Yard Plotted to scale, promise

Under The Tree · Split-Level or Raised Ranch

Under The Tree layout for a Split-Level or Raised Ranch

Presents, everywhere, at the wrong scale. Stacked boxes, oversized bows and baubles the size of beach balls, so the whole yard looks like the floor under the tree on Christmas morning.

your split-level or raised ranch, 58′ × 26′ 5 of 10 spots filled
To-scale site plan for a Split-Level or Raised RanchA to-scale overhead site plan of a split-level or raised ranch, 58 feet of street frontage by 55 feet deep, with the house set back 24 feet from the front sidewalk. The street runs along the top of the drawing. 5 of 10 marked positions are filled. Filled: the star; sidekick, left; sidekick, right; walk and stair rail lights; roofline. Left empty: the bed under the entry, under the porch roof, along the eaves, porch posts and rail, the front door. STREETDRIVEHOUSE7 STEPS58'ABmax 6'Cmax 6'DEFmax 4'Pmax 8'TRWmax 6.7'

Drawn to scale. Everything is measured in feet from the front sidewalk, and your front door is 80″ tall if you need something to check against.

this theme on this shape

Under The Tree fills 4 of this shape's 10 marked spots for free, and 6 of them once every budget is unlocked.

With everything unlocked, four spots stay empty because this theme has no piece written for that kind of spot: under the porch roof, along the eaves, porch posts and rail, the front door.

The one nice thing version comes in at $349.34 against a $500 ceiling on this shape, which leaves real room for a second run of lights or a better centrepiece.

Not your yard?

Same yard, different look

first, the deal with your yard

Read this before you buy anything

The front door is half a story up, so the middle of your facade is a blank wall with a staircase glued to it. Anything you put on the landing is too high to relate to the yard and too small to matter from the street, which is why these houses so often end up with a wreath and nothing else. Work the ground plane and the stairs instead. The lower wall under the entry gives you a long horizontal band at exactly eye level from the sidewalk, and almost nobody uses it.

Who's looking, and from where

  • From the street, where the stairs cut the facade in half
  • From the driveway, looking along the lower wall
  • Standing at the bottom of the steps looking up

The classic mistake

Crowding the top landing. It is about four feet deep, it is the only way in and out, and everything up there is invisible from the road anyway.

Check this one thing

Keep the stair treads and the handrail completely clear. Wet leaves plus a garland underfoot on an outdoor staircase is how people end up in urgent care in December.

same yard, four budgets

Pick your number

Every version below was worked out against the map up there, and nothing gets a spot unless it physically fits. Footprint and height both. The Do it yourself version is free and complete, so you can go do that today. The other three are the paid guide.

Every price below was checked on or after 27 September 2026, and each item carries its own date. Holiday pricing moves weekly.

Do it yourself Free

stays under $250
$160.35 $89.65 to spare

One weekend, a sheet of plywood and some string lights. Costs almost nothing and still stops traffic.

The Do it yourself plan: every piece, its spot on the drawing, how big it is, how many and what it costs.
Spot What to get How big How many Cost
A Stacked Plywood Gift Boxes Build it
The star. On the lawn at the bottom of the steps, off to the side of the walk. Ground level, not up on the landing. The landing is small and a big piece up there blocks your own front door. This one works just as well mirrored to the other side of the walk, so if a tree, a slope or the way you come and go says the far side is better, swap it and swap its partner with it. What matters is that it is beside the path and not standing in it.
 2' 9" H 1 $32
B 20 in. Lighted Bows, pair (opens in a new tab) Amazon 2 pieces
Sidekick, left. Left of the steps at ground level, close to the first riser.
 1' 8" H 1 $26.99
D Solar Path Light Stakes, 10 pack (opens in a new tab) Amazon 10 pieces
Walk and stair rail lights. Up both sides of the walk, then wrap the stair railing. Lighting the rail is the one move that makes a raised entry look intentional instead of steep.
 1' 3" H 2 $49.38
E Warm White Incandescent Mini Lights, 300 count (opens in a new tab) Amazon 300 pieces
Roofline. Full gutter run. On this shape the roofline is genuinely high off the ground because the whole house starts half a story up, so borrow a taller ladder than you think you need.
 2" H 2 $51.98
the plug situation

3 things need an outlet, about 2.1 amps all together. That all fits on one 15 amp circuit, you are fine. Outdoor GFCI outlets only, and leave a drip loop in the cord at every plug so rain runs off instead of in.

You will also need

The cord is the part everybody forgets, and stores run out of them at the peak of every season. Outdoor rated only, and plugged into a GFCI outlet.

About $31.96 of hardware, on top of the $160.35 of decorations. Buy it once and it comes back out every year.

still figuring these out

A couple of spots do not have a pick at this budget yet, so the plan leaves them empty for now:

  • Nothing in Under The Tree fits spot C (Sidekick, right) at this budget yet.
Print this version (opens in a new tab) build plan included
Image prompt for this exact list
Photorealistic evening photograph of a raised ranch with a half-story entry landing house on a split-level or raised ranch, 58 ft of street frontage with a 24 ft front setback, photographed from the street looking at the front of the house, showing the raised half-story entry, the run of steps up to the door and the lower wall beneath, camera height 5.5 ft. The yard is decorated in a under the tree theme. Presents, everywhere, at the wrong scale. Stacked boxes, oversized bows and baubles the size of beach balls, so the whole yard looks like the floor under the tree on Christmas morning. Decorations, in position: 1. The star: three hollow cube presents of decreasing size stacked into a slight lean, each wrapped corner to corner in glowing light strands with a wide ribbon cross and a bow on top, 2.8 ft tall. On the lawn at the bottom of the steps, off to the side of the walk. Ground level, not up on the landing. The landing is small and a big piece up there blocks your own front door. This one works just as well mirrored to the other side of the walk, so if a tree, a slope or the way you come and go says the far side is better, swap it and swap its partner with it. What matters is that it is beside the path and not standing in it. 2. Sidekick, left: two oversized red ribbon bows with long tails, edged in warm light, 1.7 ft tall. Left of the steps at ground level, close to the first riser. 3. Walk and stair rail lights: 2 of them, a line of short stake lights glowing softly along the edge of a walkway, no cords running between them, 1.3 ft tall. Up both sides of the walk, then wrap the stair railing. Lighting the rail is the one move that makes a raised entry look intentional instead of steep. 4. Roofline: 2 of them, a dense run of tiny warm white bulbs following a roofline, close enough together to look like a continuous line of light, 0.2 ft tall. Full gutter run. On this shape the roofline is genuinely high off the ground because the whole house starts half a story up, so borrow a taller ladder than you think you need. Shot at dusk with the sky still faintly blue, every lit decoration switched on and brighter than anything else in the frame, warm light spilling onto the lawn. Palette: #C8102E, #D6A419, #2F6E52, #F2EDD8. Nothing floats; every piece sits on the ground at the stated distance. Scale reference: the front door is 80 inches tall.

see it first

The other two prompts

Each budget above has its own prompt for the finished yard, because each one is a different list of things. These two do not change between budgets: one for the empty yard so you have a before picture, and the negative prompt that stops every image model on earth from burying your lawn in snow you did not ask for.