Lighthouses: Compressing Spiral Stairs

I've always been fascinated by lighthouses, have gone out of my way in my airplane to overfly one at too low an altitude and have toured several in my travels. When PBS has a lighthouse special, I always watch it. Obviously part of the fascination comes from the amazing circular stairs inside. They are intriguing from the standpoint that many of them are a compressing spiral, meaning since the tower is often tapered, they get tighter as the spiral climbs toward the lens. I have photographed this architectural feature somewhat extensively because I found it challenging from a design standpoint. I have plans and drawings for such a stair. One "bucket list" ambition I have is to build a climbing/tapering/lighthouse style staircase for someone's home or office before I'm too old to master its complexity. –Shawn Christman, Seattle Stair

If you haven't visited the Heceta Head lighthouse in Oregon, I highly recommend it. Google this lighthouse, purported to be the most-photographed one in the US, and you'll find some gorgeous professional photography of the interior stairs.

photo from Planet Eugene.com