Moonlit Oasis

Full-property design and installation, front approach and rear entertaining grounds. Techniques: canopy moonlighting, pendant downlighting, layered accent and well lighting, zone dimming.

Upper Arlington, Ohio

  • Photography: Tim Ryan

  • Landscape Architect: Foreground Studio

  • Patio: Anderson Concrete

Narrative

An understated home in Upper Arlington sits at the end of a long, beautiful drive, beneath some of the finest mature oaks and pines in the neighborhood. The owners first tried the fast route, a lighting package from their landscaper, and lived with it for a season. Then they asked us to start over. We removed the new system entirely and began again, this time from the trees down.

In front, the architecture rests in shadow on purpose. Concealed downlighting in the canopy defines the drive, and a century-old oak, composed with sixteen fixtures at varied outputs, anchors the entire approach. The eye travels up the path and settles where it should.

The back of the property is another world: a pool, courts, and terraces built for a family that entertains several hundred guests at a time. Moonlighting we set by tree climbers sixty feet up, where no lift could reach, washes the lawn in soft light. A single pendant, suspended from a branch, carries the main garden staircase without a trace of glare. Pendants over the pergola sit on their own dimmer, so the light follows the mood of the evening. This is precisely the atmosphere we were painting.

An understated home in Upper Arlington sits at the end of a long, beautiful drive, beneath some of the finest mature oaks and pines in the neighborhood. Read More The owners first tried the fast route, a lighting package from their landscaper, and lived with it for a season. Then they asked us to start over. We removed the new system entirely and began again, this time from the trees down. Read Less

In front, the architecture rests in shadow on purpose. Read More Concealed downlighting in the canopy defines the drive, and a century-old oak, composed with sixteen fixtures at varied outputs, anchors the entire approach. The eye travels up the path and settles where it should. Read Less

The back of the property is another world: a pool, courts, and terraces built for a family that entertains several hundred guests at a time. Read More Moonlighting we set by tree climbers sixty feet up, where no lift could reach, washes the lawn in soft light. A single pendant, suspended from a branch, carries the main garden staircase without a trace of glare. Pendants over the pergola sit on their own dimmer, so the light follows the mood of the evening. This is precisely the atmosphere we were painting. Read Less

Category

Full Estate, Residential

Design Aspects

  • Moonlighting installed at 60 feet by climbing crew where lift access was impossible
  • Sixteen-fixture composition on a 100-year-old oak, layered from foreground to canopy
  • One-fixture staircase solution: a suspended pendant downlight, zero glare on the treads
  • Architecture held intentionally dark so the mature trees carry the composition
  • Independent dimming for the pergola gathering space

Next Project

A stone house with arched windows is lit at night, showing wooden benches and potted plants on a red brick patio surrounded by trees and shrubs.
Nature Revealed