I am not quite sure whether we are talking about the same thing anymore. Diagram will help here, I think.
Diagram also implies you never learned how a lightning rod works. A lightning rod does not do house protection. Many assume that only because knowledge comes from observation. They never see the earthing. A lightning rod is only a connecting device. Protection is provided by what observation ignores - earth ground.
How good will a lightning rod perform? This answer demonstrates more myths. Pointed rods are less effective than blunt rods. Many will deny it when knowledge come from hearsay. Not from science and IEEE papers. Meanwhile, both rods are useless without better earthing.
Lightning seeks each ground. A best connection to earth was via Franklin's wooden church steeple. Yes, wood is an electrical conductor. But not a very good conductor. So a lighting strike (20,000 amps) creates a high voltage. 20,000 amps times a high voltage is high energy. Church steeple damaged.
Franklin connected his lightning rod to better earthing via a wire. 20,000 amps through a wire is a tiny voltage. 20,000 amps times a tiny voltage is tiny energy. No damage.
Surge protectors do the same. Any protector that tries to stop a surge current, instead, creates a high voltage. Same current times a high voltage is destruction. Protectors connected short (ie 'less than 10 feet') to earth means same current creates a low voltage. Same current times a low voltage is energy that will not overwhelm protection inside all appliances.
Every diagram about surge protection always - no exception - discusses earthing. Or from Dr Kenneth Schneider:
>Conceptually, lightning protection devices are switches to ground. Once a
> threatening surge is detected, a lightning protection device grounds the
> incoming signal connection point of the equipment being protected. Thus,
> redirecting the threatening surge on a path-of-least resistance
> (impedance) to ground where it is absorbed.
> Any lightning protection device must be composed of two "subsystems," a
> switch which is essentially some type of switching circuitry and a good
> ground connection-to allow dissipation of the surge energy. The switch, of
> course, dominates the design and the cost. Yet, the need for a good
> ground connection can not be emphasized enough. Computer equipment has
> been damaged by lightning, not because of the absence of a protection
> device, but because inadequate attention was paid to grounding the device
> properly.
You figure is missing the only 'system' component that does all protection (even with lightning rods) - earth ground. OP’s best solution is same. One properly earthed ‘whole house’ protector.