Podcast
Home Again with Susan Ford Bales
Featuring Susan Ford Bales, daughter of President Gerald R. Ford and First Lady Betty Ford
Gingerbread at the White House
Gallery
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A gingerbread cottage decorated the State Dining Room for President Lyndon B. Johnson's family in 1968. It was gifted to the White House by Edward E. Shapiro of Bedford Hills, New York. It is one of the earliest known to have been placed on the mahogany console table in front of the gilded pier mirror, where the back of the gingerbread can be viewed in the reflection.
Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and Museum/NARA -
For the Nixons’ first White House Christmas in 1969, Assistant Executive Chef Hans Raffert created a gingerbread house in a traditional German A-frame style. Standing next to the display is the president’s daughter Tricia.
Courtesy of Jennifer B. Pickens/Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum/NARA -
By 1971, the A-frame gingerbread house had become a White House holiday tradition. Here First Lady Patricia Nixon and daughter Julie Nixon Eisenhower examine the intricate candy decorations.
Courtesy of Jennifer B. Pickens/Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum/NARA -
Chef Hans Raffert continued the tradition of making German A-frame gingerbread houses for the Fords. He enhanced the gingerbread landscape with frosted trees and the literary characters of Hansel and Gretel for this house in 1975.
Courtesy of Jennifer B. Pickens/Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum/NARA -
Chef Hans Raffert’s A-frame gingerbread houses got bigger and more elaborate every year. Amy Carter’s smile expresses a child’s sense of wonder at the sugary creation in 1977.
Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum/NARA -
For the Carters’ last gingerbread house at the Executive Mansion in 1980, Chef Hans Raffert enhanced the setting with gingerbread men and frosted trees.
Courtesy of Jennifer B. Pickens/Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum/NARA -
Chef Hans Raffert and First Lady Nancy Reagan enjoy the gingerbread house holiday spirit as Rex, the Reagans’ Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, looks on in December 1984.
Courtesy of Jennifer B. Pickens/Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum/NARA -
Santa Claus visited for a photo opportunity with First Lady Nancy Reagan and Chef Hans Raffert in front of the 1988 gingerbread house in the State Dining Room at the White House.
Courtesy of Jennifer B. Pickens/Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum/National Archives and Records Administration -
First Lady Barbara Bush talks with Chef Hans Raffert beside the last gingerbread house he created for the White House in 1991.
Courtesy of Jennifer B. Pickens/George Bush Presidential Library and Museum/NARA -
Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier introduced themed gingerbread houses to the White House holidays. His first display, for the family of George H.W. Bush, was an American Christmas Village, with five gingerbread houses in a wintry setting. Here he adds finishing touches while his assistant, Marlene Roudebush forms a marzipan Santa Claus in 1992.
Courtesy of Roland Mesnier -
“For my first house [in 1992], Mrs. Bush gave me permission to be as creative as I wanted to be and so I undertook the construction of an entire gingerbread village, which consisted of five separate gingerbread houses… My gingerbread creation included marzipan likeness of the first family interspersed among the sledding elves, frolicking reindeer, and Santa Claus posing in a rocking chair.” — Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier
Collection of Roland Mesnier -
Each year Chef Roland Mesnier selected a different subject to portray in gingerbread. This gingerbread White House from 1993, built to scale for the Clintons, was titled “The House of Socks.” It featured twenty-two marzipan sculptures of the first family’s famous cat.
William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum/NARA -
ChefRoland Mesnier surprised President Clinton in 1994 with a gingerbread house that replicated the president’s boyhood home in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Gazing at the display, an appreciative President Clinton smiles and seems lost in thought, perhaps remembering Christmases past.
William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum/NARA -
The next year in 1995 Chef Roland Mesnier created a gingerbread replica of First Lady Hillary Clinton’s childhood home in Park Ridge, Illinois. Here the chef and his Pastry Assistant Susie Morrison put the finishing touches on the house in the China Room, their temporary work space on the Ground Floor of the White House.
Collection of Roland Mesnier -
“After honoring the family cat and then the President and Mrs. Clinton with the first three houses of the Clinton administration, we decided that 1996 would be Chelsea Clinton’s turn. We decided to bring to life the story of The Nutcracker, a ballet that she danced with the Washington Ballet group in Washington, D.C.” — Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier
William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum/NARA -
“The overall theme for the White House decorations in 1998 was a “Winter Wonderland.” I decided that my contribution would be a Wonderland Castle made of gingerbread…I envisioned something that would capture the essence of a classic fairy tale.” — Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier
Collection of Roland Mesnier -
For the Millennium Celebration, Chef Roland Mesnier created a gingerbread landscape of the national monuments in the nation’s capital—not only the White House but the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial, and, across the Potomac, President George Washington’s Mount Vernon. The chef and First Lady Hillary Clinton are delighted by the display.
Courtesy of Jennifer B. Pickens/Collection of Roland Mesnier -
Just months after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the White House holiday theme, “Home for the Holidays,” conveyed the importance of family and home. President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush encouraged all Americans to find their strength at home with loved ones. On top of the White House waved an American flag, with two angels, holding stars, on either side.
George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum/NARA -
To carry out First Lady Laura Bush’s 2002 theme of “All Creatures Great and Small,” the porches and grounds of the White House gingerbread featured marzipan figures of presidential pets. In addition to dogs and cats, the array included Caroline Kennedy’s pony and John Quincy Adams’s pet alligator.
Courtesy of Jennifer B. Pickens/George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum/NARA -
Two years after Chef Roland Mesnier retired from the White House in 2004, First Lady Laura Bush asked him to return to design and construct another gingerbread house. Known as “The Red & White Gingerbread House,” it was covered with red bows and more than 850 snowflakes, set in a sugary winter landscape.
Courtesy of Jennifer B. Pickens/George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum/NARA -
Executive Pastry Chef William Yosses’s holiday White Houses were made of white chocolate, like this one from 2008.
Courtesy of Jennifer B. Pickens/George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum/NARA -
Pastry Chef Susie Morrison pipes in last-minute touches on the white chocolate WhiteHouse that featured the first family’s dog Bo standing guard in 2010. In 2014 she became the first woman to hold the position of executive pastry chef at the White House.
Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy -
This photograph of the White House gingerbread house in the State Dining Room is from December 2019, where the gingerbread house featured replicas of the White Houses South Portico, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Space Needle, Mount Rushmore, the Alamo, the Gateway Arch, the Liberty Bell, and the Statue of Liberty. The White House pastry team used 200 pounds of gingerbread dough, 125 pounds of pastillage dough, 35 pounds of chocolate, and 25 pounds of royal icing to recreate these iconic American landmarks.
Matthew D'Agostino for the White House Historical Association
About this Gallery
A recipe for soft gingerbread appeared in the earliest American cookbooks. First Ladies Martha Washington and Dolley Madison both had their own soft gingerbread cake recipes. In 1929, First Lady Lou Hoover decorated a tree with gingerbread men and gingerbread horses. In 1965, Lady Bird Johnson adorned the official Blue Room Christmas tree with gingerbread cookies. Then, in 1969, Assistant Executive Chef Hans Raffert added a German A-frame style gingerbread house to the Nixon family’s holiday decorations. It was the beginning of another White House tradition. Browse through our gallery to see how gingerbread houses at the White House have evolved through the years.
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