11 Real-Life Gingerbread Houses
Storybook scrolls, frothy trim and sweet colors make these homes look good enough to eat
Houzz Contributor. I am a former magazine editor specializing in travel and design. I just completed my first remodel, turning my crumbling 1941 kitchen into a beauty of grays, whites and natural wood. If I could, I'd sleep on the countertop. That's how much I love it.
You can also read my parenting blog on Baby Center http://blogs.babycenter.com/author/sschoech/
Houzz Contributor. I am a former magazine editor specializing in travel... More »
| Share: |
|
Gingerbread architecture comes from the Victorian era but is not an architectural style in itself. It was popularized in North America in the 1830s and is characterized by peaked roofs, front porches with flat-sawn balusters (or paper doll balusters) and scroll-like details that look like you could break them off and eat them. Think Swedish farmhouse. Think Hansel and Gretel's witch.
Gingerbread houses are the cute and cottage-y interpretation of the Victorian flair for detail, as opposed to the tall and imposing Gothic-style Victorian. They look like storybook houses, as if Little Red Riding Hood might come skipping up at any moment.
Gingerbread houses are the cute and cottage-y interpretation of the Victorian flair for detail, as opposed to the tall and imposing Gothic-style Victorian. They look like storybook houses, as if Little Red Riding Hood might come skipping up at any moment.
by Jeanette Lunde
»
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
An entrance with bright white gingerbread detailing. Carpenter Gothic details are most often painted white (like sugar snow).
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| A contemporary shingled home with white gingerbread details along the eaves. |
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| Over-the-top pink and white gingerbread with scrollwork hanging from every line. This is modernism's polar opposite. |
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| A more toned-down version. It has small flourishes and paper doll balustrades, but it doesn't look like wooden lace. |
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
The full cottage effect.
| White picket fences go very well with adorable gingerbread houses. |
Maybe because it's more Gothic in style, this home has an almost austere Scandinavian farmhouse feel despite its scrollwork and flourishes.
Gingerbread details like these balustrades show up in interiors too. This all-white, open-beam beauty mixes stark and modern with detailed and Victorian.
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
A little scrollwork in this attic playroom gives it a cottage feel. It's an interior playhouse.
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
Just a tad of gingerbread details on these bookcases adds a little modern farmhouse charm.
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
Breakfast nook. How cute is this?
Show us: Please share a photo of your gingerbread house below.
Show us: Please share a photo of your gingerbread house below.
Ideabook published on Dec. 19, 2012.
Latest Ideabooks
People found the photos in this ideabook after searching for:
View over a million photos:
Find Local Pros by Category:
Architects & Designers · Interior Designers & Decorators · General Contractors · Home Media Design & Installation · Landscape Architects & Designers · Kitchen & Bath Designers · Design-build Firms · Closet & Home Storage Designers · Carpet and Flooring · Fireplaces · Tile, Stone & Countertops · Specialty Contractors · Landscape Contractors
Find Local Pros by Metro Area:
Atlanta · Austin · Baltimore · Boston · Chicago · Dallas · Dc Metro · Denver · Detroit · Hawaii · Houston · Las Vegas · Los Angeles · Miami · Minneapolis · Nashville · New Orleans · New York · Philadelphia · Phoenix · Portland · Salt Lake City · San Diego · San Francisco · Seattle · St Louis
BTW it's for sale...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703652104574652290668903748.html#slide/1