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House Beautiful profiled textile designer Serena Dugan’s renovation of an Adirondack-style cottage on Shelter Island, New York. The project repaired the home’s foundation, rebuilt its stone fireplace and made the broad front porch a central gathering space, including two hanging beds.
Textile designer and artist Serena Dugan renovated an Adirondack-style cottage on Shelter Island, New York, repairing its foundation and rebuilding its stone fireplace while retaining the character that drew her to the property. In a House Beautiful home tour, Dugan describes the broad front porch as a key part of the house, now furnished with rocking chairs and two hanging beds for relaxing and gathering.
Dugan, who is based in California and cofounded Serena & Lily, first noticed the cottage as a small marker on a Zillow map while considering an East Coast vacation home. A local friend visited the property and urged her to see it in person. She recalled arriving at dusk and being struck by the stone fireplace, expansive porch and water views.
The house needed more than cosmetic work. Dugan told House Beautiful that it required major foundation repairs and a complete rebuild of the fireplace. The replacement was made with local stone to match the original, according to the report. The renovation also opened the family room to the kitchen, creating a larger shared living area.
The porch’s scale led Dugan to add two hanging porch beds alongside rocking chairs. Across the interior, her own fabric and wallcovering designs sit with vintage furniture and textiles. She also paired higher-cost choices, including a marble kitchen countertop, with lower-cost details such as online matchstick blinds, which the report says cost about $29 per window before being finished with brass cleats.
A Porch Designed for Gathering
The porch is more than a visual feature in the tour: it reflects Dugan’s stated aim to make the property a place for shared experiences. She told House Beautiful, “I wanted to create a home where memories were made for everyone who visited.” The hanging beds and rocking chairs make the outdoor space usable for sitting and resting, while the house’s location beside Coecles Harbor gives the water views a central role in the design.
The project also shows how renovation decisions can balance preservation with practical updates. The foundation work and fireplace reconstruction addressed significant structural and building needs, while choices such as performance upholstery and a willingness to let the kitchen marble develop wear reflect Dugan’s preference for a home intended to be lived in, not kept untouched.
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From Zillow Listing to Renovation
Dugan had been thinking about buying a vacation home on the East Coast when she came across the Shelter Island property online. She asked a local friend to look at it; after his enthusiastic recommendation, she booked a trip. Her first visit came at dusk, when, she recalled, the setting and the cottage’s existing features made a strong impression.
That attachment shaped the renovation. Dugan said she feared damaging the home’s distinctive atmosphere as she worked on it. The reported scope included foundation repairs, rebuilding the fireplace, changes to the shared kitchen and family-room layout, and a mix of custom, vintage and readily available furnishings. House Beautiful’s tour documents the design choices, but does not provide a full construction timeline or a project budget.
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Project Costs and Timeline Unreported
The House Beautiful report does not state when the renovation was completed, how long construction took or what the work cost. It also does not give technical details about the foundation repairs or identify the contractors involved. The $29-per-window figure applies to the matchstick blinds described in the tour, not to the renovation as a whole. The article presents Dugan’s account and design choices; it does not offer an independent inspection of the home’s condition or construction work.
The title’s description of the porch as the best the writer has seen is an editorial judgment, not a measurable comparison. The confirmed details are the porch’s reported furnishings and Dugan’s account of how she adapted the space.
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The Tour Documents the Finished Home
The source material presents a completed home tour, not a newly announced construction phase or upcoming project milestone. House Beautiful’s report gives readers a room-by-room look at Dugan’s design decisions, from the rebuilt fireplace and opened-up living areas to the porch’s hanging beds. No further renovation work, sale or future plans for the property are identified in the report.
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Key Questions
Where is Serena Dugan’s cottage?
The cottage is on Shelter Island, New York, in a quiet area near Coecles Harbor, according to House Beautiful.
What makes the porch a focus of the home tour?
The porch is broad enough to accommodate rocking chairs and two hanging beds. Dugan said she wanted the outdoor space to help make the home welcoming for visitors.
What major repairs did the cottage need?
Dugan told House Beautiful the house required major foundation repair and a complete reconstruction of its stone fireplace. The rebuilt fireplace used local stone to match the original.
Did Dugan design the home’s fabrics and wallcoverings?
Some fabrics and wallcoverings came from Dugan’s own line and were combined with vintage textiles and furniture. The tour also describes custom lighting and other pieces from outside brands and shops.
How much did the renovation cost?
The report does not give a total project cost. It says the matchstick blinds cost about $29 per window; that figure is only for the blinds, not the broader renovation.
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