You’ll Want to Live in This Mid-Century Modern Gingerbread House

Written by

Jessica Wang
Jessica Wang
Jessica is a writer and former weekend editor at Apartment Therapy. Her work also appears in Bustle, Nylon, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, and more. She lives in Southern California with her dog.
published Dec 20, 2020
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Credit: Joe Lingeman

A New York-based food stylist and recipe developer just might be the Frank Lloyd Wright of cookie architecture. For Epicurious, Judy Kim created a mid-century modern gingerbread house—and the results are the stuff of holiday dreams. Well, it isn’t technically a gingerbread house. The food stylist constructed an elaborate mid-century modern dwelling made of cardamom cookies—and you’ll want to live in and eat it. But eating it might be easiest. Luckily, Kim released the recipe and a PDF Mid-Century Modern Cookie House Guide complete with detailed assembly instructions and templates.

But back to the mid-century modern dwelling. Designed with a Wes Anderson–inspired color scheme, Kim’s cardamom cookie abode is complete with twinkly lights, double doors, ceiling beams, candy-stick wallpaper, and pretzel stick-window panes, among other deliciously elaborate details. Royal icing reinforces many of the cookie interior walls, while celadon sparkle mix offers colorful embellishments. A chimney with sliced almond finishings emulates the appearance of a stone wall exterior.

“This winter I found myself in creative overdrive,” Kim wrote in Epicurious. “Some people do 10,000-piece puzzles. Some people make homemade candles, or homemade bagels, or fall into a deep gardening obsession. I spent months designing this cookie house in a Wes Anderson–inspired monochromatic color scheme.” Kim added, “In a year when so little felt under our control, this is a DIY project that lets you control every detail.”

Take a closer look at Kim’s cardamom mid-century modern abode in the festive video below.

For cookie and architecture enthusiasts intent on tackling the recipe this holiday season, Kim released a plethora of resources—from the recipe to a house guide to personal tips and tricks. Explore the links below.

‘Tis the season for elaborate (and delicious) cookie architecture!