These Are the Most Impressive Gingerbread Houses That Martha Has Ever Made

Making gingerbread houses is a tradition many people can't envision their holiday season without—including Martha. Our founder is the queen of gingerbread confections, often going beyond your average single-story models to create something that truly feels like a Christmas miracle.

With creations like a snow-dusted town square to a five-story castle, our favorite multi-hyphenate often pushes the envelope when it comes to her love of making gingerbread houses. Her portfolio of edible designs will provide plenty of inspiration for your own decorating parties this year.

Downton Abbey

One of Martha's most impressive gingerbread creations to date is this replica of the Downton Abbey estate, which she made alongside her team during a PBS special in 2014. It took 11 batches of gingerbread, 16 cups of royal icing, and several pounds of sugar to bring our founder's vision to life. The highly accurate confection even received praise from actress Lesley Nicol, who played Mrs. Patmore on the acclaimed television show.

Winter Wonderland

It's the immense detail that really makes this gingerbread house—made with three shades and flavors of cookies—a sight to behold. The roof and chimney were given a realistic look by the addition of shingles and bricks, while delicately placed icing icicles were hung from the home's gutters. To further allude to a cozy winter wonderland, our founder finished off her creation with snow-dusted evergreens and gingerbread bears.

Gingerbread Town-Square Cake

This gingerbread house—which Martha built to look like a quaint town square—is more than just a stunning piece of edible décor to display in your home during the holidays. The center of the design is actually a layer cake made from sheets of nut-flavored meringue and buttercream, so you can slice into it and eat it as you would a normal cake. Towering pieces of gingerbread surrounding the edges of the dessert were decorated with icing to evoke the vibe of a small European village.

Peppermint Place

A no-bake option, this house was assembled using graham cracker in place of gingerbread. To bring the simple iteration to life, Martha adorned the home with a roof made of sour-belt candy, a heart-shaped candy-cane window, and a graham cracker door. She completed the North Pole inspired design by fashioning a mailbox out of swirl candy, a piece of candy cane, and a gum drop; the sleigh involved propping a graham cracker onto two peppermint stick skates.

Gingerbread Village

This village filled an entire table and served as a beautiful centerpiece in our founder's Brown Room, where she regularly entertains at Christmas. The massive confection included outdoor elements, like gingerbread boxwood and snow coated trees, which gave it a realistic take. Martha also used small lights to illuminate every house—an illusion that made the lifelike settlement look as though it were bustling with townspeople.