Christmas lighting for Roswell's old town and wooded streets

Greek Revival columns near the Town Square, cottages off Canton Street, and wooded club neighborhoods along the river

Roswell has two faces. Near the Town Square and along Mimosa Boulevard and Canton Street are houses and churches from the 1830s and 1840s, with columned porches and paneled doors. Out toward the river are large wooded subdivisions from the 1970s and 1980s, full of Tudors and traditionals under tall hardwoods. Each needs a different hand: restraint and greenery near the square, canopy and roofline in the woods. Our installers have worked Atlanta rooflines since 2018. Text a photo of the house for a free written quote.

Text us a photo Call (470) 380-7797

Front door framed with lit garland and a pair of lanterns

A planned mill town, and the suburbs that grew around it

Roswell King came up from the Georgia coast in the 1830s, saw water power in Vickery Creek, and with his son Barrington bought land for a cotton mill and a town to go with it. The Roswell Manufacturing Company was chartered in 1839. The founders laid out the town around a square that separated their own houses from the mill village on the hill above the creek, and Willis Ball, a builder from Connecticut, is credited with several of the landmark buildings, among them Bulloch Hall, Barrington Hall, and the Presbyterian church. Bulloch Hall was the childhood home of Mittie Bulloch, mother of Theodore Roosevelt.

That core is now the Roswell Historic District, listed on the National Register in 1974 and covering about 120 acres of Greek Revival and late Georgian buildings, among them Great Oaks and Mimosa Hall. These are some of the oldest houses we see anywhere, and the lighting principles that serve a 1920s Buckhead Georgian apply even more strongly here. Greek Revival is about the portico: columns, a heavy entablature, a formal door. Light that composition and it looks like the house. Trace every roof edge instead and the columns get lost.

So on the older houses we lead with greenery. Garland on the columns or the porch rail, a wreath at the door and perhaps at each front window, and a single warm-white line along the cornice if the house can carry it. Our wreaths and garland service handles the greenery, and the journal post on historic homes covers the thinking in more depth. The city has its own historic preservation review, so anything permanent on a house in the district is worth raising with the city first. Seasonal lights that clip on and come down in January are a much lighter touch.

Most of Roswell looks nothing like the square. The city spread east toward the Chattahoochee and north along Holcomb Bridge and Houze Way through the 1970s and 1980s, and those neighborhoods are defined by wooded lots, rolling ground, and a generation of Tudor and traditional houses that now sit under a full canopy. Those houses are where our trees and landscape work earns its keep.

Greenery before roofline

On columned historic houses, garland and wreaths define the entry first. A roofline line is added only where it helps.
Restraint in the district

Clip-on seasonal lighting that comes down in January, sized to the scale of an 1830s or 1840s facade.
Canopy for the wooded streets

In the 1970s and 1980s neighborhoods, wrapped trunks and lit limbs carry the display where the roofline is hidden.
Nothing fastened to old fabric

No nails, screws, or staples in old brick, siding, or trim. Clips and tension wraps only.

The Town Square, Bulloch Hall, and Mimosa Boulevard

The streets around the square hold the oldest houses in the city. Bulloch Hall and Barrington Hall, both from 1839, are house museums, but the private homes nearby share their vocabulary: white-painted columns, broad porches, tall windows, and simple roofs. A house of that kind looks right with garland on the columns, a wreath on the door, and very little else. Each December the square fills with community-decorated trees, which gives a sense of how the town likes to celebrate: generous, but gathered in one place.

Canton Street and the cottages behind it

Canton Street runs north from the square as the town's restaurant and shopping street, and the side streets behind it hold smaller cottages and bungalows, many now renovated. The city's tree lighting has moved in recent years to Heart of Roswell Park, at Canton Street and Elizabeth Way, so these blocks see heavy foot traffic in the evening. A cottage here is seen from the sidewalk at close range: C7 bulbs on the porch eave, mini lights on the rail, and a lit wreath read as warm and generous without shouting.

Martin's Landing and the river neighborhoods

Martin's Landing was started in 1977 and spreads across roughly a thousand wooded acres near the Chattahoochee, around a 53-acre lake. Its colonials, split-levels, and ranches from the 1970s and 1980s sit among tall hardwoods and pines. On these lots the roofline is often partly hidden, so we build the display outward from the trees. A split-level is also a special case: its broken roofline reads best when we light the upper level's eave and the entry and leave the lower wing simple.

Horseshoe Bend and Willow Springs

Horseshoe Bend, built largely in the 1980s around its country club, holds more than 1,200 homes, many of them Tudor and traditional. Willow Springs, around the Country Club of Roswell, was developed from the late 1960s through the 1980s. Both have mature landscaping and houses of a similar era, so a block tends to read as a group. A consistent warm white on the front gables, lit foundation shrubs, and greenery at the door fits these streets well.

In season and after

A timer is set at install. If a section goes dark, text a photo to (470) 380-7797 and it goes on the next route. In January we take everything down, coil and label each run, and offer storage through our takedown and storage service. We also work in nearby Alpharetta, Sandy Springs, and Johns Creek.

Roswell lighting questions

What owners near the square and out in the subdivisions ask most often.

Our house is in the historic district. Can we still have holiday lights?

Seasonal lights attached with clips and wraps, and removed in January, are a temporary display rather than an alteration, which is why we use them on historic houses. We do not give legal advice on the city's preservation rules. If you are thinking about anything permanent, such as permanent roofline lighting, ask the city's preservation staff before booking.

What suits a Greek Revival house with a big portico?

Usually garland spiraled or draped on the columns, a wreath on the door, and wreaths at the front windows if the facade is symmetrical. A warm-white line along the cornice can be added, but it should never compete with the columns. Warm white suits the white paint and old brick far better than cool white.

Our house in Martin's Landing is hard to see through the trees. What do you recommend?

Start with the trees. Two or three trunks near the house, wrapped in warm-white mini lights into the first limbs, will read from the street even when the roofline cannot. Then light the parts of the roof that do show, which is often just the front gable and the eave over the garage.

We have a Tudor in Horseshoe Bend. Which lines should we light?

Follow the steep front gable and let the rest of the roof stay dark. Tudor rooflines are deliberately irregular, and outlining every change of pitch makes them look confused. The dominant gable in warm-white C9s, a wreath on the door, and a wrapped tree or two is a strong plan. Our warm-white roofline service explains bulb choice.

Do you light the shops and restaurants on Canton Street?

Yes. Canton Street businesses usually want the entry, windows, and patio lit before the busiest weeks of the season, installed outside service hours with timers on posted hours. Our storefront and restaurant page walks through the process.

Also near Roswell

Plan a Roswell display with a measured quote

Text a photo of the house and the address to (470) 380-7797, and tell us if the house is in the historic district. We will send a free written, itemized quote for each run, tree, and piece of greenery.

Text us a photo Call (470) 380-7797

Email christmaslightsofatl@gmail.com