Empire Ranch Christmas Light Installation

The calendar runs the show up here. Homeowners in Empire Ranch have reported that the association gives winter decorations a set window, and that roof lights can’t just live on the house all year. That makes Empire Ranch Christmas light installation two jobs for us: up on time, and back down on time. We do both halves.

We hang lights. We don’t sit on your board. So read this as a report, not a ruling.

A homeowner petition from February 2024 quoted the Empire Ranch Community Association as allowing winter holiday decorations from one week before Thanksgiving until January 15. The same petition said the board doesn’t let perimeter roof lights stay installed year-round, so they have to come off the house once the window closes. The neighbors behind it, over on Sundahl Drive, were asking the board to change that. We couldn’t find out how it ended.

Thinking about permanent roofline lights instead? By that same report the board doesn’t let them stay up all year, so ask first. Our permanent light page explains the option.

Boards change rules. And some sections add a layer. Hillcrest and the Renaissance homes by the golf course have their own associations on top of the master one, and Provence sits behind its own gate. Ask for the current copy before you pick a date, then read us the relevant line at (916) 659-6549. We’ll build the schedule around it, takedown included.

Empire Ranch is rolling foothill ground off East Natoma Street and Golf Links Drive, next to Broadstone, and a lot of it is cul-de-sacs. A pie-shaped lot at the end of a court shows a narrow face to the street, so the garage peak and the entry do most of the talking. We put the effort there instead of on a side wall only your fence can see.

Back up to the Empire Ranch Golf Club fairways or a strip of open space? Those lots have see-through iron fencing, so your back roofline is on display either way.

Up in Hillcrest the homes are custom estates with lake and valley views. A roof that gets seen from that far off deserves the full outline, and those are full-day ladder jobs.

One thing we stay off: the entry monuments and the landscaped parkways. Those belong to the association, lights and all. Same for the Renaissance front yards the association keeps up. If you’re there, ask before we push a single stake into that lawn.

• Roofline lights get clipped along the eaves, gutters and peaks. Zero nails, zero staples, nothing punched through your stucco or your trim. If your roof is tile, the clip grips the tile edge and our boots keep to the ladder, off the roof field.
• Tree wraps around the trunk and up into the first big limbs. The native oaks here take a wrap well. Street trees fall under the city’s street-tree plan, so we tie loose and leave no hardware in the bark.
• Pillar wraps around the porch posts and columns, spacing kept even so they don’t end up looking like barber poles.
• Stake lighting down the walk or driveway edge, placed where the irrigation isn’t.
• Lit wreaths up on the second-story gable, or centered over the garage.
• Lit garland for the front door, the railings or an archway.

Timers switch everything on at dusk and off before the neighbors are trying to sleep. The full menu is on our home Christmas light service page, and the contact form is there if you’d rather write than call.

Planning inflatables or a lawn full of reindeer? The association’s older owners manual asked for design review on yard decorations and for shielded yard lighting.

Ring (916) 659-6549 and tell us about the place, or send a few photos of the front. That’s how we quote. Stories, roof type, what you want lit.

Then we set an install day that fits your association’s dates. In January we come back, unclip the whole house and load every strand onto the truck. Nothing left up there for the board to write you a letter about.

And if a section goes dark some night in December, call (916) 659-6549. Fixing it is part of the job.

We’re a family crew based right here in Folsom, so Empire Ranch is a short drive, not a road trip. Early callers get first pick of install days, and the board’s calendar doesn’t move for late ones.

What window has the Empire Ranch board reportedly set for winter decorations?

A February 2024 homeowner petition quoted the Empire Ranch Community Association’s window as one week before Thanksgiving until January 15. That’s a neighbor’s report, not something we read in the association’s own documents, so confirm the current dates with them before we schedule.

Can I leave my roofline lights up all year in Empire Ranch?

According to that same homeowner petition, the board doesn’t allow perimeter roof lights to stay installed year-round. Our January takedown clears the whole house, so you’re not relying on memory or a free weekend.

I live in Hillcrest or behind the Provence gate. Is the plan any different?

It can. Hillcrest has its own association on top of the master one, so ask whether it adds anything about decorations. Behind any gate, we also need you to arrange access for our truck on install day and again in January.

My yard backs to the golf course. Can you light the back of the house?

Yes. We clip the rear eaves the same way as the front. Lots with open iron fencing on the course or open space reportedly get extra review for backyard changes, so check with the association before adding anything beyond roofline lights back there.