Modeled loosely on Portland Head Light, which the client can see from the property on a clear day, this one is eleven feet tall and built almost entirely from salt-treated pine to survive the same Atlantic weather that batters the real thing. The octagonal tower tapers slightly toward the top, which is harder to frame than it looks — every stud angle is different by a fraction of a degree.
A small solar panel on the roof charges a low-voltage LED beacon that rotates slowly after dark, visible from the house across the lawn. It's not bright enough to bother anyone, but it was the detail that sold the whole project — the client's son asked if it could "actually warn ships," and while it cannot, nobody has told him that yet.
Inside, a spiral half-stair leads to a lookout deck ringed by a rail sized for small hands, capped at just under three feet so an adult can still see over it from the yard.