AILSA CHANG, HOST:
So we recently spoke with a buzzy, young, let's call him a designer about a San Francisco landmark. It's that one row of brightly colored houses. You know, the Painted Ladies.
PETER WILLIAMS: The Painted Ladies are the classic Victorians on the hillside of Alamo Square and are featured prominently in the opening credits for "Full House" and in every classic postcard of San Francisco.
CHANG: Now, Peter Williams is not the original designer of the Painted Ladies. Williams makes gingerbread houses.
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Highly elaborate gingerbread houses, to be clear. Last year, he depicted the San Francisco Zoo, complete with a carousel and little edible animals. And before that, he made an International Space Station replica and hung it from the ceiling.
WILLIAMS: They're not the most perfect ones that you might see out there. They're not the most beautiful, but they are somewhat more soulful, in a way.
CHANG: Oh, he's being modest. This year's gingerbread house is actually five gingerbread houses depicting the Painted Ladies. The facades are done in icing, with trees and flowers and even a Volkswagen bus parked outside. In the back, each house has an interior room with art, lighting and furniture.
SUMMERS: Wow. And Williams baked 204 pieces of gingerbread at his apartment and applied 34 pounds of frosting or icing. And he points out, he is not a professional baker.
WILLIAMS: So I have a full-time job on top of all of this. So I end up usually just doing this at night every evening and all weekends from Halloween till mid-December.
CHANG: That is dedication. Peter Williams is 31. He's an interior designer by day and moonlights as a model, though he has definitely leveled up his gingerbread skills since he started 15 years ago in high school. Like, he now has multiple techniques for windows.
WILLIAMS: I've used just regular sugar and heating it up and caramelizing it. I've also used jolly ranchers and other hard candies. Now I use gelatin sheets, which I think are probably the best thing to use for windows.
SUMMERS: Apart from the LED lights, his creation is edible, well, technically.
WILLIAMS: The gingerbread is extremely hard and would probably break your teeth, as well as the royal frosting once it's dry, so at your own risk if you choose to eat it.
SUMMERS: Of course, he is not out to make Christmas treats. His annual gingerbread reveal raises money for charity.
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