Creating Drama after the Sun Goes Down

   Outdoor lighting spells nighttime curb appeal. A simple up light under a palm creates drama. A sensible safety feature, path lighting provides a warm welcome.
   Lighthouse Landscape Lighting of Southwest Florida designs and installs lighting for upscale homes in Lee, Collier and Charlotte Counties. David and Jennifer Templeton founded the company here with local service in mind! The Templetons have local connections in the building industry. Lighthouse Landcape Lighting is bringing the reputation and experience of a national company, with the attention and service for our local area.
   The focus of Lighthouse Landscape Lighting is low-voltage lighting, and design work is done primarily at night. To help homeowners visualize a design, the company gives on-site, nighttime demonstrations. With a demonstration, a homeowner can see that the right light highlights a gracious entrance; well lights at the base of trees accentuate detail and floodlights wash over and reveal the shape of shrubs.
   Operating in this area for two years, Lighthouse Landscape Lighting of Southwest Florida receives the majority of its work from referrals. “Neighbors of our clients see what the product can do and they call,” says Templeton. “When the sun goes down you lose a great deal of dimension on your landscape. It’s not just a desirable ambiance; outdoor lighting extends your home’s living area.”
   Lighthouse Landscape Lighting works for homeowners as well as many of the area’s most respected builders. The company is a preferred vendor for Arthur Rutenberg Homes for instance.
   Thanks to a wide range of low-voltage products on the market, homeowners are stringing lights around yards and through gardens. Home improvement centers are filled with outdoor lighting kits and low-voltage products. While, low-voltage lighting is marketed to do-it-yourselfers, Templeton cautions that product quality is everything. “With Southwest Florida’s harsh weather conditions, if you don’t buy a reliable product, your lights will start chipping and falling apart within one year,” he says.
   Lighthouse Landscape Lighting is often called on to fix existing lighting either installed by other lighting, landscaping, or even sprinkler companies, or homeowners that tried installing the cheap, plastic fixtures.
   “We’re often called out to homes where people have tried to install products bought at a home shopping center,” says Templeton. “Not only do we design our systems so that they reveal the beauty of your home at night, but our lights are sturdy and made of copper and brass. Our lighting systems are proprietary products that Lighthouse Landscape Lighting manufactures and sells.”
   Lighthouse Landscape Lighting stands behind any product it sells with lifetime warranties and provides ongoing service. “These are good products that will stand the test of time,” he says. “We deliver creative outdoor lighting designs, professional installations and top quality outdoor lighting fixtures and materials.”
   Not a new technology, 12-volt-low-voltage lights operate with a transformer that usually hooks into 120-volt line voltage at the house and conveys electricity via low-voltage wires. The technology is much safer than line voltage, which must be concealed and buried according to code. Where line voltage wire must travel in a tube or cable and be buried more than 18 inches, low-voltage wire is usually just covered with mulch or barely buried under sod.
   A 12-volt system has a number of advantages for the smaller, residential property. The cost is lower than anything with line voltage, the result is more energy efficient, and there is little risk of electrical hazard.
   More than anything, evening light creates a wonderful atmosphere, allowing homeowners to view trees and shrubs from inside the home and providing an expanded living space outside for nighttime entertaining. For many clients, especially those who have experienced outdoor lighting before, no home is complete without this investment.
   “Our company offers a variety of low-voltage lighting options that move well beyond simply installing path lights,” he says. “Outdoor lighting makes all the difference.”
   Lighthouse Outdoor Living, the national company, has been in business since 1994, and offers landscape lighting, mosquito misting and dog containment products and services.
   “Our whole concept is built around a goal of making sure that our clients enjoy the outdoors as much as possible,” says Templeton. “Our aim is to extend the enjoyment of your home well after the sun goes down.”

LIGHTHOUSE LANDSCAPE LIGHTING of SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
800 503-8447
www.lightsbylighthouse.com

Written by Casey McCabe

Photography by Giovanni Photography