Landscape Lighting for Morning Mountain Estates
Morning Mountain Estates is a gated community of just ten estates on the Honeycutt Creek arm of Falls Lake. Its lots run from two to five acres, and the homes are known for European styling, sweeping verandahs, long tree-lined drives with gated entrances and, on some properties, private guest cottages and pools. The Falls Lake Trail runs behind the community.
The homes here were built from the late 1990s into the early 2000s, so the landscapes have had a couple of decades to mature. The trees are big now. That changes what lighting can do, and it often means a system designed years ago no longer fits the property it’s lighting.
Architecture Worth Lighting Well
European-style architecture has rhythm: columns, arches, balustrades, deep verandahs and stone or stucco with real texture. Flood it from the lawn and it goes flat. Graze it softly from close in, and every column and arch gets a shadow that gives it depth. The verandah should glow like a lit room, not a stage under a spotlight.
For estates like these, we often design around:
- The gated entry and the long, tree-lined drive, lit from the trees rather than the ground
- Soft facade lighting that respects columns, arches and stonework
- Verandahs and terraces lit for sitting, with no glare in anyone’s eyes
- Guest cottages and pool houses composed as their own small scenes
- The lake-facing rear elevation, lit to be seen from the water and enjoyed from inside
The Lake, the Trail and the Night Sky
Water works like a mirror. A tree lit on the bank appears twice, once on land and once in the lake, and that reflection can be the most beautiful part of the evening. It also shows every hot spot and glaring lens. Near the shoreline we keep fixtures low, warm and shielded, so the lake stays dark and the reflections stay soft.
With the Falls Lake Trail behind the homes, that restraint matters even more. Hikers and neighbors shouldn’t see bare bulbs through the woods, and the sky over the lake shouldn’t glow. Dark-sky-friendly lighting is simply good design here.
35 Years of Stage Lighting, Now in the Landscape
Joe Yanulevich spent more than 35 years lighting concert and theatrical stages. His work appears in the book Masters of Landscape Lighting. He designs every job personally, starting with an after-dark visit, and he lights the way a great show does: something lit, something dark, then something lit again. Lower lumens, more fixtures, shadows on purpose. He writes more about it in You Can’t Un-See Bad Landscape Lighting.
Mature landscapes keep changing, too. Our Lighting Preservation Program brings us back to re-aim and fine-tune as the trees grow, so the design keeps looking the way it did on the first night.
More to Explore
See our landscape lighting portfolio and our page on Falls Lake and North Raleigh.
Nearby communities we serve: Bay Leaf Farm, Norwood Ridge, Sanctuary at Falls Lake, Maple Ridge Cove, Glenhill, Alpine Creek Estates, Greywalls at Trego, The Cove at Falls Lake, Avalaire, Radcliffe, Buckingham Manor.
Selected Work From the Lite Visions Portfolio
The photos on this page come from other Lite Visions projects around the Triangle.
Begin With a Design Consultation
Joe would enjoy seeing your property after dark and talking through what it could become, from the gate to the lake.
To talk first, call Nine one Nine-518-9950.