Christmas lighting for Cumming and south Forsyth

Brick and stone estates in Windermere and Polo, new houses on open lots, and the old courthouse square

Around Cumming, a house is often newer, larger, and more exposed than its counterparts closer to Atlanta. Many subdivisions went in on former farmland, so the lots are open, the trees are still young, and a tall brick or stone front with steep gables stands in full view of the street. That is ideal ground for a precise roofline. We light the gables and eaves in warm-white C9s, add greenery at the entry, and wrap the trees that are there. Our installers have worked Atlanta rooflines since 2018. Text a photo for a free written quote.

Text us a photo Call (470) 380-7797

Brick house at night with tree trunks in the front yard wrapped in lights

A small county seat surrounded by fast-growing subdivisions

Cumming was laid out in the 1830s, after the Cherokee removal, as the seat of the new Forsyth County, and was named for Colonel William Cumming. For well over a century it was a rural town, and Forsyth was largely a county of farms. Lake Lanier, filled behind Buford Dam in the 1950s, gave the area its lake economy, and Georgia 400 later turned it into commuting country. The city itself remains small, with a little over 7,000 residents at the 2020 census, but a Cumming mailing address covers a great deal of unincorporated south and central Forsyth County, and most of the houses people mean by "Cumming" are out there.

Those houses shape how we design. A typical subdivision home here was built in the last twenty-five years: two stories, a brick or stone front, sometimes hard-coat stucco on the sides, a tall entry, and several steep gables stacked across the facade. On an open lot with young landscaping, the roofline is the display. Nothing hides it, and nothing forgives a crooked run either, so we measure every line and hold the bulb spacing constant from one end to the other. Our warm-white roofline service covers how we choose between C9 and C7 and why we stay with one color temperature.

Young trees change the landscape plan. Where a lot in Roswell or Sandy Springs might have a hardwood canopy to work with, many Cumming yards have ornamental trees, a row of evergreens along the property line, and foundation shrubs. Those still light well. Ornamentals can be wrapped from trunk to branch tips in mini lights, and a clean line of lit shrubs along the front beds gives the roofline a base. Our trees and landscape service sizes each piece to what is actually in the yard.

The older part of town is different again. The courthouse square at Main and Dahlonega Streets still has its 1915 bandstand, and the surrounding blocks hold storefronts, offices, and some of the town's older houses. The city's Christmas parade travels down Tribble Gap Road to the fairgrounds, where the evening ends with a tree lighting and hayrides through lights. For businesses around the square, in Cumming City Center, or at Vickery Village, our storefront and restaurant lighting is scheduled around those busy weeks.

Precise lines for open lots

With young trees and nothing to hide the roof, every run is measured and spaced evenly from end to end.
Built for tall, steep gables

Warm-white C9s on stacked front gables and the main eave, so a two-story facade reads cleanly from the road.
Landscape that fits young yards

Ornamental trees, evergreen rows, and foundation shrubs lit to give the roofline a base.
Clips and wraps only

No nails, screws, or staples in brick, stone, stucco, or new trim. Everything clips on and comes off in January.

Windermere

Windermere is a large golf community in south Forsyth made up of many smaller neighborhoods, with names such as Kensington, Heathrow, Devonshire, and Muirfield, the last an active-adult section. The houses are mostly traditional brick, often with stucco and stone accents, and range from townhomes to big executive homes on the course. On the larger houses we light the front gables and the entry, then give golf-side elevations a single clean line if the owners want the display seen from the fairway.

Polo Golf and Country Club

Polo grew up around a Joe Lee course that opened in 1989, so its houses are older than most in the area and its trees have had time to fill in. That makes Polo closer in character to parts of Johns Creek than to the newest Forsyth subdivisions. Here the canopy becomes part of the design again: two or three mature trunks wrapped into the first limbs, a warm-white roofline on the street-facing gables, and greenery at the door.

Vickery and the walkable neighborhoods

Vickery Village, completed in 2008 and designed with new-urbanist planners, put shops and restaurants around a courtyard with homes built close by in a walkable pattern. Where a house sits nearer the street and nearer its neighbors, often behind a front porch, the scale changes: C7 bulbs on porch eaves, garland on porch rails, and a wreath at the door suit these facades better than a full C9 treatment, and the storefronts in the village center can be lit to match.

The courthouse square and older Cumming

Downtown Cumming grew around the Forsyth County courthouse, and the bandstand in front of it has stood since 1915. Where an older house near the square is small and close to the road, a single warm-white line at the eave, a lit wreath, and porch garland are usually enough, and on a small house that restraint looks deliberate rather than sparse.

Service during the season, and January

A timer is set at install, so the display runs on its own every evening. If a section goes dark, text a photo to (470) 380-7797 and it goes on the next route. In January the lights come down, coiled and labeled by run, and go into storage through our takedown and storage service. South of here, we also work in Alpharetta and Johns Creek.

Cumming lighting questions

What owners in Forsyth County's subdivisions usually ask before booking.

Our house is new and the trees are small. Will a display still look complete?

Yes, if the roofline carries it. On a new house the gables are usually steep and fully visible, so a well-spaced C9 roofline makes a strong outline. We add lit foundation shrubs and wrap the ornamental trees you have, which gives the house a base. As the trees grow, they can be added to the plan in later seasons.

Do you work outside the Cumming city limits?

Yes. Most houses with a Cumming address are in unincorporated Forsyth County, including the large subdivisions around Windermere, Polo, and the Vickery area. We quote any house in that area the same way: a photo, the address, and a written, itemized quote.

Our HOA has rules about exterior changes. Is seasonal lighting covered?

It depends on your covenants, and many Forsyth County subdivisions have detailed ones. Seasonal lights that clip on and come down in January are a different kind of change from a permanent one. For permanent roofline lighting, which stays on the house all year, check with your HOA's architectural committee before booking.

Can you add wreaths to the front windows?

Yes, and on a symmetrical two-story front, matched wreaths at the upper windows are one of the most effective additions. Lit or unlit, they are sized to the window and hung without fasteners. Our wreaths and garland service covers the options.

When should we book in Cumming?

Installs run from late October to about mid-December, and the earliest dates fill first. September or early October gives the widest choice. Our journal has more on how far ahead to book.

Also near Cumming

Plan a Cumming display with a measured quote

Text a photo of the front of the house and the address to (470) 380-7797. We will send a free written, itemized quote that lists each gable, each tree, and each piece of greenery.

Text us a photo Call (470) 380-7797

Email christmaslightsofatl@gmail.com