Landscape lighting · Texas Hill Country Designed for the hours after dark.

Before lighting is decorative, it is practical. Stairs, level changes and paths down a slope need to be easy to read at night, and that matters more every year you live in a home. We light steps and walkways first, so getting from the house to the pool is effortless after dark. On Hill Country properties with terraces and flagstone stairs, this is often the single most useful part of the lighting plan.

A pool at night is a different thing altogether. Underwater light turns the water into the brightest surface in the landscape, and a vanishing edge or spillway becomes a moving line of light. Our modern pool and sculpture garden uses LED lighting this way. Fire features, fire bowls and linear fire add warmth that electric light cannot, so we design the two together.

Stone walls, mature oaks and pergolas give light something to land on. Lit from below or grazed from the side, they give the night view depth and keep the eye from stopping at a black window.

One of the pleasures of living out here is the night sky. Good lighting respects that. It puts light where you need it, shields the source, and keeps the glow low instead of flooding the yard. The aim is a few well-placed pools of light rather than an evenly bright property.

The best time to plan lighting is before anything is built. Conduit can run under terraces, and fixtures can be set into walls and steps during construction, leaving no surface wiring to hide later. Because the same team designs the landscape and installs the lighting, it goes in as part of the job. We also light outdoor kitchens and pergolas, and even sport courts.