One day in August, my sweet Lucy, the Golden Retriever, was having trouble settling down for the night. She was restless and finally...

There’s just something about lighthouses – mystery, intrigue, brushes between life and death, and, of course, romance.  For the hundreds...

There’s nothing like owning a lighthouse when it comes to meeting a lot of new and interesting people.  Whether they arrive for a...

Like the 3 Wise Men bringing gifts to the Baby Jesus, many visitors have also come to the lighthouse bearing gifts. Often these gifts are...

In a 1927 instruction manual to “Employees of the United States Lighthouse Service,” General Instructions to All Employees, Section 23....

I was sitting next to a couple at a church function recently whom I had not met before. We were chatting over dinner and it turns out...

What happens when the light goes out at a lighthouse?  It’s bound to happen, right?  Fortunately, since I’ve owned the lighthouse over...

2023 was the summer of media coverage. In fact, it turned out to be a downright media frenzy. It began the weekend I opened the...

2023 marked the 12th year I’ve owned the lighthouse and the 12th year it’s been under renovation. What I call “Lighthouse Season” runs...

Just when I think I’ve had all the “firsts” I could possibly have at the lighthouse – good and bad – something comes along to take my...

When I purchased Fairport Harbor West Lighthouse, I needed a reliable contractor to manage the project and find and procure competent...

President Abraham Lincoln once said, “Don’t worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition.” When I started...

When I purchased Fairport Harbor West Lighthouse from the federal government in 2011, I knew the nearly 100-year-old sorely neglected...

Lighthouses are popular places. Movies and TV shows have been filmed at and about lighthouses for decades. So it was no surprise that I...

Access to the lighthouse has always been a challenge. Direct water access is only available on the east side next to Fairport Harbor via...

When the engineers designed Fairport Harbor West Lighthouse and the platform where it sits, they designed only one access point to the...

Each year, we celebrate the day, June 9, 1925, that the beacon was first lit at Fairport Harbor West Lighthouse. It’s the lighthouse’s...

Over the 11 years I’ve owned the lighthouse, I’ve had thousands of guests – most invited -- some not invited, but given a looksee,...

I first met John Burhani in November 2011 shortly after I purchased Fairport Harbor West Lighthouse from a government auction. He had...

It was a hot early August afternoon. The park was crowded as people streamed in to take a swim or sit on the beach. Given it was just two...