Lenox Is Bringing Back Its Iconic 1989 "Spice Village," and It Will Sell Out Immediately

1989 was a huge year. Taylor Swift was born, and Lenox released its now-iconic Spice Village. I was also born in 1989, but Taylor Swift and the Spice Village have a lot more in common. Like Swifties waiting for the day that Taylor's next album will drop, anyone who wants a Spice Village is about to feel a similar rush of anticipation. That’s because Lenox has announced a rare restock of its beloved Spice Village.

The Spice Village is really one of a kind. Each of the beautiful, hand-painted porcelain spice containers looks like a different Victorian house. The complete set, or “village,” has 24 houses—one each for allspice, basil, bay, celery, chive, cinnamon, clove, coriander, dill, garlic, ginger, marjoram, mustard, nutmeg, onion, oregano, paprika, parsley, pepper, rosemary, saffron, sage, tarragon, and thyme. Each house keeps its seasoning fresh thanks to an airtight seal from a rubber gasket. My personal favorite is the saffron house, because it has a clay-tile roof and a turret. It reminds me of the castle from The Little Mermaid, which also happened to come out in 1989! 

This unique set has earned a bit of a cult following among dedicated thrifters and collectors. Typically, thrifters could only find partial sets, or sets that were damaged, which only added to the mystique and lore of the Lenox Spice Village. People had to spend years tracking down each house to build a complete set—sometimes paying exceptionally high prices. There have been TikTok videos of people finding a rare full set at a thrift store, with the comments full of offers to buy the set for even more.

The full set can often be priced at $500 or more, even in a thrift or vintage shop. And fans who have been collecting individual houses have sometimes paid even more than that. Such is the life of a diligent collector, after all. 

When Will the Spice Village Restock?

This 2025 Lenox Spice Village will be available on November 18 at Lenox.com. It's listed at $299.00, and while that's less than a vintage set, the full village is personally outside of my holiday budget. There's also a beautiful Lenox Village Christmas Ornament for $41 or a Lenox Village Christmas Cookie Jar for $64, which seem more reasonably priced. Everything should ship in more than enough time to arrive by Christmas.

Maybe one day I will live somewhere like the beautiful saffron house, but for now, I'm leaning toward buying the Christmas cookie jar for a splash of Victorian holiday cheer in my too-small kitchen. However, if the Spice Village is in your budget, don't wait—in the past, this set has sold out in less than a week.