Custom Onion Lantern - Southern Hills Country Club
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Southern Hills Country club in Tulsa, Oklahoma is one of the most prestigious golf and country clubs in the United States. Construction of the golf course was over-seen renowned golf-course designer, Perry Maxwell. Not only was Southern Hills his largest project at the time, but it was also the crown jewel of his work.

Since its establishment in 1936, the club has hosted three U.S. Open Championships, four PGA Championships and seven other major golf championships. Originally established as a private country club, the land was donated by oilman Phillip Waites. With 67,000 feet of property, the club also includes formal dining, banquet facilities, a fitness center, swimming pools, tennis courts and other prestigious amenities for its members.

In such a prestigious environment, it was important that any renovations taking place be done by experts. When Southern Hills needed twelve outdoor onion lanterns recreated to match the existing lanterns on their grounds, Grand Light utilized many of their metal-crafting skills to accomplish the task.

The onion lantern was first used as a night-time working light because its design protects the flame from wind and rain. Now generally used for its aesthetic appeal, it was important that Grand Light's team handle the replication with attention to detail. For each of the twelve lanterns, the team created the cast brass frame surrounding a spherical glass bulb, as well as solid brass spinnings.

Although this particular project was a replication of existing, matching lanterns on the premises, Grand Light's restoration specialists still prepared a drawing for the Southern Hills country club. The piece required metal crafting and glass fabrication as the cast brass game, solid brass spinnings and spherical glass bulb were all made by Grand Light's team.

Once Grand Light had the one and only remaining onion lantern, we dissembled and began to start to manufacture each and every component required for final assembly. Following fabrication, the components were buffed and an antique brass finish was applied to them.

The lanterns had been made using solid brass and the cage around the glass was made of cast brass for strength and durability. We had wired it using outdoor cord as it gave the lanterns more of a historical look rather than having the everyday day lamp cord running thought the chain. The cord had a rubber out coating and really looked great coming from the top of the lantern.

Once the production and finishing process were complete the lanterns began final assembly and were hi-pot tested before they were packaged. Once all were complete and assembled, we packaged each individual fixture and put them on a skid for a safe arrival to the Southern Hills Country Club.