ABOUT HOLIDAY HOUSE

Holiday House, founded in 2008 by interior designer and breast cancer survivor Iris Dankner, is an interior design showhouse where top interior designers and lifestyle brands showcase their talent to raise critical funds for the prevention and cure of breast cancer.

Iris Dankner was inspired to combine her two passions — interior design and fundraising for breast cancer research — when she saw a lack of high profile interior design events in the New York City area benefitting this great cause. After its inception in 2008, Holiday House became the first designer show house in New York City to benefit a breast cancer organization, attracting talented designers from across the country to transform the historic Academy Mansion on Manhattan’s Upper East Side each fall and later moving to other luxury locations around the city. Following its success in New York, Holiday House created a summer expansion in the Hamptons and is now established as one of the premiere show houses in the country.

This year Holiday House is celebrating 15 years of remarkable accomplishments including 13 Designer Showhouses in NYC, 5 Designer Showhouses in the Hamptons, 1 Designer Showhouse in London, 3 Tabletop Events in NYC, the Hamptons and Palm Beach, 4 Virtual Showhouses with Hamptons Magazine, Modern Luxury Magazine and HGTV, and Holiday House: Ten Years of Decorating for a Cure, a beautiful coffee table book documenting Holiday House’s history from Pointed Leaf Press. Iris is also celebrating twenty six years as a breast cancer survivor!

Iris currently serves as a member of the advisory board of The Breast Cancer Research Foundation® (BCRF) while her interior design show house, Holiday House, directly benefits the organization. Since partnering with The Breast Cancer Research Foundation® (BCRF), Holiday House has granted almost 2 million dollars to this renowned charity that invests 91 cents of every dollar to support its mission of ending breast cancer by advancing the world’s most groundbreaking research.

FOUNDER & CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Dear Friends,

As the saying goes: “It’s great to be back!” After three years of tabletop events and “virtual showhouses” due primarily to the pandemic, the Holiday House Designer Showhouse is finally returning as a live event in the Hamptons, where it belongs. The showhouse will come to life in a magnificent, brand new, modern residence, magically transformed by more than 20 designers showcasing their talents and creating their visions of the ultimate East End lifestyle. It has been highly anticipated and will be, I’m sure, one of Holiday Houses’ most successful designer showhouses.

But let’s not forget what Holiday House is all about. An opportunity to raise funds to help in the fight against breast cancer and to raise awareness in confronting and, hopefully, extinguishing this deadly disease. I’m honored that the Holiday House supports The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), which is doing such critical work to make the end of breast cancer a reality in our lifetimes.

At every Holiday House event, I meet many people who share sometimes tragic but often inspiring stories about how their lives or the lives of loved ones have been changed by the scourge of breast cancer. These stories give much meaning to everything I do and make all the hard work and effort fulfilling and worthwhile.

This is my 15th year producing Holiday House Showhouses and I am so thankful to the design community for helping me grow this incredible event over the years. To the designers, sponsors, donors, manufacturers, contractors, painters, electricians, and so many more involved in this year’s showhouse... Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for joining me on this incredible journey. Special thanks to Matthew Pantofel and Jennifer Pantofel of BJC Custom Homes, James Peyton of Corcoran, Thomas Cavallo of Douglas Elliman and John C. Gramlich of JCG Architect. We couldn’t make design come to life without such a stunning venue.

Enjoy this year’s showhouse! I hope it inspires you and warms your heart for the summer season. Most importantly, remember my frequent toast, “Here’s to a world without breast cancer!”

IRIS DANKNER FOUNDER & PRESIDENT