1970s brick two-stories off Mount Vernon Road and Dunwoody Club Drive, swim-tennis streets, and the homes around Dunwoody Village
Dunwoody houses were built to last, and a lot of them look alike in the best way: brick, two stories, shutters, a center gable, and a big tree in the yard. That is a great house to light. Text us a photo and the address. You get a written quote, the lights go up in a day, and we take them down in January.
Dunwoody sits in the northern tip of DeKalb County, right across the county line from Sandy Springs and Fulton County. For most of its history it was farm country. Then I-285 went through, people moved out from the city, and in the 1970s the farms turned into subdivisions almost all at once. Dunwoody did not become its own city until 2008, but by then most of the neighborhoods had been standing for thirty years or more.
That burst of building gave Dunwoody a strong family resemblance. A lot of the houses are brick or partly brick two-story traditionals with shutters, a center front gable, and a garage on the side or around back. Many sit on wooded lots with a real front lawn. Dunwoody Club Forest runs between Dunwoody Club Drive and Mount Vernon Road in the middle of the city. Brooke Farm, at the corner of those same two roads, mixes single-family homes on generous lots with smaller cluster homes. Wynterhall is a swim and tennis neighborhood, the kind of place where the pool is the summer meeting spot and the cul-de-sacs fill with kids.
The look of the town starts at Dunwoody Village, the shopping center built in the 1970s in a Colonial Williamsburg style, with the old Dunwoody Farmhouse still standing there. A lot of homeowners here lean the same way at Christmas: classic warm white, a wreath on each window, maybe garland on the door. It fits a brick colonial. Some families go full multicolor anyway, and that is fine too.
The holiday season here opens with Light Up Dunwoody, a community tradition since the 1990s, put on by the Dunwoody Homeowners Association and the Dunwoody Preservation Trust. It now happens at the Donaldson-Bannister Farm on Chamblee-Dunwoody Road and ends with the lighting of a tree, a menorah, and the farmhouse itself. If you want your own house lit by then, book early. Earlier dates fill first.
Center gables, side-entry garages, a dormer or two. We have a simple plan for the classic Dunwoody front, and it adapts to whatever your house adds.
Fifty years of growth means tall oaks and maples in a lot of front yards. A couple of wrapped trunks can outshine the roof.
Some Dunwoody neighborhoods have covenants and some only have a swim club. Send us any guidelines and we will design to them.
Warm white suits a Williamsburg-style brick house. Multicolor suits a house full of kids. Both are on the menu, in C9, C7, or mini lights.
For a 1970s brick two-story, the usual plan is simple. Light the main gutter line, run up both sides of the center gable, and outline any dormers. Add lit shrubs under the front windows. That gives you a symmetrical, finished look from the street. Our roofline lighting page shows the options for each part of the roof.
Dunwoody Village set a colonial tone for the whole town, and a lot of houses carry it through with a wreath in every front window and garland around the front door. We can light those and put them on the same timer. It is a traditional look that works well on red brick and dark shutters.
Neighborhoods like Wynterhall have a pool and tennis club, and many Dunwoody subdivisions have a brick or stone entrance sign with plantings. Lighting the entrance gives the whole street a holiday welcome. We quote those projects to the board or club and plan around the power that is available. See HOA and entrance lighting.
A lot of Dunwoody lots were cut out of farmland and woods fifty years ago, and the trees kept growing. A thick oak trunk wrapped in mini lights from the ground up to the first branches makes a strong focal point. We use tension wraps, never nails or anything that cuts the bark, and we quote each tree by size.
After the holidays we come back, take it all down, remove the clips, and coil and label each strand by location. We keep the lights and store them until next season. Nobody in the house has to climb a ladder in the cold or find a shelf for the bins.
Two houses on the same Dunwoody street can get different quotes, and it usually comes down to a few things. Footage is the biggest: a side-entry garage wing adds a long run. Height and pitch come next, since a steep center gable takes longer and needs taller ladders. Then trees, by trunk size and how high you want the wrap to go, and extras like window wreaths and door garland. Each shows up as its own line, so you can drop a piece and see what changes. Our post on what a professional install includes covers everything you get with any quote, from clips to the January takedown.
Quick answers for brick two-stories, swim-tennis neighborhoods, and older wooded lots.
No. We use shingle clips and gutter clips, and nothing gets nailed, stapled, or screwed into the trim. On older wood we are extra careful with ladder placement. In January the clips come off with the lights, so there is nothing left behind.
Yes. Window wreaths are a very Dunwoody look on a brick colonial. We hang them without nails and can light them on the same timer as the roofline. They show up as their own line on the quote. The whole-house package is the easiest way to add them.
Usually. Tall trees near the house can block parts of the roofline, but they also make a great display on their own. We look at the photo and suggest a mix. See tree and shrub wrapping.
Yes. Storefronts and small offices get the same clip-on install, done before opening or after close, with the timer set to your hours. See small business lighting.
Install season runs from late October to about mid-December, and the early dates go first. If you want lights up before the holiday kickoff at the farm, reach out in September or October. Text a photo to get on the list.
Text a photo of your house and the address to (470) 470-4485. Free written quote, lights up in a day, and gone in January.
Point your phone here
Your camera opens a text to (470) 470-4485. Snap the front of your house and hit send.
