At the Governor Thomas Bennett House in Charleston, S.C., the existing outdoor lighting system was not adequately capturing the splendor of the extensive garden, and needed a restoration. Moonlighting Landscape Lighting was contracted to design and install a new system. The Charleston company used some of the existing fixtures, added others, and outfitted them all with energy-efficient and maintenance-reducing LED lamps. Here, six crape myrtle trees are uplit by four existing fixtures in between the trees and one fixture directly in the middle with the intent of lighting the canopy as a whole. The front two crape myrtles and the rear two crape myrtles are also downlit. The up lights have Dauer 5-watt, 40-degree-spread lamps. The down lights are Vista fixtures with 4-watt, 60-degree-spread lamps.

 

The ivy-covered wall is washed with Universal fixtures with 2.4-watt LEDs. The crape myrtle (left) is up and downlit with the existing fixture lamped with a 5-watt LED (30 degree spread), and a Vista downlight fixture with a Brilliance 4-watt LED (60-degree spread). The fig tree (right) is downlit with a single 4-watt LED (60-degree spread). The house is lit with three existing fixtures, relamped with 4-watt LEDs (40-degree spreads).

Built in 1825, The Governor Thomas Bennett House was an architectural masterpiece for that era. One hundred and eighty-eight years later, the house remains a staple in the historic district of Charleston, S. C. The home has been beautifully restored and plays host to some of Charleston's most extraordinary weddings and social events.

A native of Charleston, Thomas Bennett Jr. served as Governor of South Carolina from 1820 to1822. After his term ended, he returned to his birthplace to build this rich home, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

After much time and dedication had been devoted to the restoration of the interior of the house, Moonlighting Landscape Lighting was called upon to upgrade the existing outdoor lighting system, which was in great need of attention. The director of the house, Linda McCormick, expressed that the overall layout of the system was not capturing all of the beauty that the garden had to offer and the maintenance costs were high.

Due to the latter concern, Moonlighting's detailed design included a conversion from incandescent to LED. By doing so, the nightmare of maintenance costs would be lowered significantly, as would the amount of energy being consumed.

Moonlighting is a design/build firm. Since president Mike Rollins is a landscape architect and vice president Doug Wickenhoefer is a licensed electrician, we have the capability of creating the design on paper and then translating every aspect of that design successfully in the field.

The grounds at the Thomas Bennett House include a large grass area for gatherings, a secret garden, and an ornamental crescent-shaped garden often used for wedding ceremonies in addition to serving as an inviting entrance to the house.

Homework
Not being the installer of the existing system, Moonlighting required several hours of diagnosing and researching the in-place wiring to determine how much could be reused.

After several site visits during the daytime and night hours, the team was able to create a design that would reflect the beauty of this historic garden, and highlight what it offers, including mature live oak trees and palm trees, lush crape myrtles, and Japanese maples.

Another emphasis in the design was circulation. While aesthetic lighting is pleasing to the eye, it was also very important to include circulation lighting so that patrons of the Thomas Bennett House could safely navigate the well-traveled garden during evening events.

To help manage project costs, Moonlighting elected to re-use some of the existing fixtures, while adding many new fixtures that would all serve specific purposes. These fixtures were originally mounted with shallow stakes that were not designed to withstand any kind of foot traffic or contact, thus causing them to be knocked over. As Moonlighting incorporated the fixtures into their design, we custom-mounted them to hold the fixtures in place and prevent them from being knocked out of position. The intent is to transition over time from these older fixtures to ones that Moonlighting prefers.

The Gov. Thomas Bennett oak is the focal point of the garden. There were three existing up lights. The new lights are two 5-watt LEDs with 40-degree spreads, and one 5-watt LED with a 30-degree spread. There are also three Hadco down lights mounted in the tree to light the center of the oak, and one to highlight the main limbs, all 5-watt LEDs with 40 degree spreads. The Copper Moon path lights use 2.4-watt LEDs.

In the Fountain/Crescent Garden a downward facing fixture in a large oak illuminates the fountain with a 4-watt LED with a 40-degree spread. The crescent garden hedge is lit with 12 Universal wall wash fixtures (2.4-watt LEDs). The two Vitex trees, also known as Chaste, Hemp, Sage and Indian Spice, are each uplit with two 4-watt LEDs with 30 degree spreads (existing fixtures).

In the Secret Garden, two FX Luminaire down lights, each with a 5-watt, 40-degree-spread LED, illuminate the area to the right. The bench is lit with a single down light with the same type of lamp.

These two tree-form ligustrums are each downlit by a fixture with a 4-watt, 60-degree-spread LED. Fixtures with 2.4-watt LED lamps were chosen for the path lights.

Groundwork
We used a variety of fixtures on this project including some from FX Luminaire for both up lighting and down lighting purposes. Those fixtures housed a 5-watt LED lamp with a 40-degree spread for the larger trees, or a 5-watt LED lamp with 25-degree spread for palm trees. Vista fixtures were employed for some down lighting as well, typically housing a 4-watt LED lamp with a 60-degree spread or a 5-watt LED lamp with a 40-degree spread. For path lighting, Copper Moon fixtures with 2.4-watt LED lamps were chosen. Lumierre and Hadco products were used for mounted down lights with either a 4-watt LED lamp with a 40-degree spread or a 5-watt LED lamp with a 40-degree spread. For wall washing, Universal fixtures housing 2.4-watt LED lamps were tapped.

The lamps were from Dauer and Brilliance. It took Rollins, Wickenhoefer, and a field crew of four almost a full week to complete the installation. This included several night visits to ensure that all fixtures were properly aimed to accomplish what was intended within the design.

Due to the sensitivity of the garden and the mature plantings, all of the work was completed with hand tools and ladders. Moonlighting makes it part of our daily practice to work with "light feet," meaning that we take into account what is planted in the gardens to make sure that nothing is disturbed or damaged in the process. One of our pillars has been: always leave a garden better than we found it. Several aspects of the design are worth noting. An existing live oak tree that flanks the main garden and is most often used for wedding ceremonies now stands proudly lighted up. A grove of crape myrtles separating the main garden from the side yard and the secret garden are now lit with a combination of up lighting and down lighting, helping to make for a nice transition between the gardens.

Because the biggest overall cost of maintenance was the constant bulb replacements, the conversion to LED lamps will reduce the costs and alleviate many of the maintenance issues, but regular maintenance is still advised to ensure that fixtures remain aimed properly, clean and free of debris and free of any excessive vegetation that might be hindering the intended effects.

Moonlighting received great feedback from McCormick as well as many people who have recently attended events. Since the completion of this project, we have been called back several times to further enhance other areas of the garden and to begin the process of phasing out the existing fixtures and replacing them with fixtures to our specifications.