The Gingerbread Houses of Port au Prince (37 images)

At the turn of the 19th century, Port au Prince witnessed a blossoming of ornate architecture - taking a bit of style from New Orleans and some inspiration from Europe, Gingerbread houses started to be built by the city's nobility. They are characterised by a grand sweep of stairs to the front, generous terraces with views of the city and the sea as well as peaked attic rooms in the roofs. The ceilings are high, the wooden doors are curved at the top - Gingerbread architecture makes for cool...
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At the turn of the 19th century, Port au Prince witnessed a blossoming of ornate architecture - taking a bit of style from New Orleans and some inspiration from Europe, Gingerbread houses started to be built by the city's nobility. They are characterised by a grand sweep of stairs to the front, generous terraces with views of the city and the sea as well as peaked attic rooms in the roofs. The ceilings are high, the wooden doors are curved at the top - Gingerbread architecture makes for cool elegant homes in Haiti's stifling climate.
These houses are made mostly of wood with a small amount of brick, and they've proved surprisingly resistant to the shocks of January 12th's earthquake.
So who lives there now and how did they survive the earthquake? Viviane Gaulthier is a 92 year old dancer still running her own dance studio in her elegant Gingerbread house overlooking her neighbours' ruins. Patrice Pamphile has moved into the garden to sleep in a hut beside his family home, bereft of all its contents thanks to a series of violent armed robberies but intact despite the January 12th earthquake.
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