Port-au-Prince's gingerbread houses are a uniquely Haitian architectural phenomenon — two-storey timber and brick villas built between 1895 and 1925, crowned with steep mansard roofs, fretwork-lace gables, and wrap-around galleries. Designed by Paris-educated Haitian architects who fused Second Empire French elegance with West African verandah climate-response, they stand as fragile monuments to a Caribbean belle époque.

This design system captures their weathered pastel charm: faded pink weatherboard, mint-green shutters, sky-blue trim, and the intricate shadow-play of hand-cut fretwork ornament against sun-cream surfaces.