Before & After: They Updated a 1980 Catskills Cabin—by Making It Look Like the 1880s
“We take houses built in the ’70s, ’80s, or ’90s, and we make them look like the 1870s or 1880s or 1890s,” explains Jack Alessio Pretto of Retroject Projects.
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When searching for their next renovation project in the Western Catskills region of upstate New York, Spencer Bergen and Jack Alessio Pretto had two criteria: acreage and a mountain view. They found both in a property with a 1980 hunting cabin, whose interiors still sported taxidermy trophies from the previous owners. With a reverence for historical detailing and a curatorial eye for vintage furnishings, Spencer and Alessio aimed to breathe new life into the dated space by looking to the distant past.
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Elizabeth Fazzare
Elizabeth Fazzare is a New York-based editor and journalist who covers architecture, design, and culture for publications including Architect, Architectural Digest, and Dwell.
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