A Christmas gift for parents: the house you grew up in
For parents who say they don’t need anything, give them the family home in bricks. Your World in Bricks designs a custom brick model of the house from a few photos, with an illustrated instruction book and a parts list for real LEGO® bricks, for $19 at any size, ready within 24 hours.
The bricks are sold separately, about $60–$110 for a 500-piece house at LEGO® Pick a Brick prices. Give it built, as a box of bricks with the printed book, or as a project to build together over the holidays.
Why the family home works as a gift
Parents and grandparents are famously hard to buy for: they have the kitchen gadgets, the sweaters and the photo calendar. The house where the family grew up is different. It holds the birthdays, the first days of school and the Christmas mornings, and a model of it on the shelf brings those back every time someone looks at it.
It doesn’t have to be the house they live in now. Good choices include:
- The childhood home, especially if the parents have since sold it or downsized.
- Their current house, if they built it, renovated it or have been there for decades.
- The grandparents’ farmhouse or the lake cabin where the whole family gathered.
- The couple’s first home, for parents celebrating a milestone anniversary this year; see a “where we started” house.
Getting photos without spoiling the surprise
- One clear photo of the front is enough to start. 4–12 photos from around the house give a closer likeness; sides you don’t show are inferred.
- Visiting for Thanksgiving? Step outside on a bright day and photograph the front and each side with the whole house in the frame. Nobody questions a few photos of the house over the holidays.
- A house the family has left can still be photographed from the street. Stay on the public sidewalk and don’t photograph the new owners or step onto their property.
- Old family photos help. A straight-on photo of the house from years ago can work. If the house changed (a new porch, a different color), say in the notes which version you want and upload photos of that one.
- We design only from the photos you upload, not from Street View or map imagery. Use photos you took or have permission to use.
- Check the house type. We currently design simple detached houses with rectangular walls and a gable or flat roof. Apartments, townhouse rows and very complex roofs aren’t supported yet; if we can’t design it, we refund you.
Three ways to put it under the tree
- Built and wrapped. Order the bricks, build the house yourself and give the finished model. The most impressive version, and the one that needs the most time before December 25.
- Bricks and a printed book. Print the instruction book (a PDF), sort the bricks into bags and give both in a box. Building it becomes a project for the holidays: grandchildren and grandparents can take turns, a few pages each evening.
- The book now, the bricks later. If it’s already mid-December, print the book’s cover for the card and a few step pages to wrap, and have the bricks delivered to their address in January.
A gift from all the siblings
A house model is an easy gift to share. One person orders the design for $19; the bricks are the bigger part of the cost, so siblings can chip in for the brick order. Whoever orders it can also build the design more than once and give a finished copy to each sibling, so everyone has the house on their shelf.
For a family Christmas, build it together: the book is in sections (the base and yard, the walls, the roof), so one group sorts bricks while another builds, and the house comes together over the holidays.
Timeline for Christmas
| Step | How long | For Christmas |
|---|---|---|
| The design (instructions and parts list) | Usually ready in about an hour, delivered within 24 hours | Any time; it is the quick part |
| Bricks: Pick a Brick Bestseller pieces | About 5 days in the US | Order by early December |
| Bricks: Pick a Brick Standard pieces | Up to 28 business days in the US | Order by mid-November, or buy those pieces on BrickLink |
| Bricks: BrickLink | Depends on each store | Fewer stores means fewer parcels to wait for |
| Building | A weekend for a small model, many evenings for a large one | Leave a margin if you’re building it yourself |
Pick a Brick times are LEGO®’s own US estimates (LEGO® Help: delivery timeframes, as of October 2026), and December is busy for every seller. Pick a Brick shows which pieces are Bestseller and which are Standard once the list is uploaded to your bag; our guides compare Pick a Brick and BrickLink and explain uploading a BrickLink wanted list. Running late? Give the printed instruction book on Christmas morning and let the bricks follow.
What it costs
- The design: $19 at any size, 500 to 4,000 pieces.
- The bricks: about $60–$110 for 500 pieces up to about $480–$880 for 4,000 at LEGO® Pick a Brick prices, before tax and shipping; often less on BrickLink, and less again with bricks the family already owns. Full cost breakdown
- A smaller size is not a lesser gift. A 500-piece house keeps the shape, roof and porch that make the house recognizable and builds in a relaxed weekend; larger sizes add windows, trim and garden detail.
What’s in the design
- An illustrated, step-by-step instruction book (PDF), made for your house.
- A complete parts list with every piece, part and color.
- Ready-to-upload shopping files: a LEGO® Pick a Brick upload list, a BrickLink wanted list and a Rebrickable parts list.
- A 3D model of your design.
- Not included: the bricks. You buy them separately, or use pieces you already own.
More Christmas ideas
Questions
What do you get parents who have everything for Christmas?
Something about the family itself rather than another thing for the house. A brick model of the home they raised you in is personal, sits on a shelf for years and can be a project to build together. Our design is $19; the bricks are sold separately.
Can you design a house my parents no longer own?
Yes, from photos: ones you take from the street now, or clear older family photos. It needs to be a simple detached house with rectangular walls and a gable or flat roof.
Is it too late to order for Christmas?
The design itself is delivered within 24 hours. The bricks take longer: order Pick a Brick Standard pieces by mid-November, Bestseller pieces by early December, or give the printed book on Christmas morning and let the bricks follow.
Will it have snow and Christmas decorations?
No. The house is designed as it looks in your photos. You can add snow yourself with white plates and tiles on the roof and lawn, or set it among Christmas decorations.
Are the bricks included?
No. You buy them from LEGO® Pick a Brick, BrickLink or another seller with the upload files in the design, or use bricks you already own.