Dine inside one very sweet home

• Large amounts of ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg were used to create a rich scent
• The mortar is royal icing, a mixture of egg whites and powdered sugar
• Eat the gingerbread at your own risk -- it's durable rather than tasty

MARANA — If you've ever dreamed of dining within a structurally sound baked good, complete with a toasty fire, your dream is within reach.

Just as they did last holiday season, bakers at Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain north of Tucson have constructed a life-size gingerbread house in the lobby.

The rich scent of ginger and cinnamon fills the lobby. Visitors tracing its source will find a 20-foot-tall cabin made of sturdy, construction-grade gingerbread.

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The outer walls and peaked roof are covered in half-inch-thick gingerbread bricks, mortared in place with royal icing. The windows are outlined in candy canes, and hundreds of gumdrops and hard candies provide the architectural embellishment one would expect from a creation worthy of "Better Gingerbread Homes and Gardens."

Its stats are as impressive as its delightful holiday scent:

• 856 pounds of sugar.

• 400 pounds of honey.

• 350 pounds of flour.

• 100 pounds of powdered ginger.

• 50 pounds of cinnamon.

• 10 pounds of nutmeg.

• 250 eggs.

Each year the hotel's pastry chefs devise and create a gingerbread-based structure designed to awe guests. A similar house was built two years ago, but it was declared unfit for human habitation due to its dubious structural integrity. Last year's home performed flawlessly, so this year's is almost identical.

It first was framed in two-by-fours and plywood, a necessity as gingerbread's load-bearing capabilities fall short of building codes outside the North Pole. Construction workers put it together as quietly as possible in the far left corner of the lobby, making sure to take advantage of the fireplace setting.

Once the frame was finished, chefs affixed affixed hundreds of bricks using icing as mortar. Candy was attached in various patterns, and the result is something out of a fairy tale.

Warning: Do not go Hansel and Gretel on the pastry-based, Victorian-inspired home. The gingerbread was baked for durability, not taste. And the sweets are as stale as anything you'd find in Grandma's candy dish.

Rather than dine on, you can dine in the house. Reserve a time for lunch or dinner for up to six diners. Rental is $250 for lunch, $300 for dinner ($400 on Dec. 24 and 25). Food from one of the on-site restaurants cost extra.

The house will remain open for dining through Dec. 26. Up to six diners may order a three- or four-course dinner.

Dine-in Gingerbread House

What: A 20-foot-tall gingerbread house in the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain contains a six-person dining table, open to those who make reservations.

When: Nov. 28-Dec. 26. For reservations, call 520-572-3401.

Where: Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain, 15000 N. Secret Springs Drive, Marana.

Cost: $250-$300 to reserve the space ($400 foon Christmas Eve and Christmas Day), plus additional for meals from the hotel's restaurants.

Details: 520-572-3000, www.ritzcarlton.com/dovemountain.