Gingerbread Architect: Gingerbread-By-Design (Loreta Wilson)
Gingerbread Designer: Loreta Wilson
St. Andrews Gingerbread House
The St. Andrews Gingerbread House is a favorite house of mine. Simple and yet majestic, with grand front columns made from giant candy cane sticks. This gingerbread house was built on a 36" wide board to be displayed and auctioned-off at the 2002 Festival of Trees in Eugene, OR.
The approximate footprint/size of this house is 24" wide x 9.5" deep x 12.5" tall.
The majority of the decorating of the St. Andrews Gingerbread House (#StAndrews) was done while the house was flat, before construction.
One of my favorite design elements on the St. Andrews Gingerbread House are the front pillars, and the greenery that wraps from top to bottom. While one kid is on the ladder trying to hang the greenery on the pillar, another kid is on the ground helping with an armful! I piped the greenery in two sections. Following the twist of one of the red bands of peppermint, while the candy cane stick was flat on the table I piped the back side of the candy cane stick, then after the frosting had dried I placed the pillars on the house and finished piping the front of the candy cane stick. Adding the kids gave life to the display and made the story complete.
Originally this template used 12" candy cane sticks, but at some point the manufacturer shortened them to 10" (9.5"). I have since updated the template to account for shorter candy cane sticks. If you cannot locate 10" candy cane sticks, you will need to build some sort of platform so your candy cane sticks and your platform equals 10" in height.
I tried something new with the lit fence posts. I first taped my mini-light strand under the house area, and around the perimeter of the board where I wanted the fence posts. I taped the light strand so each light was pointing up. I then wrapped each light with a handful of marshmallow cereal, and added lifesavers around the actual bulb (perfect fit). I then capped with a chocolate kiss. When turned on, the lights illuminated the lifesavers and provided a nice glow.
Gingerbread House Architectural Style
The Architectural inspiration for this gingerbread house is the Romantic Greek Revival Gable-Front and Wing style of home. This style of home typically has a front gabled roof, and usually one single story side wing; This home is more unique with two side wings. This style of home is more common in the northeastern states, particularly New York and Ohio, even though the real-life inspiration for this gingerbread house is in Oregon.
The St. Andrews Gingerbread House has a low pitched open gable roof, and round, two-story columns to support the full-height entry porch roof, which is a prominent feature of most Greek Revival style houses. Also typical for this style of home are six-pane windows.
Gingerbread House Special Design Elements
How-To instructions for special design elements can be found on the Gingerbread-By-Design Blog. I used the following special design element for this specific gingerbread house:
Wrought-Iron with edible re-bar (for the ladder and fence - keep the frosting white)
Gingerbread House DecoratingGingerbread House Candy
Doesn't everybody have a box of left-over candy stored in their closet, at all times? I'm always scoping-out the perfect candy for my next gingerbread creation!
Candy used for the St. Andrews Gingerbread House:
Front Door - Green Gummy Wreath and Chocolate Candy bar
Pillars - 4 10" Big Stick Candy Canes
Window Shutters - 38 sticks of Cinnamon Stick Gum
Front walkway - Graham Crackers
Fence Posts - Rice cereal, Marshmallows, chocolate Kisses
Bushes - Flake cereal and Marshmallows
Foundation and Gable - Necco candy
Window Boxes - 12 Pink wafer cookies and hot-cinnamon candy
Door mat - Chocolate cookie
Grass/Snow - Coconut and green and white decorators sugar
Children - Marzipan and food coloring as desired
Red Food coloring
Green Food coloring
Glitz and Sparkle - Silver Dragees
Gingerbread House Templates
Download e-Template
Download the e-Template to your electronic device, print on your printer, cut-out the template pieces, cut your pieces from gingerbread dough, bake, and assemble per the instructions provided. All templates are full-size and ready to use. No enlarging required.
Pre-Printed and Shipped Template
Pre-printed templates are also available. These templates are pre-printed for you to then cut-out the template pieces, cut your pieces from gingerbread dough, bake, and assemble per the instructions provided. The pre-printed template packet includes:
Template printed on 67lb card stock
Supply and Candy List
Recipes, including number of batches needed
Rolling, Cutting, and Baking instructions
Assembly instructions with step-by-step pictures
Decorating suggestions, including design elements utilized
Handy ziplock storage bag to store your templates
All templates are full-size and ready to use. No enlarging required.
Gingerbread-By-Design provides The Best Gingerbread Templates! View the entire collection here!
Gingerbread House Pictures
More pictures of the St. Andrews Gingerbread House are available at these locations:
Gingerbread-By-Design Photo Album
Flickr Photo Album
Did you make this gingerbread house and want to share your pictures? Click here to upload your pictures to the Gingerbread-By-Design Photo Album!
This house is AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL!