Lake Tahoe Gingerbread House Crawl showcases decadent gingerbread houses at local businesses

by | Dec 18, 2025 | Uncategorized

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – For its second year in a row, a spotlight of entries are on display for the Lake Tahoe Gingerbread House Crawl, following the Lake Tahoe Gingerbread House Competition, including winning showpieces of decadent gingerbread houses. 

Bakers have been working on their gingerbread houses for weeks, perfecting their trim and refining their chimneys, before dropping them off to be judged during the weekend of December 12 at the Festival of Winter Lights.

“I actually put the Festival of Winter Lights together five years ago,” said Emily Abernathy, Special Events Coordinator. “I am a Christmas baby, and this definitely brings me a lot of joy to bring community members together to celebrate the season.”

After judging, the winners were determined and announced on Saturday night. Their names, places and gingerbread house titles are below:

  • 3rd Place: “Saint Basil’s Christmas Cathedral”, Alec Dolan ($250 prize)
  • 2nd Place: “Christmas at the Boathouse”, Irene Sue, Andrew Erwin, Lincoln Erwin, Gage Robins ($500 prize)
  • 1st Place: “Holiday Embers”, Grace Harding and family ($1000 prize)
  • People’s Choice Award: “Santa’s Haus”, Katelyn Oppegard
  • Little Bakers Youth Winner: Boys and Girls Club of South Lake Tahoe Middle Schoolers: “Old St. Nick Had A Farm: G-I-N-G-E-R”

The Gingerbread House Crawl will take place until January 1, with immaculate works of art stationed at 17 locations around Lake Tahoe.

At the El Dorado County Library, “Old McGinger had a Farm” is now on display. “We’ve been so looking forward to getting this in here. We’ve been talking about it for the last week,” said Sydney Mlodnosky, Library Assistant at the South Lake branch. “It’s just so detail-oriented.” 

Jeannette Shippee and Angela Guyette’s “Old McGinger had a Farm” gingerbread house is displayed at the El Dorado County Library
Victoria Mastrocola/Tahoe Daily Tribune

Mlodnosky took note of the elaborate features, saying “The pig that’s playing in the dirt, so adorable, and the mini wheats on the roof we thought was such a great touch. It makes it look like there’s snow on top.”

Over at the Explore Tahoe Visitors Center, the first place winner, “Holiday Embers” is placed on the counter, decked out with immaculately designed roof, windows, garland, bows and icicles that drip down, adding even more to its intricacy. The gingerbread firetruck with Santa and sleigh on top make for the perfect touch to their theme.

First place winner, “Holiday Embers” by Grace Harding and family can be viewed at the Explore Tahoe Visitors Center until January 1
Victoria Mastrocola/Tahoe Daily Tribune

“When people come in for information, they see it, and they’re all lit up, they gravitate towards them,” said Anne Heimann, Visitor Information Specialist. “I’m very excited to have it in here.”

For the competition, there were 24 adult entries and 16 youth entries, and the crawl showcases all the effort and hard work that went into making these gingerbread houses.

“We just added the Gingerbread competition last year and it just adds another element of joy and festivity. This is one of my favorite events to do,” added Abernathy. “It just brings me so much joy to put it all together, see all the lights, and see all the community members enjoying it.”

To take place in the Gingerbread House Crawl, see their entire list of stops at slt.gov, and don’t miss your chance to admire the beautiful displays of gingerbread houses made by Tahoe locals. Who knows, it might just become your new holiday tradition.