Gingerbread Trail Home Tour 2022

The 52nd Annual Gingerbread Trail and Home Tour takes place June 4 – 5, 2022 in Waxahachie, Texas.

Highlighting the vintage styles of the Queen Anne Victorian, Gothic Revival, Bungalow, Romanesque and Greek Revival architectural periods throughout the homes and downtown buildings just 35 miles south of Dallas in Waxahachie, Texas, the 52nd Annual Gingerbread Trail and Home Tour is set for 10:00 – 4:00 p.m. on June 4-5, 2022.

Gingerbread Trail ticket purchasers will have the opportunity to tour five private homes featured in this year’s tour and learn restoration tips along with the rich, century-old history of each house. Additionally, visitors may tour the exquisite and ornate Sims Library, the bold and prominent home of the Ellis County Museum, and the newly restored downtown location of the Ellis County Art Museum, while taking in the quaint shops and unique eateries located throughout Downtown Waxahachie.

Ellis County Courthouse Tours

Historic Waxahachie, Inc. will offer tours of the Ellis County Courthouse, built in 1895 and restored at the close of the 20th Century, and learn the unsubstantiated lore of the unrequited love of designer James Riely Gordon that’s said to be memorialized among the many faces in the surface ornamentation of the column capitals — visages of men, women, young and old, smiling, staring and frowning.

Almost everyone in Waxahachie believes the story of Gordon’s infatuation with a local woman whose likeness he had chiseled into the ornamentation. She did not return his gestures of admiration, and as Gordon realized that she would not take being his lover, he made depictions of her face increasingly grotesque as the courthouse work progressed.

A competing tale is that the faces represent the people of the town, and the ugly faces are those whom he disliked. Visitors may weigh the plausibility of each speculation during tours that will be conducted only on one day, Saturday, June 4, 2022 from 10:00 a.m. – 2: 00 p.m.

As a side note, some locals assert that they’ve spotted vulgar representations of genitalia in the ornamentation, but few will divulge exactly where they see it.

Home Tour Admission

Tickets to the Home Tour are available at the Ellis County Museum [listing] and at any of the homes on the tour.  The price for an Adult ticket is $25. Children’s tickets for ages 5-12 are $7 each. Tickets may also be purchased online through eventbrite. Proceeds benefit the Ellis County Museum.

Featured Homes

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Additional Activities

During the Gingerbread Trail weekend, Waxahachie will host a variety of activities, including:

Classic Car Meetup
Members of the Midlothian Classic Wheels vintage car club will gather at Getzendaner Park [map] from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. on June 4, 2022.

Live Music
Talented musical guests will perform live in Downtown Waxahachie throughout the weekend.

Paint Historic Waxahachie
Members of the Ellis County Art Association will present an art show and plein air painting sale from 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 4, 2022 and from: 12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 5, 2022 at the Art on the Square Gallery located at 113 W. Franklin Street in Waxahachie [map].

Antique Market
Shop for antiques, vintage finds and collectibles in Waxahachie’s antique stores and boutiques.