Ormond Beach's Rose Villa turns into a 'Gingerbread Fantasy'

From now through Jan. 9, the downtown restaurant will be decorated like a gingerbread house and offer locals a chance to decorate their own.

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This holiday season, Ormond Beach has its very own gingerbread house.

Rose Villa Southern Table and Bar, located at 43 W. Granada Blvd., has transformed into a "Gingerbread Fantasy" by way of a decorative light display, and from now through Jan. 9, will offer locals the chance to decorate their own gingerbread houses. It's a unique experience the restaurant is excited to offer, said Pat Sullivan, Rose Villa operating manager, as there aren't many opportunities to decorate a gingerbread house while inside a house decorated like a gingerbread house.

Sullivan thought of the idea shortly after last year's holiday season when he saw Rose Villa from across the street. He thought to himself, "The restaurant looks like a gingerbread house." With COVID-19 having impacted how people celebrated in 2020, he knew he wanted to innovate and implement new ideas for this Christmas season.

“I was thinking to myself, ‘Christmas is going to be big in 2021. Let’s try something different,’” Sullivan said.

To celebrate the first "Gingerbread Fantasy" display,  artist Perago also created a painting of the decorated Rose Villa onsite. 

A family activity

On Friday, Nov. 19, the first day of the Gingerbread Fantasy display, one Ormond Beach family got to be the first to decorate a gingerbread house.

Katie and Matt Hoffman and their 7-year-old son Carter have decorated gingerbread houses at home in the past, and when Katie Hoffman saw on Facebook that Rose Villa was looking for families to participate, she contacted the restaurant. She informed Carter f what they would do, and he worried that the gingerbread house would fall apart. They always do, Carter told his mom.

A look at Rose Villa's Gingerbread Fantasy display after dark. Courtesy photo
A look at Rose Villa's Gingerbread Fantasy display after dark. Courtesy photo

“I’m like, ‘No, they’re already going to have the house together. So you just decorate it,’" Katie Hoffman said. "Because that’s the fun part.”

As Carter focused on piping icing onto the house, laughing as it slid off before he could place candies, his father Matt Hoffman said it's always enjoyable to see him unleash his inner artist.

“He’s such a creative kid and it’s so much fun to see where he takes things," he said.

Decorating a gingerbread house is available daily from 10 a.m. to noon by reservation only. It costs $99 and groups of up to 16 people will be accommodated. Rose Villa has 800 gingerbread houses ready to be assembled and decorated. 

Transforming the downtown

The holiday display was installed in two days by B Morrow Productions, a design production company that does displays for resorts, museums, and theme parks. Producer Erin Pyne said their team installed over 10,000 lights. 

“It’s just a great opportunity for us at B Morrow Productions to come and transform the beautiful Rose Villa into a gingerbread house," she said.

Beyond the lights decorating the historic home, which served as a bed and breakfast for rich and famous visitors of Ormond Beach starting in 1901, the Gingerbread Fantasy display consists of topiary snowmen, themed glass windows, lollipops and gingerbread men — one of which sports a handlebar mustache in homage to local developer Bill Jones, who restored the house in 2007. 

Jones stopped by the restaurant on the first day of the display and praised the idea. 

“It brings out the kid in me," he said. 

Beside his own gingerbread man is a gingerbread version of his own French Bulldog, Winston. The other gingerbread dogs featured in the display represent Sullivan's husky, and managing partner Kirk Roberts' poodle. 

Jones, who has restored and built many of the buildings in Ormond Beach's downtown — including 31 Supper Club, the Ormond Garage and the Pumphouse, which is under construction — said restoring Rose Villa was a project that took them almost three years. He and his team restored original fixtures and doors and brought the house back to its former glory. 

Jones said he fell in love with Ormond Beach in 1986 when he moved from the state of New York. "Slowly but surely," he said he's been working to transform the downtown into a place where mom-and-pop businesses thrive.

“I figured let’s build something," Jones said. "Let’s make a downtown out of it. I’ve been trying to do that with the help of all these guys.”

For gingerbread house reservations, call 386-615-7673. Visit rosevillarestaurant.com

 

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