I have made a few Gingerbread Houses in the past, most often using one of those Gingerbread House Kits. They usually ended up something like this (and that’s on a good day!):
Source: Dan’s Papers
Not terrible, but nothing to write home about. So, there’s that… which would be considered your typical Gingerbread House.
And then there’s what I’m about to show you. In order to be considered a “true” Gingerbread house, according to the National Gingerbread House Competition official rules, everything above the base must be made from edible materials, with at least 75% of the main structure being made from Gingerbread.
I’m not sure all of these spectacular Gingerbread Houses would meet those criteria, and I know of at least one that definitely would not, but they are beautiful to look at nonetheless.
Spectacular Gingerbread Houses
These Spectacular Gingerbread Houses are far beyond my skill set, but they are amazing to look at in awe and wonder. The intricate details, inventive designs, and painstaking work are evident in each one of these glorious examples.
Lit Victorian Gingerbread House
Source: Goodies By Anna
Intricate details, candy cane columns, and icing fences combine to create this magical gingerbread house. I even love the hand-scripted “Welcome” mat by the front door. So many amazing details.
Gingerbread Elf Bed & Breakfast
Source: Pinterest
You really have to study this piece for a long time in order to catch all of the details that went into creating these delicious piece.
Gingerbread Townhouses
Source: Rock Recipies
Three Gingerbread Houses in one delightful package.
Gingerbread Village
Source: Goodies By Anna
They say it takes a village. This is one particular village I’d love to take home.
Frank Lloyd Wright Fallingwater Gingerbread House
Source: Berries.com
Based on Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural marvel, but in edible form.
Harry Potter Hogwarts Gingerbread House
Source: PopSugar
If you LOVE Harry Potter, you will LOVE this Hogwarts-inspired Gingerbread House.
Graffiti Gingerbread House
This looks like an abandoned building that has been taken over by Graffiti Artists, in an exceptionally delicious way! This is actually perfect for the artistically challenged (like myself) as it is allowed to be SUPER messy, and still look like it is intended to look.
Gingerbread Christmas Bakery
Source: Goodies By Anna
Every tiny detail is immaculately recreated to the point where you can almost smell the freshly baked bread.
Smaug the Dragon Gingerbread Beast
Source: Bored Panda
Technically not a Gingerbread House, but far too cool to not include it in this collection of Gingerbread Houses.
Sleeping Beauty Gingerbread House
Source: Between the Pages
The classic children’s fairy tale comes to live, complete with a dragon, a damsel in distress, and a prince. You rarely see crackers being used with Gingerbread Houses, but I think they work really well here to create the stone path to the house.
Breaking Bad RV Gingerbread House
Source: Reddit
Perhaps the least Christmas related in our collection of Gingerbread Houses, but this piece was far too much fun to exclude.
Nittany Lion Gingerbread Inn
Source: Flickr
This delightful piece was inspired by the Nittany Lion Inn in State College, Pennsylvania. Although this Gingerbread house has fewer rooms and dormers than the real Inn, most of the other details are remarkably recreated. The Bakery at Penn State clocked a total of three days to bake, build and embellish this spectacular gingerbread creation.
Medieval Gingerbread Village
Source: Pinterest.com
A complete Medieval Village that would make any Game of Thrones fan proud… but made out of Gingerbread, Icing, and Candies. Absolutely spectacular!
Game of Thrones Iron Throne Gingerbread
Source: BuzzFeed
And, speaking of Game of Thrones, some Super Fan recreated the famous Iron Throne out of Gingerbread.
Gingerbread Century Home
Source: Goodies By Anna
All of the classic details of your true century home are recreated using gingerbread, candy canes, and other sugary treats. The white candy Widow’s Walk is delightful.
Gingerbread White House
Source: Hooplaha.com
Political power has never looked so sweet!
Gingerbread Tree House
Source: CBC.ca
This delightful gingerbread treehouse brings back childhood memories. Perhaps a bit less Wintry than some of the other entries in this collection of Gingerbread Houses, but wonderful all the same.
Dickens A Christmas Carol Gingerbread House
Source: Food & Wine Magazine
Inspired by the Dickens’ Classic, this Gingerbread “House” (I use the term loosely in this case) features Scrooge himself, Tiny Tim, and the Ghosts of Past, Present, and Future that visited Scrooge on Christmas Eve taught him those valuable life lessons. This looks like a ceramic decoration that you would buy for the holidays, but it was one of last year’s National Gingerbread Competition winners, which means it met the criteria… aka it is truly made from Gingerbread.
Southern Mansion Gingerbread House
Source: Gingerbread House Heaven
This particular beauty landed Top Ten in the National Gingerbread Competition at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville. According to its creators, this Gingerbread House, modeled after an old Southern Mansion in the eastern part of the state, took more than 500 hours to create.
Classic Mid-Century Stone Gingerbread House
Source: Pinterest.com
This looks like your classic mid-century suburban home, complete with a grumpy old man in the window… just itching to yell at those Young Whippersnappers to “Say off my lawn!”
Gingerbread Maison au Francais
Source: The Food Network
A delightful street in a French village comes to life in this remarkable gingerbread wonder. The buckets of flowers in front of the florist and baguettes in front of the bakery look beautiful enough to eat! I honestly don’t know how these bakers make gingerbread look this realistic.
Grand Victorian Gingerbread House
Source: Pinterest
There is a house that looks just like this nor far from where I live. I have coveted that house for many years… never thought of recreating it in Gingerbread form (not that I could, mind you).
Gingerbread Carousel
Source: Cake Central
If you want to feel REALLY bad about your baking skills, like I do right now, note that this particular Gingerbread creation was made by a 12 year old. Yup. 12. And it includes a motorized base, so the carousel actually turns.
“Gingerbread” Pretzel Log Cabin
Source: Pinterest
More than a bit of a cheater, this “Gingerbread” Log Cabin is actually made with various shapes and sizes of Pretzel Sticks & Pretzel Snacks. It would not qualify for the National Gingerbread House Competition, but it does qualify to be included in our list. We’re not quite as much of a stickler for the Gingerbread Rules.
Gingerbread Hotel Harrington
Source: ultimategingerbread.com
Hotel Harrington stood on the banks of the Grasse River in Canton, NY until 1959 when it was sold and demolished. This beautiful Gingerbread House is a near-exact replica of majestic hotel. Even if you don’t know the history, or have no connection to Canton, NY… this is a truly magnificent Gingerbread House.
Here is a picture of the Historic Hotel Harrington in Canton, NY so that you can see for yourself how lovingly this image was recreated in gingerbread form.
Blue Victorian Gingerbread House
Source: Pinterest.com
The delightful front porch of this baby blue Victorian Gingerbread House looks like it’s inviting me to sit for a spell. Or take a bite. I can’t tell for sure.
Gingerbread Manor Home
Source: Goodies By Anna
A regal and intricately details Gingerbread Manor, complete with a stunning Christmas Tree.
Country Cottage Gingerbread House
Source: Pinterest
The framework of this Gingerbread house is relatively simple, but the elaborate icing and other decorations make this country cottage incredibly charming.
St. Basil’s Basilica Gingerbread Cathedral
Source: House of Kuchen
Based on the famous cathedral in Moscow, this incredible Gingerbread House uses colorful candy to replicate the domes of the well-known cathedral.
Gingerbread Mansion Inn
Source: Pinterest.com
Inspired by the REAL Gingerbread Mansion Inn in Ferndale, California (seen below), this elaborate Gingerbread House must have taken hours – perhaps days – to design, create, and decorate.
Source: Hotels.com
Gingerbread Teapot Fairy Cottage
Source: Good Housekeeping
A child’s dream come true in exquisite detail.
Curious Cat Gingerbread
Source: CNN.com
Yes, this is actually made from Gingerbread and other edible materials. Well, at least the minimum amount required for it to quality for last year’s National Gingerbread Competition. Although, once again, we’ve deviated from the true “houses”, once again… this was too spectacular to not take that detour.
Wonderful Victorian Gingerbread House
Source: Pinterest.com
Back to our regularly scheduled programming of Gingerbread Houses for this stunning Victorian Charmer in ALL its glory.
Beautiful Blue Gingerbread House
Source: Food & Wine Magazine
This piece looks far, far too pretty to eat. I adore the leaded and stained glass windows, as well as the working clock above the front door.
Dr. Who’s Gingerbread Tardis
Source: BuzzFeed
For Doctor Who fans, we present the classic icon from the show in Gingerbread form.
Quaint Victorian Gingerbread House
Source: Goodies By Anna
In case you haven’t noticed it by now, we are quite a fan of Anna’s work when it comes to creating spectacular gingerbread houses.
Copper Roof Gingerbread Farmhouse
Source: The Food Network
It may look simple, but don’t let that fool you. This Gingerbread House looks more like an architectural model than it does an edible treat. I cannot even begin to imagine the amount of time and attention to intricate details that went into making an exceptionally charming and realistic country farmhouse.
Chinese Temple Gingerbread
Source: CNN.com
Complete with a parade dragon, this colorful masterpiece is a stunner.
Charming Victorian Gingerbread Farmhouse
Source: Pinterest.com
A classic Victorian Gingerbread Farmhouse, this may be one of the simpler entries in this collection but it is still quite lovely. I adore the candy cane Christmas Trees!
Two Story Walk-in Gingerbread House at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco
Source: ShopEatSleep
Featured in the lobby of the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco during the holiday season of 2016, this 22 foot tall, two-story gingerbread house was built over a wooden frame. Hotel Chefs added nearly 8,000 individual pieces of gingerbread as well as hundreds of pounds of icing and candy. Because visitors (mainly children) had a tendency to sample the edible parts of the house, the hotel’s executive pastry chef, Kimberly Tighe, and her staff had to rebuild and repair parts of the house every day during holiday season. The house features a balcony, an electric train that runs in and out of the house, cookie trim, a clock, gingerbread bricks, and icing mortar.
Beverly Wilshire Gingerbread Hotel
Source: LA Mag
Another Grand Hotel themed Gingerbread creating, this gingerbread version of the 1926 landmark was created by the hotel’s executive pastry chef, Chris Ford.
Venetian Gingerbread House
Source: Explore Asheville
I can picture this lovely house on the Grand Canals of Venice. Complete with an edible Gondola, this lovely creation is resplendent.
Gingerbread Castle
Source: Pinterest.com
A classic Fairy Tale castle is recreated using gingerbread and tonne of blue and white icing.
Grand Prize Winning Victorian Gingerbread Mansion
Source: Fodor’s Travel
We end the tour of spectacular Gingerbread Houses with the winner from the 2016 National Gingerbread House Competition. Beatriz Müller of Ontario, Canada took home the big prize that year for her intricately detailed Victorian style gingerbread house.
Ideas for Your Gingerbread Houses
We hope you have enjoyed this collection of spectacular gingerbread houses (and other things made of gingerbread), and that it has inspired some ideas for your delightful and delicious gingerbread creations.
I can honestly say that I could have continued to collect these delicious Gingerbread Houses forever… but I got hungry.
All the best!
