Updated on October 20, 2025
Feature Image: The Vacation Rental Design Summit, founded by (from left to right) Jane Dagmi of HPxD, Ericka Saurit of Saurit Creative, and Jessica Duce of JDuce Design and Vacation Rental Designers.
Twice a year, the city of High Point, North Carolina, becomes the beating heart of the home furnishings world. The Market, as it’s known colloquially, draws tens of thousands of designers, buyers, and makers from around the globe.
But amid the color, textures, and buzz, one corner of the design world was missing: vacation rentals. Despite their explosive growth, there was no dedicated stage for the hosts and designers shaping how millions of travelers experience homes away from home.
Jessica’s vision
For Houston-based designer Jessica Duce, a longtime attendee of the Market, the absence was glaring. It seemed to illustrate the antiquated idea that you furnish your vacation rental with “everything in your house you hate or from grandma’s basement,” she said.
In fact, statistics show the folly in that approach. Professionally designed vacation rentals consistently achieve higher occupancy and can generate up to 40% more in revenue, according to AirDNA.
“There just was no common community of people talking about vacation rental design or short-term rental design in a way that really put design as the top of the pyramid when it came to what can really sell a property,” recounted Ericka Saurit, a designer and branding strategist who grew up in High Point.
Jessica envisioned a space where hosts and designers could come together, swap ideas, and learn from one another.
In late 2022, she pitched the idea directly to Jane Dagmi, Managing Director of High Point x Design (HPxD). The organization works to transform High Point from a twice-a-year showcase into a year-round design destination. Jane immediately saw Jessica’s proposal as an opportunity to advance HPxD’s mission of attracting designers to town beyond just during Market weeks.
First summit
Soon after, Ericka joined the effort, bringing her expertise in storytelling and marketing. Together, the three women mapped out what would become the Vacation Rental Design Summit, a first-of-its-kind event that merges the spirit of High Point Market with the rapidly evolving world of short-term rental hospitality.
At Jane’s behest, HPxD’s board agreed to back the event, and the High Point Market Authority joined as a conference partner.
None of the three women had any experience organizing a conference.
“None of us are conference people,” Jane admitted. But the possibility of failure hadn’t crossed their minds until one partner asked the uncomfortable question: “Do you have an exit plan … in case people don’t sign up?”
The team had set a goal of 150 registrations for the first summit in April 2023, which was ambitious for a brand new gathering. But the hunger to learn more about vacation rental design fueled attendance beyond their imagination. Registrations climbed past 210, and the team had to cap attendance. Speakers numbered 25 and included vacation rental designers like Jessica and designer and STR operator Tatianna Taylor-Tait, as well as vacation rental influencers such as Tyann Marcink Hammond of Branson Family Estates, Lorraine Woodward of Becoming rentABLE, and Alexa Nota, COO of Rent Responsibly.
The validation was overwhelming.
“We cried at the end of that summit,” Jane recounted, “…because we couldn’t believe … people stood and they clapped.”
Attendees came up to Jessica afterward, saying, “You changed me. My outlook and my business is different from this day on.”
“I get emotional thinking about that,” Jessica said.
Building momentum
The summit was the talk of both the vacation rental and design industries. One month after the summit, Business of Home published “Why vacation rentals are the next big design hustle.”
The summit had transformed a nascent design category into a movement, validating the team’s belief that vacation rental design deserved its own stage.
“We realized that these designers wanted to stay communicating and stay together,” Jessica said. “We found our people.”
Soon after, Jessica launched the Vacation Rental Designers collective, a community membership that designers can join, continue their education, and access resources at High Point year-round. Jane and Ericka are both sponsor members and help educate designer members.
“It was a way that we were able to keep this community going during our off times from our summit,” Jessica said.
Expansion
By its second year, the summit had expanded with more attendees, speakers, and partners. Conversations deepened beyond aesthetics into topics like safety, branding, and marketing. Several property managers and STR insiders presented, like vacation rental safety expert Justin Ford of Breezeway, housekeeping specialist Durk Johnson, and Lindsey Pleasant from Hostie Vacation Rentals.
The third summit, dubbed the “West Coast Edition,” will be held in Las Vegas. This will allow High Point to introduce its homespun event to a wider circle of designers and hosts.
“People have seen the success,” Jane said. “They’ve heard people talking really well about the summit.”
ANDMORE, the company behind major trade shows in Las Vegas and Atlanta, invited the summit organizers to collaborate on bringing the event west, recognizing the summit’s power to attract new audiences through its blend of education and community.
“Education is a big magnet at these trade shows, and our growing community has also proven quite attractive, too,” Jane said.
She hopes the Las Vegas conference will ultimately bring fresh energy and new connections back east, strengthening High Point’s reputation as the year-round home of a growing design community.
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