Holiday lighting planned around Wayne’s older houses, deep porches and tall shade trees.
Wayne sits at the heart of the Main Line. Its center is in Radnor Township, Delaware County, and Wayne addresses also reach into Tredyffrin Township in Chester County and Upper Merion Township in Montgomery County. Chester County Christmas Lights handles Christmas light installation in Wayne on homes, along shopfronts and at events, so your house can glow all December without you giving up a weekend on a ladder.
Much of Wayne grew up around the railroad. In 1880 banker A.J. Drexel and publisher G.W. Childs bought the land around the station and laid out a development they called Wayne Estate. Today the Downtown, North and South Wayne historic districts are all on the National Register of Historic Places, and the houses show it: stone fronts, steep gables, wide porches and trees that have had a century to grow.
A Wayne house like that rewards a bit of planning. Think about which lines are worth tracing, maybe the porch rail, the gable peaks, a stone chimney or the big tree by the driveway. Tell us about the property (a few photos help) and we will send a free quote.
We hang lights along gutters, gables and porch rails. On a stone colonial or an older twin we can trace the shape of the house, wrap the porch posts and light the shrubs by the front walk. Warm white suits a lot of older Wayne facades, though the color is always your call.
If booking an install every November sounds like one chore too many, a permanent system mounts along the trim and stays up all year. Many systems let you change colors from an app, so the same lights could glow white for Christmas and red, white and blue for the Fourth of July.
A lit window helps a shop, restaurant or office near Lancaster Avenue and Wayne Avenue stand out in December. We light windows, awnings, door frames and planters so a business looks ready for the holidays, and nobody on staff has to climb a ladder before opening.
Holiday open houses, backyard weddings and charity evenings in Wayne can get string lights, bistro lights and tree lighting, set up before the first guest arrives and cleared away afterward.
Plenty of homes in and around Wayne’s historic districts are old enough to have slate, old wood trim, decorative brackets and gutters that have been patched more than once. On slate we keep to the gutters, since slate can crack under a shingle clip.
On these streets the porch is often the most handsome feature. A wrapped railing, lit columns and lights framing the steps can say more from the sidewalk than an outline of the third floor would, and it is a smaller job to put up. It helps to stand on the sidewalk and look at what people will actually see, and what would be lost behind the trees.
Older Main Line houses also have a lot of corners and changes in height. A good layout follows those shapes cleanly, with cords tucked along downspouts and posts instead of looping across the front.
Not every Wayne home is close to the business district. On the larger lots in Radnor and on the Tredyffrin side, a long driveway, a lamppost and a line of old trees can do as much for a display as the house itself.
Wrapping the trunk and first big limbs of a mature tree is one of the most striking things you can do on a dark street, and it is also the hardest part to reach on your own. The lighting is sized to the tree, and cords run neatly across the lawn back to the house.
If your house sits back from the road, bigger C9 bulbs help the outline carry, while mini lights on shrubs and porch rails look better up close. The aim is a display that looks balanced from the end of the drive and from the front door.
A good display usually mixes two kinds of light. C9 bulbs are the larger, classic bulbs that line a gutter and read clearly from across the street. Mini lights are the small ones that wrap a shrub, a railing or a branch. Using each where it fits is what keeps a display from looking busy.
Color is a matter of taste. Warm white is a common choice on stone and older trim, while multicolor brings a cheerful, old-fashioned look that many families grew up with. You could also pick warm white on the house and color on the trees, and that works well too.
A timer can switch the lights on around dusk and off at an hour you choose, so the house looks after itself through the holidays. Ask about adding one when you request your quote.
Yes. Wayne is in our service area on the Radnor, Tredyffrin and Upper Merion sides. We light homes, businesses and events there, and the quote is free. Whether your house is a short walk from the station or out toward the township lines, tell us about the property (a few photos help) and we will send a free quote.
No. We bring the lights for a seasonal install, hang them, and take them down and store them after the holidays. There is nothing to buy and nothing to find room for in a Wayne attic or garage.
Clips. Clips hold the lights without nails or staples, which is why installers use them on older trim. They grip the gutter or the shingle edge, and anything that will not take a clip can get a ground light or a lit shrub instead.
It depends on the length of the lines you want lit, how tall the house is, how many trees and shrubs get lights, the colors and whether you want timers. Older Wayne homes vary a lot in size and shape, so we price each one once we know what you want lit. The quote costs nothing. Sending a few photos of the front of the house when you get in touch helps us put the quote together.
Yes. Wrapping the trunk and lower limbs of a big tree can light up a whole front yard. How high to go depends on the tree and how it is seen from the street. For very tall trees, lighting the trunk and the lowest limbs often looks better than trying to reach the crown.
Yes. Storefronts, restaurants and offices can get window, awning and entrance lighting for the season. Call (610) 819-5409 or use the form to tell us about the space. We can plan the business and your home together if you have both in Wayne.