What the Sky Is Missing

I was 8 years old, lying on a cot outside in the mountains of Thessaly, Greece, when I looked up at a sky so full of stars that I said, Wow, you have great stars here (Έχετε ωραία αστέρια εδώ, to be exact). I grew up in Chicago. I had no idea they were the same stars I had at home.

That's the part of the dark sky conversation that stays with me ... you can live under a sky for eight years and never know what's missing.

This week's feature on exterior lighting brought the memory back. Among other things, it gets into dark sky principles: exterior lighting that's shielded and aimed down so it stays out of the sky. The pros we spoke with say the warmer, more restrained approach makes for better lighting anyway.

But there are different visions. A lakefront home on Case Inlet in Washington, was built to be seen. Its glass walls and cage-like frame light up at night into something closer to a lighthouse. Architect Todd Smith calls it a lantern in the distance that tells you this is home.

If you're curious about lighting, our Speed Session at the Women in Residential Construction virtual conference includes a talk on the topic. Registration opens soon.

—Pauline Hammerbeck

Signals: What We're Tracking

Empty lots account for 17.4% of all for-sale listings, according to Zillow, which counted 300,242 vacant lots of five acres or less on its site in June. The share runs from 6.3% of listings in Massachusetts to 46% in North Dakota. See how your state stacks up →

Heard!

"In interior design, at least, luxury will now mean having a human work on your project."

—Alex Dauley, London-based designer, in Mansion Global

There's a common sector at the heart of LinkedIn's 25 fastest-growing metros for jobs, alongside defense, logistics and semiconductor investment (care to take a guess?). Sarasota and Charleston both made the top seven metros. See the list →

The ROAD to Housing Act is "not a silver bullet," according to NAHB chairman Bill Owens. But the new housing law carries more than 50 provisions on zoning, approvals and aging housing stock, and the real test is whether states and cities adopt them. Read it in Pro Builder →

NAHB says the median lot value is now $59,000 for spec homes started in 2025, down from $60,000 and the first year since 2019 that lot values didn't set a new high. The Pacific states hit a record $171,000, and the Mountain states climbed to a record $95,000. The regional breakdown →

Around Endeavor's Buildings & Construction Group

Training Isn’t Enough, Your Team Needs to Practice [Pro Remodeler]

How Neuroaesthetic Design Principles Can Set Your Homes Apart [Pro Builder]

Strategies for modern construction success [Building Design + Construction]

How a Run-Down Garage Became a Functional Guest Suite [Custom Builder]