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.

“Our design philosophy is that we take houses built in the ’70s, ’80s, or ’90s, and we make them look like the 1870s or 1880s or 1890s,” explains Alessio, an art director for fashion brand Khaite. “We try to instill history into spaces.”

Having previously transformed another dated cottage in the area, the couple knew that their Scandinavian-inspired approach was well received. For this second project, they wanted to create a fresh take on traditional Swedish cottage vernacular, with a little more personality than the first.

Before: Kitchen

After: Kitchen

“We didn’t want to change the bones too much,” however, the renovation “wasn’t just cosmetic,” says Spencer, a project manager for rural land development company Huts. He explains that the two-story, gable-roofed home “needed some new foundation supports for its deck and a whole new window package. Originally, there was a fireplace in the center of the home that had extensive brickwork, and the weight of it was bowing all the joists.”

The front door led visitors directly into the kitchen, creating a lot of dead space in front of the main staircase. The knotty pine shiplap cladding most walls and ceilings had not aged well, the rooms tended to be quite dark, and a large second-story landing was set up as a six-bed crash pad.

Before: Upstairs Landing

After: Upstairs Landing

Surprisingly, the latter was one of the most compelling parts of the house to Spencer and Alessio, who recently formalized their love for breathing new life into historic homes as a design studio, Retroject Projects. “That was the space where we had the most opportunity to play, and also the space where we did the most design iterations,” says Alessio.

After: Upstairs Landing

In the end, they turned it into a sitting area, a bathroom, and a skylit sleeping nook with a full-size bed—greatly improving the flow and utility of the upstairs level. Whimsical delft tiles decorate the bathroom’s shower under the eave. Their color is matched in the painted nook, whose design was inspired by medieval box beds that offered privacy and warmth to sleepers in one-room European homes (Spencer notes that he spent ample time at the public library poring over a book on Swedish cottages to discover them).

The other big appeal was the home’s remote location. A quarter mile driveway situates the residence in the middle of the woods. Spencer and Alessio helped heighten the effect of being surrounded by nature—including the site’s large pond encircled by wildflowers—by adding new and larger windows in every room. “Our goal is always placemaking,” says Spencer. “When I design any space in the country, I want it to feel good for you to just be at all day.”

Before: Guest Bedroom

After: Guest Bedroom

In addition to taking in the views through new picture windows, time at the house can be spent on the refurbished deck, relaxing in the tub inside the first-floor bathroom (whose green-and-cream tiled scheme was inspired by a 1920s men’s locker room), stoking the woodburning stove in the sunny living room, or whipping up a fabulous meal in the kitchen, which features an antique cast-iron sink that was the first thing Spencer sourced for the house.

It was too tall for the original cabinetry, so he and Alessio recessed the countertops by four inches to make the basin fit and then reorganized the surrounding millwork to improve the room’s natural lighting. Sage paint and dark, honed granite countertops make the white apron front pop. And by moving the front door just a few feet over, they gave the kitchen more square footage and breathing room.

Before: Dining Room

After: Dining Room

Throughout the house, furnishings and accessories span centuries of design history—from the 1800s tapestry acquired at a Paris flea market that now hangs over the guest bed to the carefully selected contemporary linens. “The provenance wasn’t as important to us as the feel of the elements,” says Alessio. “Some things are new, but we wanted to make sure that they still felt lived-in and had a patina to them.” The result is a traditional-leaning historic amalgamation that still feels optimized for contemporary living.

After: Primary Bedroom

After: Guest Bathroom

For their second time renovating a home in this region, the couple notes that the four-month process was largely a smooth ride, aside from an unexpected need to hire an excavator to regrade the entire driveway. However, the interiors did call for new DIY skills. “We learned how to tile, and we went kind of crazy,” says Alessio, referencing their work on the chimney, bathroom floors, shower, and tub. “We are always trying to add a new thing to our design repertoire."

After: Landscape

More Before & After stories:

A Brooklyn Couple Revive an ’80s Time Capsule in the Catskills

A Family’s D.C. Home Gets an Artful—and Art-Filled—$1.6M Renovation

Every Day Is Summer Camp at This Groovy, ’70s-Inspired Cabin

Project Credits:

Builder: Jay Trussell

Interior and Landscape Design: Jack Alessio Pretto and Spencer Bergen, Retroject Projects / @retrojectprojects

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Before & After: They Updated a 1980 Catskills Cabin—by Making It Look Like the 1880s