Lake Forest · Updated September 2026

Landscape lighting in Lake Forest

In short

Lake Forest reviews residential landscape lighting more closely than most North Shore towns. It has its own Exterior Lighting (Landscape Lighting) permit, and its residential guidelines cap light at 0.5 foot-candles at the property line. They also keep fixtures out of side and rear setbacks, rule out lights mounted in trees as downlighting, and ask for timers that end by 11 p.m. We design Lake Forest projects to those rules from the first sketch and prepare the permit package.

Contemporary home at dusk with uplit trees, lit terrace, and path lighting across the garden — Photo: HK Lighting

The rules

What Lake Forest asks for

Single HK path light casting a soft pool of warm light — Photo: HK Lighting

A permit with a plan. The city’s Exterior Lighting (Landscape Lighting) permit asks for a stamped plat of survey with the fixture locations, plus cut sheets for each fixture.

The residential lighting guidelines. The Building Review Board approved these in 1999, and they’re still posted with the city’s current documents. Among them:

Aim fixtures inside the property line setbacks.
Keep fixtures out of the side and rear setbacks, and out of the 20 feet nearest the rear property line.
No more than 0.5 foot-candles at any property line.
Ten lamps or fewer in front of the house.
No lights mounted in trees or on poles as downlighting.
Timers that turn lights off no later than 11 p.m., apart from security and entrance lights.

Some items predate LEDs, like a line calling for incandescent lamps. But the Board’s approvals in May 2025 still required fixtures that direct light down with the source fully shielded and exterior lights off by 11 p.m., and one approval ruled out uplighting the house. We treat the core rules as current and confirm the details with city staff on each project.

In practice

How we design a Lake Forest property

Stone stairs lit by small recessed step lights — Photo: HK Lighting

Paths, steps, and walls first

The rules favor low, contained light, so the plan leans on path lights, step lights, and in-grade fixtures that graze stone. That keeps the property readable and safe without light carrying past the lot line.

A row of trees uplit across a lawn at night — Photo: HK Lighting

Trees lit from the ground

Without moonlighting from the canopy, we light signature trees from their base with narrow beams and glare shields, where the review allows it, and keep them well inside the setbacks.

Stone walkway lined with low path lights leading to a lit house — Photo: HK Lighting

Measured at the lot line

We aim at night and check light levels at the property lines against the 0.5 foot-candle limit before we hand the system over.

Hands stripping low-voltage landscape lighting wire — Photo: HK Lighting

An 11 p.m. schedule

A Lutron astronomic timeclock turns the landscape on at sunset and off by 11, and keeps security and entrance lights on their own schedule.

Before we dig

Trees, ravines, and historic districts

Lake Forest grew from Almerin Hotchkiss’s 1857 plan for a “city in a park,” with streets that follow the ravines and lake bluffs. Jens Jensen, the Olmsted firms, O.C. Simonds, and Rose Standish Nichols all designed landscapes here, and many of those old trees are what clients most want to see at night.

Tree protection. The city requires tree-protection fencing before it issues grading, utility, building, or demolition permits (§ 99.080), and removing larger trees takes a permit. We route wire around root zones and hand-dig near mature trees.
Historic districts and landmarks. Changes that affect a building’s exterior appearance need a certificate of appropriateness (§ 155.07). Outside the districts, the Building Review Board’s scope includes exterior lighting.

Before any trench or stake goes in, Illinois law requires a JULIE locate: notice at least two working days and no more than ten before digging, good for 25 days. We call it in and wait for the marks.

Questions

Lake Forest landscape lighting questions

Do I need a permit for landscape lighting in Lake Forest?

Yes. Lake Forest has an Exterior Lighting (Landscape Lighting) permit. The application asks for a stamped plat of survey showing every fixture, plus fixture cut sheets, and the design has to meet the city’s residential exterior lighting guidelines. We prepare the package with the design.

Can we put lights up in the trees in Lake Forest?

The city’s residential lighting guidelines say no lights should be mounted in trees or on poles as downlighting. In Lake Forest we light trees from the ground with narrow, shielded beams instead, and only where the review allows it.

What time do landscape lights have to go off in Lake Forest?

The guidelines and recent Building Review Board approvals ask for timers that turn exterior lights off no later than 11 p.m. Security and entrance lights are the exception. We set that on the Lutron timeclock.

Our house is in a historic district. Does that change anything?

Inside Lake Forest’s local historic districts and on landmarks, changes that affect a building’s exterior appearance need a certificate of appropriateness. We check the address with the city before we design fixtures for the house itself.

Night walk

Walk the property with us after dark

Landscape lighting is designed at night. We’ll walk the property with you after sunset, talk through what you want to see from the street, the terrace, and the windows, and send a written design and price.

Call or text (773) 248-4830 Email hey@rhome.co 3225 Arnold Lane, Northbrook, IL 60062

Sources

Manufacturer specifications and prices are as published in September 2026 and can change. We confirm current figures when we quote.