Christmas lights in Neptune Beach, FL

Neptune Beach is the smallest of the beach cities — about 2,400 detached homes in the Census count — and the oldest on our list by median build year, 1973. It is also one of the most valuable: 72 percent of homes are owner-occupied and the median value is near $614,000. Neptune Beach shares Beaches Town Center with Atlantic Beach at the east end of Atlantic Boulevard, and most of the city is a grid of small lots running back from the ocean. The houses are a mix of original 1950s to 1970s cottages, renovated ranches and new builds that fill the lot to the setback lines. Small lots change the design: there is less roofline than on a suburban house, so the pieces close to the street matter more — the front gable, the porch posts and railings, a lit wreath on the door and the one palm in the front yard. Garages often face the street, so the garage outline is part of the frame. Older homes here sometimes have just one outdoor outlet, so we plan the runs around where the power is before we promise a design, and we never add wiring: plug-in commercial LED on a timer, nothing more.