Yard Craft Frankfort Lantern Post - Outdoor Lamp Post Stand

The Owner's Insights on the Frankfort

If you want a heavy duty outdoor lamp post that does not announce itself, this is the one. The Frankfort is a straight square column with a flat cap and a plain base block. No panels, no fluting, no molding stack.

That plainness is the reason people pick it. On a modern house, or anywhere the architecture is already doing the talking, a fussy post looks like it wandered in from a different property. This one reads as deliberate.

It is cellular PVC vinyl rather than wood, which matters more than the styling does. A wooden post goes soft at the ground line within a few years and this one cannot. It also never needs painting, in any of the four colors.

Who I would point elsewhere: if your driveway is long or your house is large, 5½ inches square can look undersized from the road. The Concord is 7½ inches and holds that kind of frontage far better.

Why You'll Love the Frankfort

• Clean square lines, no ornament. It suits a modern or plain frontage where a paneled post would look borrowed from another house.
• Cellular PVC vinyl, not wood. It cannot rot where it meets the soil, which is where every wooden post eventually gives out.
• Four colors, none of them paint. White, Light Stone, Clay and Black, with the color running through the material rather than sitting on top.
• Amish built in Lancaster County. Assembled by hand in Pennsylvania rather than molded overseas.
• Delivery is free and included. Nothing gets added at checkout and no freight bill turns up later.
• Touch-up kit in the box. The scratch you put in it with the shovel gets fixed the same afternoon.

Why You Should Consider a YardCraft Lamp Post

YardCraft is an Amish workshop in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, building outdoor structures and decor by hand. They work almost entirely in cellular PVC and treated wood, and they publish real dimensions and honest parts lists instead of marketing language. On something that has to stand in weather for twenty years, the material decision is the whole product.

Why a Heavy Duty Outdoor Lamp Post Beats a Wooden One

Wooden posts fail from the bottom up, and they fail out of sight. Water travels up through the grain, the timber stays wet behind the paint, and the rot spreads inside the post where nothing shows. By the time it leans, it has been failing for a year.

Cellular PVC has no grain for water to follow. It is the material used for exterior trim on houses, picked for exactly this reason, and the ground line stops being the weak spot.

The difference shows up in year three. With wood you are out there scraping and repainting. With this you are not doing anything.

What You Need Before It Arrives

The Frankfort is a sleeve. It slides over a wooden post you set yourself, and three things you will need do not come with it.

• An 8 foot pressure treated 4x4. The structural core. The vinyl goes over it. Around $25 at a lumber yard.
• Concrete. Two or three bags to set the 4x4, depending on your frost line.
• A lantern. There is a 3 inch mount on top and no light fitting, so the lantern is a separate choice.

In the box: the post, the cap, the screws and a touch-up kit.

Get all three before delivery day. Discovering on a Saturday that you are short a 4x4 and some concrete turns a two hour job into next weekend. Call or text 1 800 914 0074 or 352 274 6387 if you want us to check the list first. Texting is fine.

Frankfort Lamp Post Specifications

Choosing the lantern

The 3 inch mount takes most standard post lanterns, so you are not locked into one brand. On a plain post like this, the lantern is the only decorative element, which means it is worth more thought than it usually gets.

A large ornate lantern on a slim square post looks top heavy. Something simple in black or copper suits the Frankfort better than a big multi-pane carriage lamp. If you send us a photo of the house we will tell you honestly what will look right.

Wiring: hardwired or solar

For a hardwired outdoor lamp post, the cable runs up inside the 4x4 before the sleeve goes over it. Dig the trench at the same time as the footing, because running power to a post already set in concrete means digging it out again.

A solar or battery lantern needs nothing run to it and mounts the same way. At the end of a driveway, where nobody is reading, solar is usually enough.

Installing it

Dig below the frost line, set the 4x4 in concrete, and let it cure before you go further. Then slide the sleeve on, level it, and fix it with the supplied screws and a 3/16 inch bit.

Two people is easier than one, mainly for holding it plumb while the screws go in. A post slightly out of true is invisible on the day and impossible to ignore afterwards.

Delivery and lead time

Delivery is free and included in the price. Nothing is added at checkout and no invoice follows.

Yard Craft has been running 1 to 2 weeks, which is quick for something built by hand. That is an average and not a promise. Call or text 1 800 914 0074 or 352 274 6387 for today's real number rather than the one that is easier to sell.

Who this is not for

Anyone expecting a working light in the box, because there is no lantern and no wiring. Anyone with a large house or a long drive, where 5½ inches square disappears. And anyone who wants some detail on the post itself, in which case the Lincoln and its paneled pedestal is the better buy.

Not sure which one suits your frontage? Call us before you order rather than after. We would far rather answer the question first.

The rest of the range

Lanterns are sold separately so the fitting can match the house. Browse the full Yard Craft range for lanterns, mailbox posts and the rest of the Amish built outdoor decor.

Found it cheaper somewhere else? Tell us and we will beat the price. Returns are free.

Prefer to pay by bank transfer? Save 3% on this item. Call 1 800 914 0074 or 352 274 6387, or email sales@optimaloutdooroasis.com, and we'll send you an invoice with 3% off. The discount applies to the product price.