The Jefferson Gingerbread House 2011

Last night we unveiled the giant Gingerbread House my co-workers and I have been working on for the past month!

Isn't it cute! Ok, so I'm a little biased since I put my blood, sweat, tears, and hours of work into it. Hey, you try unwrapping 300 starbursts without jabbing yourself under the fingernail with those sharp little paper corners.

It was actually a really fun project to work on. It's located in the lobby of the Jefferson Hotel here in Richmond and is huge as far as gingerbread houses go. It's plenty big enough to fit 3 or 4 people inside, standing up (if you're a little on the shorter side)! Here are some in-progress shots.

Just starting to put the roof shingles on

The finished roof, chimney, and walls. We attached all the bricks one by one 

and mortared in between all of them with royal icing.

Starting to put the candy and fondant decorations on

Almost finished!

I love the roof!

Ready for showing!

The front door

A peak inside at the Christmas tree, presents, and gingerbread-tiled walls 

(as one of the shortest people working on the house, I spent a lot of time in there)

The "working" fireplace

See, told you it works

Santa!

The pastry staff inside our creation!

At the unveiling

To answer some of the most common questions we were asked last night at the Christmas tree lighting and house unveiling-
Yes, everything on the house is edible except the wooden structure underneath.
It took about a month to complete and 350 hours of labor.
Everything is attached with royal icing. No glue was used.
When we're finished displaying it, the whole things gets demolished. No, no one eats it and we don't save it for next year.
The bathrooms are through the doorway and to the right.

We were already thinking up ideas for next year! It will be on display through the whole month of December, and the whole hotel is decorated beautifully for the holidays. Come see it if you get a chance!