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The original bedroom—now a guest room—features modern ceiling fans that offer a hint of the contemporary design to come in the addition, while the restored shiplap timber walls speak of the home’s heritage.

Before: Segulja and Spitzer bought this 1960 cottage located in Highland Lakes, New Jersey, a private lake community that was developed in the 1930s for vacationing New Yorkers. The area has five lakes, with a total of seven beaches.

The couple purchased the living room’s H.W. Klein chairs with the house. Another existing piece was the mezzanine’s daybed, designed by Peter Hvidt and Orlando Mølgaard Nielsen. An original floating staircase leads to the mezzanine and then up to the second floor. The open, straight-forward spaces speak to one of Christian’s guiding principles: “Simplicity is the key,” he says.

For their first project, Los Angeles–based Bungalowe teamed up with designer Nicole Palczynski, founder of VEIN Design. The exterior of the 1928 Tudor received less substantial changes, as the teams wanted to respect the neighborhood’s cohesive aesthetic.