Guest Lecture: Audrey Gelman
The Six Bells Hotel founder on life post-The Wing, Lena Dunham's Girls, and her goth chapter.
Good morning everyone.
After a perfect New York lunch meeting at Viand yesterday afternoon, I walked thirty blocks up Madison Avenue to see what this CULTURED Magazine story about the Upper East side was all about. Here’s what I’ll tell you: the shopping is excellent. The ice cream offerings are plentiful. The hairstyles are cartoonish in a wonderful way. And Cartier should do a street style shoot out there because women who weren’t wearing Tanks were standing out. But the outfits…. what’s going on? It looked like a Kundalini conference. Everyone (including me) was wearing white. I don’t mind this, I’d just like to know if there was a secret contract everyone signed. I wanted a little more… sparkle and pizzazz. But maybe people are still breaking in their summer clothes and playing it safe for June.
Today’s newsletter is about: The inspiration behind Audrey Gelman’s Hudson Valley hotel (she links her personal Pinterest!), media is becoming an industry as entertaining as sports, influencer snark admins might need to start getting eye scans, and two cool farms.
Guest Lecture: Audrey Gelman
This interview is part of a Feed Me feature called Guest Lecture. In this series, I introduce you all to an expert who I’m curious about, and give paid readers an opportunity to ask them anything they want. Past guests have included Keith McNally, Kareem Rahma, and Melanie Masarin.
Today, Audrey Gelman answers your questions about the menagerie of inspiration sources for her new Hudson Valley hotel, The Six Bells. She also answers questions about life after The Wing, her role in Lena Dunham’s Girls, and her goth chapter of life.
The bedding, decor and furniture at The Six Bells Countryside Inn is shoppable, and Audrey has kindly offered a 15% discount if you use FEEDME at checkout, through midnight tonight.
How do you think about your middle school Goth chapter in your aesthetic evolution, in this case a pastoral Inn vibe? - Anonymous
“I will say a lot of my “theme experiential” enthusiasm came from goth coded/spooky places like The Haunted Mansion at Disney, or Magic Castle in LA, or Jekyll and Hyde in New York. I think that part of me still loves the slightly moody creepy undercurrent you can feel in the staircase and hallways of the Inn and I think my teenage self would approve.”
What was on the mood board for the interiors of the hotel? It's maximalist, but not really cottage-core... Looks a bit like the gallery at the Carlyle, and John Fairchild's chalet... SPILL!- Rachel
“Here’s the original moodboard…have at it!”
Since we are in the midst of a Girls renaissance, what does Audrey remember about guest starring on the show and how does she feel about its enduring influence? - Akosua
“Looking back, it almost feels radical that Girls existed at all. It was one of the first shows that showed the messiness of women’s friendships and interior lives. It was sometimes unflattering, but that was the point: we finally got to see female characters who could be selfish, hilarious, cringey, complicated. It was very meta and cool to get to be on it, and I’m glad Gen Z is finally giving Girls the credit it deserves!!”
Audrey you’ve said that film The Secret Garden has inspired you in your career and that you’ve sourced your antique silverware from a dealer in Hudson who also works on Wes Anderson sets. Do you see any set design for film or tv in your future? - Tatyana
“Movies and cinema were a huge reference for us in the design process. I always talked about working with a production designer or set designer, but Greco Deco and particularly Michael Rayhill on his team was such a cinephile that he pulled it all off himself. We always referenced part Grimm fairy tale, part Fanny and Alexander, the PBS Mystery! Anthology, the 90’s Little Women, the Folk Horror genre like Midsommar, The Dark Secret of Harvest Home, Picnic at Hanging Rock, and Midsomer Murders (my favorite).”
