Ridgeview Christmas Light Installation in El Dorado Hills

No two houses in Ridgeview match. Owners here picked their own builders, lot by lot, starting back in the 1970s, and people are still building on vacant lots. For a light crew that means no template. A house tucked behind a rock outcropping can sit next to one perched on the slope with the valley under it. Each Ridgeview Christmas light installation is its own puzzle, and we solve it from your photos and a phone call to (530) 457-4771.

This surprises newcomers. Most of Ridgeview has no HOA at all. Ridgeview Village Units 1 through 8 and 10, Ridgeview East, the Ridgeview Village Estates units and Treviso at Ridgeview have recorded CC&Rs, and those are enforced by the El Dorado Hills CSD, a public agency, with its Design Review Committee handling exterior improvements. The CSD’s published enforcement priorities cover things like parking, landscaping, roofs and maintenance. Holiday lights aren’t on the list, and the Unit 1 and Unit 8 CC&Rs contain no seasonal decoration clause.

In practice: on those streets, nobody hands you a start date or a deadline. Want lights up early so they’re glowing for a family visit? That’s your decision to make. We’ll still take them down in January, because that’s the right month to do it.

Two exceptions. Ridgeview Village Unit 9 and Ridgeview West (Villadoro and the Equestrian area) are run by their own associations. If that’s you, read your current rules and pass along any dates at (530) 457-4771, and we’ll honor them. And if you’re unsure which unit your lot is in, the CSD posts the CC&Rs by village.

Ridgeview is rolling ground with rock outcroppings, buckeyes and mature oaks. Three things follow.

Ladders need a flat spot. On a lot that drops away from the foundation, the downhill corner of the house can be twice the height of the uphill corner. We look at the grade in your photos and tell you up front which eaves we can reach safely and which we’d leave dark. A pair of well-lit gables beats a full outline with one risky corner.

Driveways climb. Plenty are sloped and some are long. Stake lighting on a climbing driveway works when the stakes follow the curve at an even rhythm, and it gives arriving guests a lit path up. We keep stakes off the pavement edge where tires track and away from sprinkler heads.

Your audience is far away. Plenty of these lots look out over the valley toward downtown Sacramento, or back at the Sierra, or down on Folsom Lake. Turn that around: a lot of road below can see your roofline. For a house seen from a distance, bold and simple wins. Strong unbroken lines on the ridges and gables, and skip the small fiddly stuff that only shows from ten paces.

We’re on the neighboring hills all season. See our pages for Highland Hills and The Promontory, or the general El Dorado Hills page.

Roofline lights go on with clips matched to whatever the edge is: tile, shake, composition or a metal gutter. Custom homes bring custom edges, so we ask for a close-up photo of the eave. We don’t nail, staple or drill.

Tree wraps are a strength here. The oaks have thick, dark trunks that take a wrap beautifully, and a wrapped trunk at the base of a slope anchors the whole yard. Around Ridgeview Park on Ridgeview Drive the oaks tower over everything, and mature oaks are a Ridgeview signature well beyond the park. Our tree wrap page shows how far up a trunk we usually go.

Pillar wraps fit the entry columns and porch posts on the bigger custom fronts. Lit wreaths suit tall blank gable walls, which hillside houses have plenty of. Lit garland follows a deck rail, a stair banister up from the driveway, or the front door surround.

Every light, cord and timer is ours. The timer shuts the display down late at night, which the neighbors below tend to appreciate.

Three pictures usually do it, texted or uploaded on the contact form: the house from the street below, the house from the driveway, and that close-up of the roof edge. Add one of the biggest tree if you want it wrapped. On a sloped lot the street view and the driveway view can look like different buildings, so send both, from Muse Drive, Ridgeview Drive or wherever you are.

If a strand fails in a windstorm, call (530) 457-4771 and we’ll get back up the hill to fix it. In January it all comes off the hill with us.

Who enforces the CC&Rs on my Ridgeview street, an HOA or the CSD?

On most streets, the CSD. The majority of Ridgeview units have recorded CC&Rs enforced by the El Dorado Hills CSD, not a homeowners association. Unit 9 and Ridgeview West (Villadoro and the Equestrian area) do have associations.

What dates apply to Christmas lights on a CSD-enforced Ridgeview street?

On the CSD-enforced streets we found no holiday decoration clause in the CC&Rs that were read (Units 1 and 8) or in the CSD’s published priorities. Owners in Unit 9 or Ridgeview West should check their own association’s current rules.

My lot drops off steeply behind the house. Can you still do the roofline?

The street-facing and uphill sections, almost always. For the downhill side we look at the grade in your photos and tell you which runs a ladder can reach.

Do I need Design Review Committee approval for seasonal lights?

The committee reviews exterior improvements. Nothing in the CSD material we read addresses temporary holiday lights, and ours come down in January. Ask the CSD if you want it confirmed for your unit.