Russell Ranch Christmas Light Installation

Russell Ranch is one of the few Folsom neighborhoods where the holiday lighting rules are written out in plain detail. The Russell Ranch Community Association names the weeks that count as the season and the hours the lights may be on. Here, Russell Ranch Christmas light installation becomes a planning job before it’s a ladder job, and planning is the part we’re good at. The number is (916) 570-9568.

The association’s design guidelines, adopted in 2025, set the holiday season as the second week of October through the first week of January. Festive lighting hours are 6 PM to 10 PM each evening. Holiday lights that can be seen from outside the home are to be removed by the deadline, even when they’re switched off. Extension cords can’t be visible or dangling, and lighting shouldn’t put glare on a neighbor. Blow-ups and similar decorations get their own allowance: four weeks before and two weeks after a major festival such as Christmas.

One caution. Boards revise documents like this, so look up the latest copy on the association’s Home Improvements page, or ask the management office, before you fix a date. We work to whatever the current version says. Has it changed? Call (916) 570-9568 and read us the new wording.

• The call. You tell us the village, the look you want and when you’d like the lights on. We tell you how that sits against the association’s season.
• The photos. Send us pictures, texted or emailed: the whole street face, the garage, each tree or column on your wish list, and your outdoor outlets.
• The plan. We send back what gets lit, where the power comes from and a quote.
• Install day. The streets here are private and gated, so we’ll ask ahead how the crew gets through. We bring every strand, clip and timer.
• The season. If a section goes dark, you call and we fix it.
• January. We return in the first week of the month, take everything down and haul it away.

The timer does the most work. We set it for on at 6 and off at 10, matching the posted hours. Cords are the second thing. Leads run down a downspout or behind the fascia edge and plug in at the nearest covered outlet, with nothing draped across a wall or a walkway. Roofline lights hang from clips on the gutter or along the roof’s edge. Nails, staples and drills stay in the van, so the exterior and trim are exactly as we found them.

Our lights are temporary. They go up for the season and leave with us, which keeps you clear of the separate rules the guidelines set for permanently mounted decorative lights. And we stay on your lot. The gates, the entry monuments and The Russell House clubhouse belong to the association, so we don’t touch them unless the association hires us for that work.

Silver Crest homes sit on lots of roughly 9,000 square feet with three-car garages and valley views. That’s a long roofline across the garage, and on a view lot the back may be seen from farther off than the front. Tell us which side faces the valley. The same goes for lots that look down on Placerville Road.

Iron Ridge lots are closer to 5,000 square feet with side yards about five feet wide. A ladder barely fits between houses, so most plans light the front and work from the driveway. Steel Canyon is different again: two-story homes set on alleys of six with shallow yards. Roofline lights on the street face, a lit wreath, lit garland around the entry and pillar wraps on porch posts do more there than anything in the ground. If you’re up by the radio towers near Steel Canyon, say so when you call.

Landscaping across the neighborhood dates to 2020 or later. Young trees take a trunk wrap well, tied loosely so the bark isn’t pinched, but they’re too small for a full canopy. Low stake lighting beside the front path fills the yard instead. In villages where the association maintains front yards, we keep stakes at the bed edges and away from sprinkler heads so the landscape crew can work around them.

We also light homes across the rest of Folsom and in Mangini Ranch, also south of Highway 50.

Have your village name ready, then call (916) 570-9568. The contact page takes the photos.

Six to ten, October’s second week to January’s first, down even if dark. Check that against the current copy.

Which weeks count as the holiday season under Russell Ranch’s guidelines?

The association’s 2025 design guidelines define the holiday season as the second week of October through the first week of January. Rules get updated, so confirm the current dates with the association before you schedule.

What hours can holiday lights be on in Russell Ranch?

The guidelines list festive lighting hours of 6 PM to 10 PM each evening. We set your timer to those hours at install so the lights follow them without any help from you.

Can the lights stay on the house if I just leave them off?

No. The guidelines say holiday lights visible from outside the home should come down by the deadline even if they aren’t lit. Our takedown is booked for the first week of January for that reason.

Russell Ranch is gated. How will the crew get in?

We ask about gate access on the planning call and arrange it with you before install day and again before the January takedown.

Does Russell Ranch allow permanent track-style holiday lights?

The guidelines set separate conditions for permanently mounted decorative lights, including wiring that matches the soffit. Read the current copy before buying a system. Ours are temporary and leave in January.