"What do you feel?" The darkness is all-encompassing, revealing nothing but the faraway twinkle of Orion's Belt. "Nervous," I say, "Small. Exposed. Hyper-aware." An owl hoots in the trees nearby - prompting me to jump closer to the rest of the group. "Good, okay, turn the lights back on." A gentle glow displaces the darkness, revealing massive Jacarandas, enchanting Strawberry trees, and cascading Bougainvillea surrounding the cobblestone motor court of a Tuscan-style mansion in Beverly Hills.

"Now what do you feel?" As my shoulders drop, a sense of comfort and wonder takes over. "Safe. At peace. In awe." This is the final lesson of a two-hour site tour given by Jim Ply, an internationally recognized landscape lighting designer and the founder of Oak Crest Landscape Lighting. Ply was originally called to consult on lighting one of the property's four large sculptures, but his effective advice quickly led to crafting a landscape lighting design for the entire estate.

First Impressions
The entrance to the home is almost indiscernible behind a grotto of Strawberry trees (Arbutus 'Marina') and a gate that blends in with the shadows. When Ply's crew turns the lights on, the shadows disappear, though the scene is not blinding. Instead, the Strawberry Trees warmly glow from within due to downlighting wired along the back of the trunk such that the fixture's existence is hardly discernible, save the luster of the tree's red fruit and the shadows skipping down its signature, textured bark. The outer leaves create a dark, perforated halo allows the eye to appreciate the structure of the trunk and branches. Below, perfectly shaped Boxwood hedges encircle the trees, following the curve of the curved stucco walls that flank the gate. These hedges conceal wall wash lighting placed just far enough away and at such an angle that the wall is completely and evenly lit, with no indication as to where the beam spread of one fixture ends and another begins.

Behind the gate, palms tower in the night sky, their fronds forming an umbrella that catches the light from the fixtures at the base that are positioned so as not to create a harsh beam angle. This treatment draws the eye upwards and gives the illusion that the palms are a sort of roof to the space. All the fixtures at the entrance are not shining at 100%, as Ply explains that security is not about shining the brightest lights but ensuring that points of exposure are sufficiently lit. This is a calming welcome, where guests encounter no interrogation lights to shy away from and no shadows to fear.

Playing With Shadows
The welcoming glow at the entrance is a foretaste of the rest of the site, which exudes that same relaxed elegance. Inside, the property feels expansive, bordered by a canvas of soft light formed by fences lined with tall hedges illuminated from below. This wall of light creates a defined context that illuminates or outlines everything between it and the viewer. The result is an aesthetically pleasing environment that encourages the homeowners and their guests to fully inhabit the space instead of hugging close to the house out of fear of dark corners.

 
The eye is drawn up a cobblestone driveway to two Cypress trees that are - surprisingly - not lit. Ply shares a couple reasons for this, the first being that the density of a Cypress does not allow for the same effect seen in the Strawberry trees. Second, the positioning of these specimens prevents them from being lit from all sides, as doing so would place the fixtures directly in the middle of the driveway. Finally, light is simply not needed here. Given that the home, the perimeter walls, and most plant life benefits from some sort of direct illumination, the environment contains enough light to reveal the silhouette of these Cypress, creating a powerful portrait in negative. Ply comments that the goal of landscape lighting is not to simply recreate the landscape as seen in the daytime but to play with shadows as much as with light to create something new.

A Landscape Cathedral
Further up the driveway, an enchanting allée comes into view, comprised of Strawberry Trees hugging the home on the right and Olive Trees atop a retaining wall on the left, complete with Bougainvillea cascading to the ground. This allée and other paths along the property benefit from hidden downlights that provide gentle visibility. The downlights also work with the cascading nature of the dark-leaved Bougainvillea and even-darker Boxwood hedges below to frame the space through softened shadows. Utilizing downlights illuminates a larger portion of the environment and, when combined with selectively placed uplights, the space becomes a cathedral of trees that allows visitors to stand tall as they traverse the property.

Capturing Attention
The allée culminates in an expansive motor court featuring a large Jacaranda (Jacaranda mimosifolia) that immediately commands attention with its expansive network of branches and feathery leaves. Though the tree is not currently covered in its signature purple flowers, the unique structure shines on its own, assisted by precisely placed uplights utilizing a tighter beam spread and higher wattage that throws the light all the way to the top of the tree. Ply didn't light the entire tree, though, as certain branches along the edges remain in shadow to create a sense of mystery and depth as well as an opportunity for Magnolia and Olive trees on either side to have their own moment in the foreground. The varying light levels of each fixture fluidly guide the eye from one element to the next without sensory overload often caused by
uniform brightness.

Curtains of Light
In the backyard, a terrace extends from the back of the home to overlook the pool and a large California Pepper Tree (Schinus molle). The drooping, feathery branches form curtains whose layers are emphasized by the interplay of in-ground uplights and downlights placed within the tree. At its base sits a white marble bench illuminated by downlights angled so just the carved designs are revealed while the darkened ground frames the scene. This pair is positioned next to a large swimming pool, whose lack of internal lighting creates a still mirror that visually doubles the size of the tree via reflection.

The Problem With Mirrors
In addition to plant life, the property contains various pieces of art with their own unique lighting demands. The first sculpture - a two-piece, axial mirrored work - is the whole reason Ply was brought to this project in the first place. A friend of the artist's - Principal Juan Camilo Opsina Londoño, PLA, of Hoffman & Opsina Landscape Architects - explains that when his team was having trouble lighting the piece, he called on Ply to consult, which then led to Ply lighting the entire property. As for this piece, Ply mentions that, like water, mirrors cannot be lit directly, since they will just bounce a hotspot of light right back at the viewer without illuminating anything. The solution was to light the landscape surrounding these concave mirrors so the resulting reflection would indirectly illuminate the area, as with the pool.

A second sculpture posed a similar challenge with a twist: it moves. To address this, Ply placed three in-ground uplight fixtures in a triangle formation at the base of the sculpture so that, no matter where the arms move, the entire sculpture will always be visible. As the piece's textured steel is not a perfect mirror, the need to avoid direct lighting is not as prominent.

Color Temperatures
Beyond placement and intensity, another powerful component is light temperature. When Ply crafts a design, he individually sets the color temperature and intensity for each fixture, culminating in a detailed site plan that can be referenced and adjusted as needed. The dramatic effect light temperature can have is most clearly seen in the treatment of two other sculptures located on the property.

The first is a black, geometric granite piece - difficult to light because black absorbs everything, especially the warmer-colored light used in the surrounding plant life. To give the sculpture a chance to shine, its three lighting fixtures are set to a cool temperature over 5,500K to better contrast with the black granite. When Ply directs his team to match the temperature of the neighboring palm trees at around 2,700K, the sculpture practically disappears into the landscape. As the crew uses infrared remote (IR) controls to bring each fixture back to cooler temperatures, the sculpture pops out once more.

The final sculpture reveals yet another challenge: curves. Also made from black graphite, this piece by Colombian artist Fernando Botero (1932-2023) features a voluptuous woman in the artist's signature style as she reclines while gazing at a mirror. Though the sculpture benefits from the cooler light temperature, its polished curves create concentrated hotspots that are practically impossible to avoid without leaving the piece unlit altogether. As the owners wanted this sculpture to have a prominent role in the landscape, Ply pointed the center beams slightly beyond the edge of the graphite, relying on the spill of the lighting to illuminate the sculpture while reducing hotspots.

Landscape & Architecture
Ply was brought on to do the lighting design for the property some twenty years after the house had been built, limiting where he could place fixtures and wiring. Though this is a common experience, Ply stresses that lighting should be considered at the beginning of the design process along with everything else. As he could not harmonize the architectural fixtures with the landscape lighting, Ply had asked the homeowners to turn off the light fixtures directly connected to the house before while we were there, all except an outdoor living and dining room directly adjacent to the pool. Standing next to the structure's blinding lights, the group circles back to an earlier conversation about "noise fatigue." Willem Eskes, Director of Strategic Partnerships & Education at acoustic design firm Cinergy Spaces, had explained how prolonged exposure to sound - especially in a loud environment - can cause mental and physical exhaustion even though the activity itself might not be considered taxing. Observing the extremely bright outdoor living room compared to the calming glow of Ply's lighting design leads the group to consider the existence of another form of sensational exhaustion: "light fatigue." In light of this new application, Eskes comments on how discouraged a homeowner would be to use the space after feeling the effects of the off-putting brightness. Reggie Sully - a project manager at Peter McCoy Construction Co., the firm who built the main house - chimes in, calling the scene "invasive." This comparison exemplifies how landscape lighting is about more than just how a space looks when photographed, but about how it is physically experienced and affects human flourishing.

The State of The Profession
Due to a current lack of access to truly effective lighting education in schools, these techniques are largely passed on through informal apprenticeship relationships. While there are a lot of Landscape Architects and a lot of lighting designers, Ply notes that very few know how to properly balance lighting for landscape. Ply himself was mentored by Janet Lennox Moyer, an internationally known lighting designer who is widely considered the mother of the field. To fill this educational gap, Moyer founded the International Landscape Lighting Institute (illi), which holds a biannual, hands-on intensive course for Landscape Architects and professionals in other related disciplines. Ply hopes more current professionals will take the course to expand awareness of the field so that it becomes a point of interest early-on in the educational process. Though he highly recommends taking the initiative to learn techniques from an expert, Ply encourages anyone to take a couple fixtures to experiment on trees and elements in their own home to supplement their learning. He recognizes that landscape lighting is primarily about feeling and creating emotions, only education and practice will develop these very import skills.

As seen in LASN magazine, February 2026.