Christmas Light Installation in Barton Creek, TX
Rooflines, fully wrapped oaks and full front displays for Barton Creek homes and gated sections, put up in the fall, kept lit all season and taken down in January. Text a few photos and get a price without a site visit.
Christmas lights for Barton Creek homes, start to finish
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What do you install? | Rooflines and ridgelines, wrapped oaks, bushes, wreaths and garland, porches, entry walls and gates |
| What does it cost? | Single-story front roofline from $500, two-story from $1,100, full front from $1,800. $500 minimum. See prices |
| Trees? | $150–$250 for a small or medium trunk, up to $5,000 for a boom-lift live oak. Tree light wrapping |
| Local rules? | No city or county lighting rule. Each gated section sets its own. What that means |
| When do they come down? | January 2 to January 15 |
| Gated community? | No problem. Tell us how the gate works when you book |
| How do I get a price? | Text daytime photos of the front of the house and each tree to (737) 777-9099 |
What we light in Barton Creek
Barton Creek homes tend to be large, so displays often go beyond the roofline: big oaks wrapped trunk and limbs, lit garland at the entry, and lights on front walls and gates. Every install includes a design for your house, commercial-grade lights and clips, the install, service if anything goes dark, and takedown in January.
Rooflines and ridgelines
C9 LED bulbs on commercial wire, cut to each run so lines end cleanly at corners and peaks. On a large home, that's what keeps a long roofline looking sharp.
Wrapped oaks
Trunks and limbs wrapped by hand at an even spacing so the whole tree glows. Very tall trees can need a boom lift, which we plan for in the quote.
Entries, walls and gates
Lit wreaths and garland on doors, porches, front walls and gates. Clips are matched to stone and stucco, and we never drill into stone.
- A custom design for your house, sent back with your quote
- Commercial-grade LED lights and clips, supplied by Sapien
- Installation by our own crew, with no drilling into stone
- Small removable staples only where needed, or staple-free on request
- A timer set for the nights you choose
- Service during the season if lights we installed go out
- Takedown between January 2 and January 15
We do plug-in seasonal lighting only. If a display needs a new outdoor outlet or circuit, that is a job for a licensed electrician, and we'll tell you before install day. Everything else about our seasonal service is on the Christmas light installation page.
Barton Creek's lighting rules, and how we plan around them
Barton Creek is unincorporated, so it has no city code of its own. Travis County has no outdoor lighting order here. That leaves the deed restrictions of the gated section you live in, and those differ from one section to the next.
| Who sets the rules | What applies, and what we do |
|---|---|
| City | None. Barton Creek is a census-designated place, not a city |
| Travis County | No outdoor lighting order. Texas Local Government Code ch. 240 lets counties regulate lighting only near the McDonald Observatory or military bases |
| Your gated section | Its own association and deed restrictions. We check your section's covenants before we design |
| Permanent fixtures | Your section may require architectural approval. We provide the design and product details |
What this means for your display
Seasonal Christmas lights are temporary, and no city or county rule limits when they go on or how they look. You pick the nights. We still aim every light at your house and trees, so nothing shines into a neighbor's windows.
Permanent lights: yes, we install them in Barton Creek. Because they stay up all year, your section's covenants are the thing to check. We'll go through them with you, help with any architectural approval, and design the lights to sit under the eave in warm white day to day, with colors for the holidays.
There's no single Barton Creek association that publishes lighting rules for every section, so we don't quote one here. The county summary is based on Texas Local Government Code ch. 240 as amended by HB 2857. Laws and covenants change, so check the current version of your section's deed restrictions or ask your association if you're unsure.
What's different about lighting a Barton Creek home
Gated sections
Barton Creek has 18 gated communities and more than 1,000 homes. Tell us how your gate works and we'll arrange access for install, service and takedown.
Estate-size homes
Homes here run from about 1,900 to more than 16,000 square feet. A long, tall front takes far more lights than a typical house, so photograph the whole front and any side the street can see.
Hill Country canyons
Homes sit among the canyons along Barton Creek. Slope affects ladder placement and how a display reads from the road, so include a photo that shows the grade.
Oak country
This is oak and juniper Hill Country, and oak wilt is a concern. We don't prune, we keep fasteners to a minimum, and you can ask for staple-free wraps. Everything comes off in January.
Rules by section
Each section has its own deed restrictions. We plan to yours instead of assuming one set of rules for all of Barton Creek.
Still building
Homes have gone up since 1987 and some sections are still building out. If your house is new, send photos of where your outdoor outlets are.
Christmas light installation prices in Barton Creek
Barton Creek is priced the same as the rest of the Austin area. These are Sapien's typical 2026 starting points, front of house.
| Scope | Sapien 2026 price |
|---|---|
| Single-story roofline, front | From $500 |
| Two-story roofline, front | From $1,100 |
| Full front: roofline, trees, bushes, wreath or garland | From $1,800 |
| Small or medium tree, trunk only | $150–$250 |
| Small tree, canopy lightly wrapped | $150–$300 each |
| Large live oak, trunk or trunk plus some limbs | $500–$1,000 |
| Very large oak, multiple branches | $1,500–$3,000 |
| Boom-lift or maximum wrap | Up to $5,000 |
| HOA entrances and common areas | Quoted per property |
| Removal only (lights someone else put up) | Usually about 20% of the install cost |
| Minimum job | $500 |
Your quote depends on feet of roofline, height, slope and trees. More detail: Christmas light installation cost in Austin and what it costs to wrap a tree.
How it works in Barton Creek
Text us photos
Daytime photos of the front of the house, each tree, and your outdoor outlets, to (737) 777-9099. Tell us which section you're in.
Get a design and price
We mark up what we'd light and send back the plan and the price. Most homes never need a site visit.
Gate and covenants
We confirm gate access and check your section's rules. For permanent lights, we give you what you need for any approval.
Install in October or November
Earlier dates are easier to get. The lights go up and stay off until the night you pick.
Lights on, all season
Most people start on Thanksgiving night, November 26, 2026. If lights we installed go out, text or call and we come back.
Down in January
We take everything down between January 2 and January 15.
Big trees and boom-lift wraps take the longest install slots, so book early if they're on your list. The month-by-month plan is in our Austin holiday lighting timeline, and here's what a good quote should show.
What our customers say
Every review below is from Sapien Lighting's Google listing, word for word. Read them all on Google.
Landscape lighting in Barton Creek
Sapien also designs and installs landscape lighting: uplit oaks, moonlighting from the canopy, path and step lights on sloped yards, patios and pet areas, and shadow mapping that plans each light around how the sun and shadows fall on your property.
There's no city lighting code in Barton Creek, so there's no city curfew or lumen cap. Landscape lighting is permanent, though, so your section's deed restrictions apply, and some sections may want to approve a plan before install. We check yours first.
Even without a code, we design the way a good plan should look on a Hill Country lot: low, warm, shielded light on the trees, stone and paths, with no glare into the neighbors' homes or the canyon. Landscape lighting is quoted per property. See our landscape lighting page and how shadow mapping works.
About Barton Creek
Barton Creek is an unincorporated community in Travis County, about 7 miles west of downtown Austin, in ZIP 78735. It grew up around what is now the Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa and its four golf courses, and today it is made up of gated neighborhoods of estate homes.
- Named for William Barton. The creek is named for William Barton, who built a house near Barton Springs in 1837. It runs about 40 miles east from northern Hays County to Lady Bird Lake.
- A cattle trail stop. From 1866 to 1886 the land where the resort now sits was a rest stop on a cattle trail to the Austin railhead.
- Golf first. The Fazio Foothills and Palmer Lakeside courses opened in 1986. The resort opened on September 5, 1987, with Lady Bird Johnson at the grand opening. Former Gov. John Connally and former Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes backed the project, and UT coach Darrell Royal was a founding member. Crenshaw Cliffside followed in 1991 and Fazio Canyons in 1999.
- Where Save Our Springs began. In 1988 Freeport-McMoRan proposed a 4,000-acre Barton Creek development. After an all-night meeting in 1990, the Austin City Council rejected it. That sparked the Save Our Springs movement and the SOS ordinance election on August 8, 1992.
- Gated neighborhoods. Barton Creek has 18 gated communities and more than 1,000 homes. Services come from Travis County, Travis County MUD No. 5 and Travis County ESD No. 3 for fire.
- By the numbers. 3,356 people lived here at the 2020 census, on about 5.4 square miles. Schools are in Austin ISD (Oak Hill Elementary, O. Henry Middle and Austin High), and St. Michael's Catholic Preparatory School is here too.
- Wild upstream. Upstream, The Nature Conservancy bought the 4,084-acre Barton Creek Habitat Preserve in 1994. It protects old-growth juniper, oak and elm, and golden-cheeked warblers.
Sources: Wikipedia (Barton Creek, Texas), Wikipedia (Barton Creek), Community Impact, GolfPass, Austin Chronicle.
Map of Barton Creek
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. View larger map
Barton Creek and nearby areas we serve
Barton Creek is in 78735, about 7 miles west of downtown Austin. We install in every Barton Creek section and across west Austin and the Lake Travis area:
- Barton Creek
- West Lake Hills
- Rollingwood
- Lost Creek
- Bee Cave
- Lakeway
- Steiner Ranch
- Austin
- And nearby: just ask
Some of these areas are cities with their own lighting codes, and others follow HOA rules. Tell us your address and we'll plan for what applies to you.
Barton Creek Christmas lights: frequently asked questions
Are there city or county rules for Christmas lights in Barton Creek?
No. Barton Creek is an unincorporated census-designated place in Travis County, so there's no city lighting code, and we found no Travis County outdoor lighting order. Texas only lets counties regulate outdoor lighting near the McDonald Observatory or military bases.
What about my neighborhood's HOA?
Barton Creek is made up of gated sections, and each one has its own association and deed restrictions. We couldn't find one set of rules that covers all of Barton Creek, so we ask which section you're in and plan to your section's covenants. If you have a copy of them, send it with your photos.
Can I get permanent Christmas lights in Barton Creek?
Yes, we install them. No city or county rule limits them here. Because permanent track lights stay on the house all year, your section's architectural committee may want to approve them first. We'll check your section's covenants with you, give you the design and product details for any approval, and set the everyday look to warm white with colors for the holidays.
How much does Christmas light installation cost in Barton Creek?
The same as the rest of the Austin area. In 2026 a single-story front roofline starts at $500, a two-story front roofline at $1,100 and a full front (roofline, trees, bushes and a wreath or garland) at $1,800. Larger estate homes cost more because there's more roofline and height, so send photos of the whole front.
What does it cost to wrap a big oak?
A large live oak, trunk only or trunk plus some limbs, is $500 to $1,000. A very large oak with multiple branches is $1,500 to $3,000, and the tallest wraps that need a boom lift run up to $5,000. A small or medium trunk is $150 to $250.
Can you get into my gated community?
Yes. Tell us how your gate works when you book, and we'll set up access for our crew for install, any service calls and takedown.
Do you light HOA entrances and common areas?
Yes. Entry walls, gate trees and common areas are quoted per property. Send photos and we'll price the design.
When do the lights go on and come down?
Whenever you want them on. Most people choose Thanksgiving night, Thursday, November 26, 2026. We install in October or November, set the timer, and take everything down between January 2 and January 15.
Do you do landscape lighting in Barton Creek?
Yes: uplit oaks, moonlighting, path and step lights, patios, pet areas and shadow mapping, designed to your section's covenants. Landscape lighting is quoted per property.
Are you insured?
Yes. Sapien is fully insured on every job. Associations can request a certificate of insurance.
Get your Barton Creek Christmas light quote
Text a few daytime photos of the front of your house and any trees to (737) 777-9099, tell us your section, and say the night you want them on. Prefer to talk? Call us, 9 am to 11 pm daily.