Warm-white lighting for Suwanee's brick fronts and porches

Stacked brick gables in the 1990s subdivisions, deep craftsman porches, small houses in Old Town, and the storefronts around Town Center Park

Suwanee is a newer town. Most of it went up in the 1990s and 2000s: brick-front and stone-front two-stories with stacked gables, side-entry garages, and a front yard you can cross in a few steps. Old Town, beside the rail line, is older and smaller. Town Center is newer than both. A house here is seen among many lit houses on one street, so one clean warm-white line counts for more than a second string. Our installers have been on Atlanta rooflines since 2018. Text a photo of the house for a free written quote.

Text us a photo Call (470) 380-7797

Two-story brick house with warm-white C9 lights along the gables and eaves at dusk

A rail stop, then a 1990s town, then a park with a town around it

Suwanee began as a stop on the railroad that has run beside Main Street since 1871. The blocks around that crossing are now Old Town, a National Register district of about 56 acres of small older houses and a few commercial buildings, with the rail corridor as its spine. Then Peachtree Industrial Boulevard and McGinnis Ferry Road filled in, and through the 1990s and 2000s subdivisions spread east toward the river and north toward the county line. The last piece came when the city built Town Center Park on Buford Highway at Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road and let shops and restaurants grow up around it.

So there are three kinds of Suwanee house, and each wants a different plan. The subdivision two-story is the common one. Brick or stacked stone across the front, siding on the sides, two or three gables stepped across the facade, a side-entry garage, a short driveway, a tree or two on a small lot. The craftsman-style house is newer, often with a deep porch under tapered columns and a wide front gable. The Old Town house is a small frame cottage or bungalow close to the street, seen from the sidewalk rather than from a passing car.

The common mistake on a brick front is to outline everything. On a street where most houses are lit, every added line pulls the eye less. What reads is a single continuous warm-white run, about 2700K, along the main eave and up the one gable that carries the composition. The brick takes that color well, which is the whole argument in the journal post on warm white against brick. Our residential design service starts from the photo you text and works out which lines earn their place.

The lights are ours. We install them, take them down in January, and store them between seasons unless we agree on something else.

One line before any second line

On a brick front among lit neighbors, a single continuous warm-white run reads cleaner than three competing strings.
Gables chosen, not counted

On a stacked facade we light the tallest gable and the eave that ties it to the entry, and leave the lesser gables dark.
Greenery where the porch is deep

A craftsman porch wants garland on the rail and columns and a wreath at the door more than it wants roofline.
Trunks on small lots

One wrapped trunk near the drive does the work of a dozen stakes when the yard is a few steps wide.

Town Center Park and the storefronts around it

Town Center Park is the center of the town's December calendar, and the shops and restaurants around it face the lawn and the stage across short sidewalks. A storefront here is seen at walking pace by families headed to the park, so the detail matters: a clean line around the window, garland at the entry, string lights over a patio. The storefront journal post covers what we have learned about restaurants and retail in Atlanta, and our commercial lighting service sets the install outside service hours.

Old Town, Main Street and the rail line

Old Town's cottages and bungalows along Main Street and the streets behind it are small, close to the sidewalk and older than anything else in Suwanee. They are seen up close. A roofline run of C7 bulbs along the porch eave, mini lights on the rail and a lit wreath on the door is a complete plan for a house of that size. Trim on these houses is old wood, so every fixture clips to the gutter or the shingle edge and nothing is screwed or nailed in.

Rivermoore Park, Grand Cascades and the brick-front subdivisions

The subdivisions off McGinnis Ferry Road and Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, among them Rivermoore Park and Grand Cascades, are where most of Suwanee lives. The houses are brick-front or stone-front two-stories from the 1990s and 2000s with stacked gables and side-entry garages, set a few steps back from the street. On a block like this the roofline is the whole show, so we spend the budget on an even line along the main eave and the one gable that shapes the house, in C9 bulbs on gutter clips. Our warm-white roofline service is built for exactly this front.

Craftsman porches, Suwanee Creek Park and the Greenway trees

The newer craftsman-style streets, and the lots that back onto Suwanee Creek Park and the wooded Greenway, hold houses with deep porches under tapered columns and a mature hardwood or two in front. Here the plan turns from roofline to greenery and trunks. Garland on the rail and columns, a wreath at the door, and one wrapped trunk by the drive make a porch glow at the height people walk past it. Our tree and landscape lighting covers the wrapping, and the wreaths and garland service the porch.

Install day, the season, and January

Most Suwanee installs take a morning. Two installers, one ladder on the brick front, clips on the gutter, a timer set before we leave. The quote lists each run, gable, trunk and piece of greenery, and what moves it is roofline length, how many gables we light, ladder height, trunk size and the greenery count, never a flat rate. Through the season you text a photo of any dark section to (470) 380-7797. In January we take it all down and store it through our takedown and storage service. The journal post on booking says when to text. We also work in Johns Creek, Cumming and Alpharetta.

Suwanee lighting questions

What owners in the subdivisions, in Old Town and around Town Center ask before they book.

Every house on our street in Grand Cascades is lit. How do we look good without going bigger?

By being more consistent, not larger. On a street of lit brick fronts, the house that stands out is the one with a single unbroken warm-white line at an even spacing, with no gaps at the downspouts and no change of color between runs. Keep the plan to the main eave, one gable, a wreath, and one wrapped trunk.

Our house has three gables stacked across the front. Which ones get light?

Usually the tallest gable and the eave line that connects it to the front door, and nothing on the others. A stacked front has one gable that sets the shape of the house, and lighting that one tells the eye where to look. Outlining all three flattens the facade into a zigzag. If the garage gable sits forward of the house, it usually stays dark so it does not compete with the entry. We mark the chosen lines on your photo before the quote so you can see the plan.

We have a craftsman-style house with a deep front porch. Roofline or greenery?

Greenery first, roofline second. A deep porch hides the eave behind the columns, so a roofline run reads as a thin line above a dark cave. Garland along the porch rail and up the tapered columns, a lit wreath on the door, and C7 bulbs on the porch eave fill that space with warm light at eye level. If the wide front gable is clear above the porch roof, a warm-white line on that one gable finishes it. Our wreaths and garland service handles the greenery.

Our front yard is small. Is tree wrapping still worth it?

Yes, if there is one trunk worth wrapping. On a small Suwanee lot a single maple or oak near the driveway, wrapped in warm-white mini lights from the ground into the first limbs, gives the display depth that a roofline alone cannot. Two trunks is usually the limit before the yard looks crowded.

Do you light the shops and restaurants around Town Center Park?

Yes. The storefronts that ring the park are seen by everyone walking to the December events, so most owners want the entry, the window surrounds and any patio done before the first one. We install outside posted hours, put each circuit on a timer matched to your hours, and come back for any outage. The storefront and restaurant service page explains how a commercial quote is built.

Also near Suwanee

Plan a Suwanee display from one photo

Text a photo of the front of the house and the street name to (470) 380-7797. We will mark the lines we would light and send a free written, itemized quote for each run, gable, tree and piece of greenery.

Text us a photo Call (470) 380-7797

Email christmaslightsofatl@gmail.com