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House Beautiful profiled textile designer and artist Serena Dugan’s renovation of an Adirondack-style cottage on Shelter Island, New York. The project included major foundation work and a rebuilt local-stone fireplace, while the broad front porch became a focal point with two hanging beds and rocking chairs. The report does not provide the home’s address, renovation cost or completion date.
House Beautiful has published a tour of Serena Dugan’s renovated Adirondack-style cottage on Shelter Island, New York, showing how the textile designer and Serena & Lily cofounder addressed major structural repairs while retaining features that drew her to the property, including its sprawling front porch and stone fireplace. The porch features two hanging beds and rocking chairs, making it one of the home’s most distinctive gathering spaces.
Dugan, a California-based artist and designer, first saw the home as a small listing marker on a Zillow map. According to the House Beautiful report, she was considering an East Coast vacation home and asked a local friend to look at the cottage. His recommendation to get on a plane prompted her to visit Shelter Island. She recalled arriving at dusk and seeing the water, the fireplace and the porch as elements that made the house feel special.
The renovation proved more involved than improving finishes. Dugan said the structure needed major foundation repair, and the fireplace required a complete reconstruction. The rebuilt fireplace uses local stone and was made to match the original, according to the report. The account does not identify contractors, provide engineering details or state how long the work took.
On the porch, Dugan chose two hanging beds after wondering whether the space could accommodate one. The tour also shows rocking chairs and a dark ceiling. Inside, the family room was opened to the kitchen to create a larger living area, while materials and furnishings mix Dugan’s own fabric and wallcovering designs with vintage pieces. In the kitchen, she selected Calacatta Macchia Vecchia marble despite the possibility of staining, saying she welcomed the material’s eventual patina.
The home tour’s central design story is the relationship between preservation and practical renovation. The foundation repairs and fireplace reconstruction addressed substantial physical needs, while the project retained or recreated details connected to the cottage’s original character. The porch, rather than serving only as an exterior feature, was arranged as a place to sit, rest and spend time with visitors.
That approach also reflects Dugan’s stated aim for the house. She told House Beautiful that she wanted to create a home where visitors could make memories. Two hanging beds give the porch a different use from a conventional seating area, while rocking chairs provide another place to watch the weather and water. The report presents those design decisions as personal choices, not as evidence that the property has been formally recognized as an architectural landmark or that its features are unique.
For readers considering a renovation, the account offers a concrete example of how a project can combine expensive, structural work with lower-cost decorative decisions. Dugan described choosing higher-end elements where she felt they mattered, while using matchstick blinds bought online for about $29 per window and adding brass cleats. The figure is the price she gave for the blinds; the source does not provide a full project budget or compare those costs with market averages.
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From Zillow Pin to Island Retreat
Dugan’s interest in the cottage began while she was weighing the idea of a vacation home on the East Coast. House Beautiful reports that she asked a local friend to assess the property after seeing it on Zillow. His strong reaction led her to book a trip and view it in person. The source describes the setting as a quiet corner of Coecles Harbor on Shelter Island, but does not give a street address or property details that would identify the home further.
The renovation story centers on keeping the house’s atmosphere while making it workable. Dugan said she feared changing too much, particularly because she valued the home’s calm feeling. Alongside the structural work, she made design decisions room by room: a salmon shade for the hallway, performance fabrics for living-room sofas, patterned tile in the pantry, and customized lighting in several spaces. Those examples come from the published home tour and reflect the designer’s choices for this particular property.
Dugan is also the cofounder of Serena & Lily and runs Serena Dugan Studio, according to the report. Her own textiles and wallcoverings appear throughout the cottage alongside vintage textiles, furniture and artwork. The source frames the house as a place to use and present her work and collected objects, rather than a professionally staged or purely decorative showcase.
Project Costs and Timeline Not Reported
House Beautiful’s tour does not state when the renovation began or was completed, how much it cost, or who carried out the foundation and fireplace work. It also does not provide technical information about the repairs, permits, or whether the property has any historic designation. The article documents Dugan’s account and the finished design but does not independently assess the condition of the structure or the quality of the work.
The source gives no property address, sale price or current market valuation. It also does not establish that the porch is objectively the “best” on Shelter Island; that wording is an evaluative headline, not a reported award or measured comparison. The confirmed development is the publication of a home tour and the details it attributes to Dugan.
No Further Project Milestone Listed
The source does not announce additional renovation work, a sale, a public opening or another scheduled milestone. House Beautiful’s published tour is the latest development described in the material provided. Any claims about future plans for the cottage, its availability to visitors or changes to the property would require separate confirmation.
Key Questions
Who owns the Shelter Island cottage featured in the report?
The House Beautiful report identifies the homeowner as Serena Dugan, a California-based textile designer and artist who cofounded Serena & Lily.
What makes the porch a standout feature?
The porch has two hanging beds and rocking chairs, along with a dark ceiling. Dugan said she wondered whether a hanging porch bed would fit and ultimately chose two for the space.
What major work did the cottage need?
Dugan told House Beautiful that the home required major foundation repair and a complete reconstruction of its fireplace. The rebuilt fireplace uses local stone to match the original, according to the report.
How much did the renovation cost?
The report does not provide a total renovation budget. It does say Dugan bought matchstick blinds online for about $29 per window, but that is one furnishing cost, not the cost of the project.
Is the home open to visitors or available for sale?
The source does not say that the cottage is open to the public, offered as a rental or listed for sale. It presents the property as Dugan’s vacation home.
Source: rss
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