The Lighthouse at Harbour Town

The Lighthouse at Harbour Town was built in 1969 by developer Charles Fraser as the centerpiece of his new marina village inside Sea Pines. Locals ridiculed it as Fraser's Folly during construction. Today it is the logo of the entire resort and the backdrop of nearly every Sunday broadcast frame at the RBC Heritage.

Most lighthouses warn ships away from rocks. The Lighthouse at Harbour Town Golf Links warns of nothing. There are no shoals at the mouth of the Sea Pines marina. The tower was built in 1969 by developer Charles Fraser as a placemaking object, a vertical landmark for a new marina village modeled on Mediterranean harbour ports like Portofino. During construction, the local community called it Fraser's Folly and thought he had lost his mind. A privately funded lighthouse with no Coast Guard contract and no navigational purpose was, by every reasonable measure, a ridiculous idea.

It is also not really a lighthouse. Structurally, the tower is a 1960s building in a lighthouse costume. Red steel girders on the inside, plywood sheathing around them, then metal lath and stucco on the outside. Ninety feet tall, octagonal, with 114 steps climbing through nine landings that today form a designated Coast Guard museum. The candy-striped red-and-white paint scheme was a construction-site decision. Charles Fraser's brother Joe walked the site during the build, saw the red interior steel girders going up, and decided on the spot that the exterior stripes should match. The most recognizable paint job in American golf was a gut call on a job site.

The folly has outlasted its critics. The lighthouse silhouette replaced the compass rose as the Sea Pines logo and is now the most photographed object in professional golf broadcasting. It sits a short walk from the Harbour Town Clubhouse, the 55,000 square foot Lowcountry civic building designed by Grady Woods and completed in 2015. Together, the clubhouse and the lighthouse form the visual signature of the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing, the week after the Masters.

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Key Details

• Name: The Lighthouse at Harbour Town (also called the Harbour Town Lighthouse)
• Location: Harbour Town, The Sea Pines Resort, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
• Developer: Charles E. Fraser, founder of The Sea Pines Company
• Architect: Sasaki and Associates, Cambridge, Massachusetts (the same firm that master-planned Sea Pines for Fraser)
• Year Built: Construction started 1969, completed spring 1970
• Height: 90 feet, 114 steps, nine landings
• Structure: Octagonal column, red steel girders with plywood sheathing, stucco over metal lath exterior
• Notable Features: Candy-striped red and white paint chosen on-site by Charles Fraser's brother Joe, who saw the red interior steel girders during construction and called the stripe color on the spot; privately funded with no Coast Guard contract or navigational mandate; nicknamed "Fraser's Folly" during construction by skeptical local residents; interior museum with nine exhibit landings documenting Hilton Head history; designated an official U.S. Coast Guard museum; the silhouette is the logo of The Sea Pines Resort; sits directly behind the 18th green of the Harbour Town Golf Links clubhouse and appears in nearly every RBC Heritage Sunday broadcast frame

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