Design in balance

Jason Sponzilli used smart landscape lighting systems for a result that provides both security and sophistication.
Photos: Lighthouse Outdoor Lighting of New Jersey

When the owners of a high-profile historic home in Montclair, New Jersey, called Jason Sponzilli to discuss landscape lighting, accenting the architecture was their top priority. The highly visible home had an antiquated outdoor lighting system that required updating and they wanted a system that not only showed off the beauty of their home but that would also provide security lighting.

During site walkthroughs and subsequent meetings, Sponzilli, a certified outdoor lighting designer and owner of Lighthouse Outdoor Lighting of New Jersey, learned the couple had a sophisticated in-home technology system and wanted to incorporate the landscape lighting into it so they could control the system regardless of where and when they traveled.

Here’s a detailed look at how Sponzilli created a design that balanced the client’s top priorities to create a lighting design that wows viewers, provides security and utilizes smart technology.

Priority one: showcasing the architecture

While Sponzilli had to consider smart technology from the outset of the project, deciding which architectural features to light, how and with what fixtures were the first step in the process. The homeowners had recently finished a major home restoration and wanted their home lit elegantly.

The two-acre property is just 15 minutes outside New York City. So, the property had a much larger footprint than most in the area and an incredible view of the Manhattan skyline. The three-story house boasts unique trim features, dense ivy growth on the walls, stately pillars and old-world pavers.

“Because the house was three stories, we had to make sure to place fixtures in specific areas in order to get a full view of the house lit,” he says. “We had to make sure we placed fixtures in the appropriate spot and that we had enough of them to carry the light across the façade of the architecture. The unique trim features built into the home created a great shadow effect.”

Reaching the chimney and the peaks was challenging, given the sheer size of the house and its hillside location. Sponzilli used five transformers and more than 160 fixtures, a combination of uplights, downlights and accent lighting fixtures to highlight each of the home’s architectural intricacies.

The home’s position on the property added a level of complexity to the design and installation. Reaching points on the second and third floors with ladders was unsafe. Sponzilli enlisted the help of a tree company with a bucket truck to lift his crew 70 feet into the air to position lights around the various chimneys and dormers.

“Being that the house is up on the hill, people see it from multiple perspectives,” he explains. “The house has a beautiful front façade, and there is a side road that people can see the home, so lighting those dormers and chimneys made those vantage points stand out.”

Another challenge was placing in-ground fixtures in areas that would illuminate the dense ivy growth, which required strategic use of fixtures so the ivy didn’t absorb all the light. Plus, the planter beds existed where fixtures could easily be installed and the old-world brick pavers are more dense than today’s manufactured pavers.

Getting these fixtures in the appropriate spot and installing the wire junctions took multiple days. Sponzilli’s installation crew used wet core drills and vacuum systems to collect the dust and then regrouted the pavers to make it look like his crew had never been there.

“At some junctures, we wondered if this was the best way or if there was another way to install those lights,” he says. “But we felt that if we did it a different way, it would compromise the overall integrity of the design. So, we embarked on the process, trusted our experience and the result was absolutely amazing.”

Priority two: Security and smart technology integration

Addressing the homeowners’ security concerns required a complex design that was aesthetically pleasing and one that eliminated dark areas on the property to deter trespassers. Sponzilli had to consider the home’s multiple doors and access points leading to the home from the street and the wooded area around it.

“We wanted to make sure that those areas were lighted in a tasteful way so that if somebody were to come on the property, the security camera system would see that, or somebody in the neighborhood might recognize that a person is not supposed to be where they are,” he says. “It eliminated places for people to hide in the shadows.”

Ensuring the highest level of security required tying the landscape lighting into the home’s existing smart technology system. That required external modules in the transformers that communicate back to the home-wide system.

“We had to integrate specific Wi-Fi extenders because of the way the home was constructed, the walls and masonry made it difficult to get any type of signals out to the transformers,” he says. “We had to work with an audio-
visual company to provide access points, and then we tied the communication between the transformer devices to their smart home system.”

The couple frequently travels in and out of the country and needed to have the capability to see that their lights were working or control specific groups of lights. One thing Sponzilli says he learned from this project is that just because someone has a smart home system and the capability to tie in outdoor lighting doesn’t always mean it is the right solution.

“For this client it was a necessity,” he says. “Others don’t want that extra layer of technology, and sometimes the easiest method is the best way to proceed.”

Selling smart technology

Sponzilli didn’t need to sell this client on smart technology for this project and they had the budget to invest in a sophisticated system tied to their home’s audio-visual system. But few fall into this category.

Before discussing smart technology with a client, Sponzilli suggests contractors first discover the customer’s tech savviness. For example, find out if they have a home-wide system that controls everything from the appliances to the heating system, the audio and the lighting. If so, having the same level of connectivity in the outdoor lighting is likely a necessity.

“That is the highest degree of integration and knowledge of a smart home system, but that’s a small percentage of the clientele,” he says. “The next layer down would be those that have a sense of it but don’t know how to use it or amend it.”

Many homeowners want a “set it and forget it” system that requires little effort for daily operation.  While the flexibility to create custom scenes and seasonal adjustments is appealing to many people, it’s essential to have conversations with them about whether they will use these advanced features. Complex systems can quickly become overwhelming and thus never be used.

“It’s so important to understand if this is a need or a want for the client,” he says. “Are color-changing and smart home capability features something they can’t live without? You need to let them understand the pros and cons and then the price point.”

As a rough estimate, the product cost for a landscape lighting system with smart home capability can be as much as three times the price (or more) of a standard system, he says. It’s essential to have this conversation with a client before handing over a project quote; otherwise, they will be shocked by the cost.

“I always have a conversation with a client who asks about color changing, dimming and smart technology that these fun features require a much greater investment than a standard lighting system,” he says. “Most of them are going to see the quote and realize it’s more than they’re willing to spend and quite honestly more than they need to spend.”

Smart lighting systems also require extra service and maintenance because software and nonlighting hardware components are necessary for operation. On the plus side, this creates opportunities for contractors to offer additional maintenance services to check, clean and ensure the system is functioning regularly.

“When you regularly check the system, it also gives you the chance to make sure the programming did not have a glitch,” he says. “It also gives you a chance to ask how they are enjoying it and if they want to make any changes.”

Providing maintenance and having conversations with customers about how the system is functioning can save contractors a lot of time and frustration, Sponzilli says. Regular maintenance should include seasonal system checks, pruning around the fixtures, cleaning and adjusting fixtures, running software updates or bringing in the homeowner’s AV system contractor to ensure any software updates and glitches are addressed.

“If you get ahead of that with your client you will probably prevent a lot of late evening phone calls and text messages saying, ‘I am having a party, and this zone isn’t working,’ or ‘I can’t change the color.’”

While adding smart home capabilities to a lighting system currently requires tech savviness and a larger budget, it is ever-evolving and improving. Much like most other technology trends, advancements will bring the price point down and make products more user-friendly for the everyday user.

“Many companies are starting to evolve towards these systems that allow the end user to have the ability to color change their fixtures, to create scenes and have smart capability,” he says. “It’s generally difficult to find one company that can do it all successfully, but in the years ahead more and more manufacturers will find ways for easier integration where the customer will be able to use it from apps on their phone instead of on a desktop.”

Katie Navarra is a freelance writer in Mechanicville, New York, and can be reached via email.

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