Wish You Were Here

In the Bahamas, interior decorator Jody Hagan breathed new life into a historic cottage on Harbour Island, reviving it with vibrant colors, playful patterns, and layers upon layers of texture

- Paige Porter Fischer

The original back house, which had to be torn down and rebuilt, featured a widow's walk that had an incredible view, says project architect C.C. Davis. The homeowners asked the architects to re-create it in the new drawings, so the back house now features a roof deck that affords the same view. A built-in sectional wears turquoise-and-white awning stripes and features storage for cushions during storm seasons. Painted wicker chairs round out the conversation zone. "This is where they go for happy hour," says interior decorator Jody Hagan, who had the railing around the roof deck painted yellow to match the shutters on the front of the house.

The yellow shutters had them at hello. Vacationers on Harbour Island for years, a Dallas couple had been looking at real estate there, hoping to find a permanent vacation home in the Bahamas. “My clients had just one caveat,” says interior decorator Jody Hagan. “They didn’t want to buy a house that had already been ‘done.’ They wanted to reimagine an old house and make it all their own.”

The homeowners wanted to retain the charm of their 1700s cottage, named "Still Point," while reviving it to fit their modern lifestyle. They worked with Kiko Sanchez (principal) and C.C. Davis (project architect) of FGS Design, LLC, to redesign the house. The cottage is known for its yellow shutters-painted Benjamin Moore Yellow Lilies, a hue that interior decorator Jody Hagan weaved throughout the main house and back house. "We kept the home's picket fence, which adds loads of character," she says.