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House Beautiful featured textile designer Serena Dugan’s renovated Adirondack-style cottage on Shelter Island, New York. The project required major foundation work and a rebuilt stone fireplace; its expansive porch, furnished with rocking chairs and two hanging beds, became a defining feature.
Textile designer and artist Serena Dugan has renovated an Adirondack-style cottage on Shelter Island, New York, turning its sprawling front porch into a central gathering space while repairing the house’s foundation and rebuilding its stone fireplace. House Beautiful’s home tour describes a renovation that retained the property’s original character while adapting it for everyday use and visits from family and friends.
Dugan, who is based in California and cofounded Serena & Lily, first spotted the cottage as a small marker on a Zillow map while considering an East Coast vacation home. After a local friend visited the property and urged her to see it, she flew to Shelter Island. The house’s porch, fireplace and view of the water helped persuade her to take it on.
The project required more than cosmetic changes. Dugan said the house needed major foundation repairs, and the fireplace had to be completely reconstructed. The rebuilt fireplace uses local stone and was made to match the original, according to the House Beautiful report. The article does not give the renovation’s cost or schedule.
The porch was designed for lingering, with rocking chairs and two hanging beds sized to suit its proportions. Inside, the family room was opened to the kitchen to create a larger shared area, while performance fabrics on the sofas reflect Dugan’s stated intention that the house be lived in. Her own fabric and wallpaper designs appear alongside vintage furniture and textiles.
A Porch Built for Gathering
The renovation shows how a prominent outdoor space can shape a home’s use, not just its appearance. Dugan said she wanted the property to be a place where visitors could make memories; the oversized porch, with seats for watching rain and hanging beds for resting, puts that aim into practice. The feature is also the element most emphasized by the home tour’s headline.
The project’s practical choices offer a second point of interest for readers considering renovations. Dugan invested in structural repairs and selected statement materials, but she also used relatively inexpensive matchstick blinds, which the report says cost about $29 per window when purchased online. That detail illustrates a mix of high-cost construction and lower-cost finishing choices, rather than suggesting the renovation was inexpensive overall.
For the wider design story, the house illustrates a balance between preservation and personal expression. The original fireplace was rebuilt to resemble its former appearance, while Dugan introduced her own colors, textiles and lighting. The result, as presented by House Beautiful, is a home shaped around both the cottage’s existing character and its owner’s design practice.
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From Zillow Listing to Renovation
Dugan was considering a vacation property on the East Coast when she came across the cottage in a Zillow search. A local friend drove by and recommended that she travel to see it. Dugan later recalled arriving at dusk along a narrow road and being struck by the stone fireplace, broad porch and water reflection.
She said the house had an unusually calm quality and that she worried renovation work might damage it. The scope of the structural repairs became clear after she committed to the project. The House Beautiful account presents the work as a careful mix of repair and redesign, rather than a full replacement of the cottage’s identity.
Several design decisions connect the rooms: the pantry’s patterned tile floor draws on textile motifs, while its paint color relates to the kitchen and adjoining spaces. Dugan also customized some lighting and used a painting technique, verre églomisé, to finish the glass behind the bar. These are details from the reported home tour, not independent assessments of the property.
Costs and Project Dates Unreported
The House Beautiful feature does not state when the renovation began or ended, how much it cost, or who carried out the construction work. It also does not provide an independent evaluation of the foundation repairs or other work. Dugan’s comments about the cottage’s atmosphere and design intentions are her own descriptions, while the article’s praise of the renovation is the publication’s presentation of the home tour.
The source also does not identify whether the property is used only as a vacation home or is occupied for longer periods. No information is given about the cottage’s current market status, public access or rental availability.
No Further Project Update Listed
The source material is a published home tour rather than an announcement of a new construction phase or a scheduled event. It names no upcoming work or next milestone for the cottage. Readers seeking further details would need to consult House Beautiful’s original feature or statements from Dugan; the report does not provide a separate project timeline.
Key Questions
Where is Serena Dugan’s cottage?
The home is on Shelter Island, New York, in the Coecles Harbor area, according to House Beautiful’s report.
What major work did the renovation require?
Dugan said the cottage needed major foundation repairs and a complete rebuild of its stone fireplace. The fireplace was reconstructed with local stone to match the original, the report says.
What makes the porch a focus of the home tour?
The porch is large enough for rocking chairs and two hanging beds, and Dugan described wanting a place for visitors to relax, including chairs suited to watching rain.
Did House Beautiful report the renovation cost?
No. The feature does not give the overall project cost. It does say Dugan bought matchstick blinds online for about $29 per window, but that figure is only for the blinds.
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