Budget Breakdown: She Turned a Long Island Cottage Into a Creative Retreat for $418K

A few years ago, Lisa Sardinas, a writer and filmmaker based in Brooklyn, was ready for a fresh start after a divorce. This life change led her to a small 1950s house in Bellport, a village on Long Island known as "Unhampton" for its charm and modesty compared to its flashier neighbor further east. The house was simple—a three bedroom, one-story structure with clapboards and a brick chimney—and she initially dismissed it, but an established beech tree on the property, plus its large garden, intrigued her. "I knew that with the right architects, I could turn it into something that I would love," Lisa says. She closed on the house in 2022, the very same day she received her divorce decree.