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By: Diane Sampson
Web site: http://www.lamps-n-lighting.com
Low voltage outdoor lighting: In 1997, Steve
Stubbs left a corporate job in Atlanta and bought
an Outdoor Lighting Perspectives franchise.
Founded nine years ago in Charlotte by Tom Fenig,
Stubbs’ former corporate co-worker, Outdoor
Lighting Perspectives provides low voltage outdoor
lighting for upscale homes. Come nightfall, landscape
and architectural lights shine softly on the dwelling
as though it’s on center stage.
There are 50 Outdoor Lighting Perspective
franchises across the United States. Stubbs, whose
franchise is based in Isle of Palms, lights homes
throughout coastal South Carolina. Currently most
of his customers are in the Charleston area.
“People use low voltage outdoor lighting
on their homes for safety and security reasons,
but the main reason is to showcase the beauty
of the home,” says Stubbs.
The homes Stubbs lights tend to be in the high-end
market, meaning $500,000 and up. A low voltage
outdoor lighting job takes about two days and
prices vary depending on the work. To date Stubbs’
most lucrative job has not been a home but a resort;
Stubbs’ company installed a $23,000 lighting
project for Woodlands Resort & Inn in Summerville.
Stubbs enjoys the creative challenge each low
voltage outdoor lighting project presents. “I
feel like an artist,” he says. “In
our business, we paint with lights and shadows.”
According to a 2003 utilities industry survey
conducted by Chartwell Inc., an Atlanta-based
technology research firm, 24% of the respondents
named low voltage outdoor lighting as the product
most popular among residential customers—up
from 16% in 2002 and 7% in 2001.
“It’s definitely a growing trend,”
states Mike Rollins, owner of Charleston-based
Moonlighting. “When I started the business
12 years ago, it was just me. Now the company
has nine employees.”
Moonlighting installs low voltage outdoor lighting
to homes mainly in downtown Charleston, West Ashley
and Kiawah Island. “Charleston is a sophisticated
market, and outdoor lighting is a luxury item
people enjoy having,” Rollins explains.
“Today, outdoor lighting is pretty much
part of the architect’s or homebuilder’s
standard package.”
“It’s generally one of the last items
installed in our construction schedule, along
with landscaping,” says Barbara Szem, spokeswoman
for Johns Island-based architecture and construction
firm Seamar Fullerton, which designs and builds
homes on Kiawah and Seabrook islands. While the
architectural review boards of those resort islands
prohibit “wall-washing” homes with
exterior light, “we do use low voltage outdoor
lighting in and around the landscape to softly
frame various distinctive architectural features
of a home,” Szem explains.
Seamar Fullerton also uses low voltage outdoor
lighting to up-light various grand specimens of
trees, such as live oaks. “Many homeowners
prefer to use the low-voltage lighting in the
shrubs around the pool area to create an intimate
mood as well as for safety reasons,” Szem
adds.
James Island-based architect Christopher Rose,
who uses low voltage outdoor lighting to highlight
features of homes he designs on Kiawah, Seabrook
and Sullivan’s islands, says less outdoor
lighting is more.
“Subtle lighting can be impressive, it
can add drama to a home,” he points out.
“You don’t want the lighting to be
garish or glaring. You consider what the home
would look like on a full-moon night. That’s
the approach you take.”
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