Savannah's Gingerbread House: A German Immigrant's Victorian Masterpiece
Near Tybee Island, Georgia
Cord Asendorf arrived in Savannah from Germany in eighteen seventy-two, became a United States citizen in eighteen seventy-nine, and by eighteen ninety-eight had saved enough to buy a lot on Bull Street. He hired the Hawley Construction Company, and the house was completed in eighteen ninety-nine. The result is often described as a fine example of Carpenter Gothic architecture: an Italianate gabled form wrapped in elaborate Queen Anne double galleries, with so much decorative woodwork on every surface that neighbors simply called it the Gingerbread House.
Asendorf and his wife Bernadine raised their children inside. The house is a contributing property to Savannah's Victorian Historic District and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It now operates as an event venue.
