27 Amazing Gingerbread Houses To Get You Into The Holiday Spirit

In celebration of the holiday season, we asked Patch readers to send us photos of their handmade gingerbread house creations. And, boy, were we impressed! The entries included edible replicas of local landmarks, a gingerbread greenhouse and even Hogwarts Castle. Check out some of our favorites below, and you might even be inspired to create your own.

Happy holidays!

Have you ever seen Mrs. Claus' greenhouse? Created from a handmade pattern with gelatin windows, this gingerbread greenhouse is where Mrs. Claus tends to the winter evergreens and poinsettias while Santa is busy loading his sleigh.

CONTEST WINNER: This house also won the official 2020 Patch Gingerbread House Contest!

This picture-perfect house was made with a whole lot of butter, brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and baking soda. Royal frosting to keep things festive, but simple.

This gingerbread house, which was inspired by the reader's 2-year-old granddaughter, was built completely from scratch.

Making gingerbread houses is this family's annual tradition, and they sure are good at it. The gingerbread pieces are baked from scratch and adorned with waffle cones, graham crackers, pretzel sticks and a dusting of powdered sugar.

This one is a beauty! Built with "lots of sugar" and love, it just might be too pretty to eat.

A 6-year-old's work of art.

This gingerbread house was made completely from scratch using homemade patterns cut to size and then decorated with royal icing.

This one is in honor of all the barns that are special to the history and charm of Jessica's hometown of Frankfort, Illinois.

A gingerbread flower garden designed by 6-year-old Georgia.

A royal icing winter wonderland.

How sweet is this? Inspired by Candy Land, this house is covered with colorful treats and stands three stories high.

Bikini Bottom Christmas!

“Pantry Clean-Out”: A gingerbread house made out of orphaned material left in the pantry.

The Golden Gate Bridge!

A replica of Bethesda, Maryland's, former post office.

Simple, yet beautiful.

A Hanukkah house with a balcony — so the gummy bears could view the snowfall, of course.

A gingerbread house without sugar: This house was created using pretzels, nuts, dried fruit and unsweetened cereals, with a bran muffin as a chimney!

This family has been making gingerbread houses with their own dough from scratch for over 30 years.

Look at the details! This house is a 100 percent edible rendition of the creator's school, Mashburn Elementary.

Hogwarts Castle!

A detailed replica of the historic train station in North Bennington, Vermont.

The Golden Grahams roof really puts this one over the top.

This one speaks for itself.

The amazing stained glass windows are made out of sugar glass.

This one is just so creative.

Have you ever seen a gingerbread lantern? Now you have.

>> Enter the 2021 Patch Holiday Gingerbread Contest here