove, from a morning cup of coffee on the screen porch to an evening glass of wine on the pier, McKelvey and Sedgwick have created a refuge from the outer world, a haven to sit back, relax and soak in the sounds and sights of eastern North Carolina’s natural beauty.