Jefferson City · The Old South Side
Christmas Light Installation in Munichburg, Jefferson City
A German neighborhood that has kept its own name for a century and a half, and the trim to go with it.
Munichburg is the old south side of Jefferson City — the neighborhood the German families built up the hill from downtown, and one of the few places in this town that still insists on its own name rather than a subdivision’s. The houses sit close to the sidewalk on narrow lots, brick and frame, with stoops and porches that put the front door practically in conversation with the street. Alleys run behind. Trees have had a hundred years to get large. It is a neighborhood where a display is seen from six feet away, not sixty.
That changes how we design. On a tight lot the roofline is short, the porch is the main event, and the detail work matters far more than the total footage. Garland on a rail, a lit wreath centered in a window, warm white following a porch roof and a single crisp line along the eave will read better here than a catalog’s worth of product crammed onto a small frontage. We measure the house, propose what fits it, and say so if we think you are buying more than the building can carry.
The practical side gets planned too. Street parking, narrow drives, low mature limbs and older exterior outlets are all normal on these blocks, so the ladder positions and the power run are worked out on the walk-through rather than discovered on install day. Everything goes up on clips — no staples, no screws, nothing driven into old wood trim — and everything comes down in January.
What neighbors ask first
Our lot is small. Is it worth hiring someone?
Often more so, not less. A small frontage is unforgiving — every crooked run shows — and the fiddly parts here, porch rails, window wreaths, columns and gable peaks, are the parts that eat a weekend when you do them yourself. The price scales with the work, so a modest house is quoted as a modest house.
Will the lights damage old trim or brick?
No. Clips are chosen for the surface they sit on, and nothing is stapled, screwed or nailed. On painted wood trim and older masonry we take the extra minute per clip that keeps the finish intact, and we take the same care removing them.
Can you match the neighbors?
Yes, and it is a fair thing to ask on a street this close. If the block runs to warm white, or to classic C9 color, we will match the temperature and bulb style so the row reads as a row. If you would rather stand out, that is your call and we will say honestly how it will look next to the houses either side.
Do you do the takedown too?
Always — it is in the price, not an extra. We come back in January, take everything down, coil and label your lines, and store them until next fall so they are not living in your basement all year.
Munichburg Quotes
Walked, measured, then priced
Tell us the street and what you are picturing. We will call back and set a time to come and measure it properly.