Christmas Light Installation in Magnolia Plantation, FL

Magnolia Plantation is the gated estate community off Markham Woods Road in Lake Mary, on the wooded ridge between the Wekiva River basin and Heathrow, with large homes on acre-plus lots under mature live oaks and pines, many of them backing onto conservation land or Lake Markham. It is about twenty-five minutes from our Apopka shop on Wekiva Springs Road and runs with Heathrow and Alaqua on our estate route in Seminole County.

Magnolia Plantation homes are large, in traditional, Mediterranean and transitional styles, with long complex rooflines, circular drives and pool lanais facing the woods. The design traces every hip and ridge in warm white C9 bulbs, wraps the entry columns, adds garland and wreaths at the door, and lights the drive with stakes or wrapped posts so the display reads from the road through the trees. The live oaks take trunk-and-limb wraps that need a lift and are the centerpiece of most displays here.

Two things make Magnolia Plantation different from the other Markham Woods estates. The lots back onto conservation land, so the rear of the house is rarely lit and the effort goes into the street side and the drive; and the canopy is so dense that we usually recommend fewer, brighter elements, a clean roofline and two or three fully wrapped oaks, rather than lighting everything. The gate wants a certificate of insurance on file before we arrive, the association publishes a window for install and takedown, and because the shop is twenty-five minutes away a dark section is normally fixed the following day.