The idea of the lighthouse came after Terry and his wife Carrolle had purchased and built on the point 15 years prior. They had retired from a successful electrical contracting business and he was looking for a project. He had a pile of good lumber from tearing off a deck, with help from one of his grandsons, in 2003. He also had access to the stone for the finish, so choosing the design came pretty easily.
Original construction consisted of a lumber base and approximately 20 foot tall frame, then wire mesh and stonework to finish it. An access door and built-in ladder provided access to the rotating light in the top. (That light functioned for several years but the plastic gears couldn’t take the cold weather.) Accent lighting on the base provided nice uplighting at night. A grandson applied the stone to the exterior in 2005 (the lemonade and lunches with Grandma and Grandpa may have been why it took most of the summer). Everything was completed in late summer 2005, just in time for Terry and Carrolle’s 50th wedding anniversary on September 3, 2005.
Family (all five Serbus “kids” and one grandson have lived on the lake) fellow Green Lakers, and lots of eagles have enjoyed the lighthouse. In the early days, it was a host to the Green Lake happy hour flag (now the every other Thursday gathering).
Terry (age 86 now) and Carrolle (age 84) now live on Green Lake in the townhomes, having sold their house on the point in 2014 (the house sold again in 2019). Terry would like to see the lighthouse maintained and lit up again. As a retired electrician, he has lots of ideas on how it can be done using materials that weren’t available when he built the lighthouse. Solar and LED lighting are very affordable now and could be incorporated, as well as a rotating light with metal gears.
