We are very fortunate to work in some of the finest neighborhoods in central Texas with some truly fabulous custom homes. This includes Cimarron Hills and others in Georgetown; Enfield, Spanish Oaks, and many newer areas of Austin; as well as Escondido and Applehead Island in Horseshoe Bay, and several wonderful neighborhoods in between. It never ceases to amaze me when driving through these areas at night, the differences in outdoor lighting systems installed on these properties.
For a home valued in excess of $1,000,000 in a premium area of town, the lighting system should be enhancing that exceptional jewel at night, highlighting the architecture, and showing off the design envisioned by the builder and owner instead of detracting from it. It’s simply not possible for a quick install of 10-20 lights to do proper justice to a home like this – but I see that all the time.
How does this happen? How is it that a spectacular home is allowed to disappear, or worse – look cheap after dark?
It often begins with the builder who is shopping for landscaping. He may say to the landscaper, “Hey, while you’re at it, let’s add some lights.” The landscaper is rarely a lighting designer, and so they go with the usual “10 light package deal” for a low rate and call it done. Or it happens that the home owner goes to the big box home improvement store and buys the landscape lighting starter kit, and does it themselves. Now, I don’t have any problems with people who do things themselves, but the box store product installed by a lawyer or doctor or you-name-it-professional business suit dude will not be able to bring out the best of a beautifully designed custom home. Another way this travesty can occur is when the home owner calls a lighting company for a free demo and quote. This company shows up, and within an hour has set up a few lights outside. The home owner says, “That looks great, let’s do it!” The only problem is that any lighting at night looks better than no lighting. When they go ahead with the demo deal, the inexperienced homeowner doesn’t know what they are missing. Usually it takes at least twice as many fixtures as one of these demo kits provide to create a great lighting design for almost any custom home.
A fine custom home usually has incredible architectural elements that should be highlighted, especially at night. There are also places like utility areas, like where the air conditioner is, that should be hidden. Landscaping will likely include specimen plants that need to be accented properly, not necessarily with just one light in front of it. We regularly see mature oak trees with a single light staked in front and we just shake our heads. How can you properly accent the majesty of a 100-year-old oak tree with a single up light? The answer is simple: you can’t.
It takes a lot of training to understand how light works in space, and how best to highlight certain plants and surfaces. This is the expertise of an outdoor lighting designer. Generally, someone who owns a high-end custom home will hire a skilled interior designer to make sure the inside of their home looks fantastic; and they may also hire a landscape designer to take care of creating a beautiful and inviting atmosphere around their home for the daylight hours. So why not call in a professional outdoor lighting designer to really make things shine just as beautifully when the sun goes down?
Contact us here if you and your home deserve custom outdoor lighting.
