Gingerbread House Decoration of Old and Today

‘Tis the season for cookie swapping and decorating Gingerbread houses. Everyone gets involved in the baking frenzy, from home cooks to the White House chef.

But let’s take a step back and first talk history.

Gingerbread Defined

The term “Gingerbread” refers to exterior decoration — sawn or carved — that is seen in many Victorian styles. On porches, it is characterized by spindle work and turned posts and on rooflines by bargeboards.

Gingerbread House History

In America, wood was used for the construction of most Victorian houses that epitomized the Gingerbread style. Thanks to the development of the power scroll saw, elaborate wooden trim could be cut into curved patterns that recalled the tracery work seen on Medieval Gothic windows. The bargeboards (also known as vergeboards) that embellished the rooflines along with the trim on the porch, windows, and doorways, became known as Gingerbread.

Not everyone was a fan of this new term. Andrew Jackson Downing, a landscape designer, didn't like the implication that the decorations were “flimsy and meager.” But he was in the minority and the name stuck.

For many years, this and other Victorian decorations were considered unattractive, even grotesque. More recently, however, the pendulum has swung in the other direction with homeowners appreciating and even admiring the elaborate detailing so often seen decorating the roofline of Gingerbread cottages.