A Newport Summer | Nick Mele
Intro: Welcome to the one and only interior design book podcast, Decorating By The Book, hosted by Suzy Chase, from her dining room table in New York City. Join Suzy for conversations about the latest and greatest interior design books with the authors who wrote them.
Nick Mele: Hi, I'm Nick Mele. I'm here to talk about my new book, A Newport Summer.
Suzy Chase: Today on the Decorating podcast, we are holding on to summer. So, Nick, this book is 20 years of you photographing over the summers, people, parties, houses, details, lifestyles, the whole shebang. You give us a glimpse into four months, June, July, August, and September. Since the turn of the century, Newport, Rhode Island has been the holiday playground of the nation's super rich. And when the summer breeze rolls in, Newport comes alive. Your photography style is that of a modern day Slim Aarons, taking us behind the scenes of one of the last bastions of high society. Slim Aarons captured a golden age of wealth, privilege, beauty and leisure that occurred alongside the cultural and political backdrop. Nick, talk a little bit about how your styles are similar and how he influenced you.
Nick Mele: I've always been a big fan of Slim Aarons. I think he really captured a moment in time and a part of society that was traditionally very closed off. So of course I appreciate the comparisons to him because I think he was a fabulous photographer. But I think most of the comparisons come because of our similar subject matters and our appreciation for a certain lifestyle and a certain section of society. My style has different influences, Tina Barney, Wes Anderson, Norman Rockwell. So a big part of it is just really that we're capturing this section of high society that is in normal circumstances not seen. And there's a great deal of reverence in both of our shots. We're looking at the world, not trying to expose it for any deep dark secrets or anything like that. We're just trying to show off the fun side of it, the light. And look at it with a sense of whimsy and a little bit of a tongue in cheek attitude.
Suzy Chase: So A Newport Summer is a love letter to a special place. You and Ruthie Sommers met years ago in Newport. And this is your shared passion for people and their relationship to their surroundings. So how did the collaboration with Ruthie come about?
Nick Mele: So I met Ruthie years ago in Newport. We both spend our summers there. I've done it my entire life. She married Luke McDonough, whose family has a house just down the street from us in Newport. And she in a previous life was a fabulous interior designer. She's kind of stepped back from that in recent years. But while she was still doing it, she came to an art show I had early in my career and really liked my photography and bought a photograph I had taken for one of her clients. And we kind of became friends then and realized we kind of had a similar viewpoint on Newport and what made it great and what was so fabulous about these old homes that hadn't been touched and this way of life that's kind of very different than every other summer resort.
And so we thought about things we could do to kind of work together and we started off doing a series on the kitchens of Newport in these grand old houses that kind of hadn't been touched since the '50s. You have these fabulous, over the top, ornate houses and the kitchens are really just utilitarian. And that was kind of a stark difference from what we see in society today where kitchens have kind of become the meeting points in a household. They're kind of a place where people hang out and that really wasn't the case in these houses. They're just these really fabulous chic kitchens that hadn't been touched since the '50s. And so we started photographing that and pitching that as a story and that eventually got picked up by the New York Times Tea magazine. And then after that we started thinking of other things we could do together and Ruthie suggested that there was kind of enough there to do a book and we started pitching it and the rest was kind of history.
Suzy Chase: You talk about how Ruthie helped you see parts of Newport you may have otherwise missed. Were you talking about the kitchens when you said that?
Nick Mele: Not specifically, but that is probably a good example. That's something I've always appreciated, but I probably wouldn't have thought of that idea on my own. I think she just kind of taught me to see the details more so than the bigger picture. I think I had been photographing kind of from a more wide perspective, just trying to capture the whole room, the whole scene. And she kind of taught me to look at the little things, the cracks in the walls and the knickknacks and the things that you might not notice at first glance. She really came at it from a designer's point of view and there were a lot of things that I obviously appreciated but maybe didn't even realize were worth capturing.
Suzy Chase: So A Newport Summer is dedicated to your grandmother, Marion Oates Leiter Charles, Oatsie, who was one of the last of America's grand dames. And this book is a testament to your father, who dared you to be different, and a nod to your mother who's never cared about who you were or where you came from as long as you were interesting. Your grandmother bought the famous estate called Lands End, Edith Wharton's former cottage that consisted of a main house, a gardener's cottage, an eight car garage and a greenhouse. She was great friends with the likes of Nancy Reagan and Jack Kennedy, and had a great sense of humor. Also big on the Washington DC social scene for years. So tell me a little bit about your grandmother.
Nick Mele: My grandmother was a big influence on my life, more on my later life than my early life. As a child she scared the hell out of me. She wasn't known for her child skills, but she was just a very prolific figure. She was someone that when you walked in a room, everyone noticed and everyone came to talk to and she didn't care who you were or where you came from as long as you were charming and interesting and could kind of keep up with her dry wit. She was famous for saying anything to anybody and having no filter but being so charming and people just kind of rolled with it.
I think I didn't really appreciate who she was and the things that she had been through and seen until I kind of was in my 20s and really sat down and talked to her. And I think I did get a solid 20 years with her like that. I wish I had had even more. She had just lived through so much and met so many interesting people and been friends with so many amazing people that I wish someone could write a book about her.
Suzy Chase: One thing that really cracks me up is once your grandma said to Prince, now King Charles, she would die knowing that now he's King Charles. Anyhoo, she said, "You're one hell of a prince," to him.
Nick Mele: She was sitting at dinner with him, on his right side, which is the place of honor at a dinner table. And yeah, she just looked at him and said, "You're one hell of a prince." And she was known for doing stuff like that. She was at the White House during the Clinton administration for a party and it was right when the Monica Lewinsky story broke and no one was sure whether the President would come down or not. And he did and they were in the receiving line and my grandmother got to him and said-
Suzy Chase: Oh no.
Nick Mele: She said, "Sir, I wish I was 23." And he turned beet red apparently. She didn't care. She'd been friends with Jack Kennedy, with the Reagans. She'd seen every President and diplomat and just felt totally comfortable and at home and was just this great hostess and philanthropist and just lived a very amazing life that you don't really see it's ilk much anymore.
Suzy Chase: I think that's why I love this book so much because it's kind of a throwback to days gone by. I feel like things have changed so much and there aren't that many Oatsie's left in the world.
Nick Mele: No, I mean there really aren't that many Oatsie's left in the world and I think that's a lot to do with the changing of times. That kind of world doesn't really exist anymore. And so a big part of this book for me was trying to capture that last vestiges of that world before it disappears, of those people, of that lifestyle, of those homes.
I mean you can see it, especially now, people are moving to Newport and to Palm Beach, where I am right now, and they're buying these homes and in some cases tearing them down, in some cases gutting them and renovating them. And a lot of the character and things that make them interesting are disappearing. That kind of maximalist, pattern on pattern, mindset, I think it's seeing a little bit of a resurgence with the younger generation, but a lot of people are just painting things white and minimalist and it breaks my heart. I mean, I came from a background where it was all additive, shall we say. You didn't really take much away. You just put more things on the walls and cupboards and until one of your grandkids came and started calling you a hoarder.
Suzy Chase: I came from the same background. I have a very old American family and I have gotten so much stuff and I don't know about you, but I can't pitch it. I would have so much guilt.
Nick Mele: Yeah, I So many of these things mean you don't even know their background, gets lost in generations in history, but you know they meant something to someone or they might be something important. So it's very hard to throw things away, especially when you don't know it's history.
Suzy Chase: In terms of the whole old money thing, I thought it was interesting to see that the Gen Z TikTok influencers have coined a hashtag that started trending last spring, #oldmoneyaesthetic. And you say when we talk about old money, we're not talking about where the money comes from or actually how old it is, you say we're talking about mindset. I'd love to hear about that.
Nick Mele: Back in the day when the term old money first came about and when there was really a divide between old money and new money, they really were talking about how new your money is and what industry it had been made in and that was kind of a reason to keep people out of parties and society, so to speak. And nowadays when you talk about it, it really has more to do with a mindset. Nobody cares if you won the lottery or made your money on TikTok. It really comes about how you spend it, I guess, and kind of the way you act and just having an appreciation for things that would be considered old money. Again, going back to that maximalist mindset, decorating, chintz on chintz and pattern on pattern and antiques and things like that. Or when it comes to dressing, how you dress, putting yourself together well, better to be overdressed than underdressed. It is more about that sort of thing than it has anything to do with actual wealth and where it comes from.
Suzy Chase: The French novelist Paul Bourget called Newport "a town of cottages," and remarked on. "the curious chance that has gathered together on a small island English abbeys, French chateaus, and gothic palaces, according to the owner's taste." What makes me giggle is the use of the term cottage when actually describing a mansion.
Nick Mele: Back in the day they called them cottages, I think, because that's literally kind of what they were to them. They were their summer cottages. They just went and used them for the summer and then packed everything up and put sheets over everything and went back to New York or wherever they were from and they were just kind of their summer homes. Nowadays I think it's kind of quaint term. The meaning must have changed somewhere along the way because they would never be described as cottages. But I kind of like it better than mansion. I've always found the term mansion to be somewhat gauche. I don't know where that mindset has come from. I think probably something my mother or grandmother drilled into me, but now it's pretty much established that that's what we should call them.
Suzy Chase: Yeah, I think it just came from not wanting to flaunt anything.
Nick Mele: I think there was kind of a mixed message there. I think you were told that money talks and wealth whispers, but at the same time there was a sense of outdoing everyone else, the Astors and the Vanderbilt and people like that in Newport was trying to build bigger houses and drove bigger parties and outdo everyone else, while at the same time never saying it out loud.
Suzy Chase: So in the book, I adore all of your photos, but my all time favorite is of your grandmother in her library surrounded by her books, stacks of magazines, comfortable furniture that exudes elegance. You say it's cluttered but doesn't look cluttered and I really think there's an art to that look.
Nick Mele: Well, it was certainly cluttered. I think she would even admit to it. My mother certainly would. But there was definitely an art to making it look not cluttered. And I think that came from her, again, having so much stuff and not knowing what to do with it and not wanting to throw anything out, but having a great eye for aesthetics and what looked good and finding some way to pile it up so that it looked meaningful.
Suzy Chase: Describe for me a typical day in Newport in July.
Nick Mele: A typical day for me is not necessarily a typical day for everyone else in Newport. I say this about my book, that this is kind of my perspective, my view of a Newport summer. It's not necessarily everyone else's and I'm not trying to make it everyone else's. I think there's a big part of Newport that's built on sailing, that's built on tourism and polo, things like that, and that those just aren't necessarily my experiences so that's not what I'm showcasing.
And I get to live a very nice lifestyle when I come to Newport. It's kind of really is my summer vacation with my family. A lot of going to the beach and my kids go to camp and my wife has recently gotten very into playing Mahjongg with her friends, which sounds like a very old lady thing to do.
Suzy Chase: Yes.
Nick Mele: But she's even gotten me into playing it, which is fun, but it's a lot of things you would expect on vacation. It's bike rides and going to the beach and playing tennis, fire pit in the evening and dinners with family and friends, going to people's houses, things like that. Nothing terribly exciting, but very nice and a great breather from normal reality.
Suzy Chase: Your family had Lands End for a long time and then your mom sold it. Was that right? And then she took over the house next door that your grandmother named The Whim.
Nick Mele: Yeah, so my grandmother and my grandfather bought Lands End in the early '50s and I think at some point she decided that it was too much house and she sold it in the late '50s and kept what was then the eight car garage and the gardener's cottage and a greenhouse. And moved into the gardener's cottage and eventually kind of combined it with the eight car garage and really did a fabulous job decorating it and bringing in moldings from other houses and things like that.
And eventually in the '80s, I think in 1989, my parents came and re-bought Lands End. I was seven. I grew up living there in the summers and we were right next door to my grandmother, kind of shared a large property. And then when my grandmother died in 2019, all of my mother's children and whatnot had grown up so I think she decided it was too much house as well, and she was tired of maintaining it. So she sold Lands End and moved into my grandmother's home, which is called The Whim, and now that's where she lives half of the year with my father and I come and stay. And it's still a fabulous property. I think of the whole eight acre estate, it's on two acres, right on the water, and it's just a really great place to come and spend the summer.
Suzy Chase: And your grandmother designed the garden at The Whim, and the plans are at the Smithsonian. Apparently it's considered one of the premier gardens in the United States, which I thought was amazing.
Nick Mele: I actually had no idea that the plans were at the Smithsonian. When I heard that I had to go and look that up. And you are correct. They were entered into the Smithsonian in 2012. But it's not surprising because it really is an amazing garden. My grandmother had a great passion for horticulture and for just design in general. And my entire life, I don't think I ever saw her once on her knees in the dirt, but she was constantly out there with the gardeners kind of deciding what goes where and things like that.
Suzy Chase: She had the vision.
Nick Mele: She had the vision, exactly. And she loved plants and she loved gardens in general. She constantly had stacks of gardening magazines and books and things like that and really had a passion for that sort of thing. Just not for the actual physical aspect of it.
Suzy Chase: So where can we find you on the web and social media?
Nick Mele: Go to my website, nickmele.com, M-E-L-E. Or on Instagram @nickmelephotography or @a.social.life, which is a Instagram account I have with my family that kind of combines my family life with kind of a Slim Aarons, Wes Anderson aesthetic, very tongue in cheek kind of lifestyle blog.
Suzy Chase: Thanks to you and Ruthie for giving us all a special peak behind the scenes of one of America's iconic seaside cities, Newport, Rhode Island.
Nick Mele: Thank you.
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