A Maine House, a Maine Barn, a Maine Brand: Nicola Manganello’s Restoration Journey and the Growth of Her Maine Design Firm

In the second half of my conversation with Nicola Manganello, founder and principal designer of Maine's Nicola’s Home, we move from her early creative evolution into the heart of her current work: sustaining inspiration, building and leading a high-performing team, and navigating the complex process of designing high-end homes that are meant to be lived in, loved, and gathered in.

Nicola shares how she keeps her creativity vibrant after more than 25 years in the field—through collaboration with her all-women team, through travel, through magazines, gardens, and the tactile inspiration of materials in her design barn. We talk about the balance required to run a growing business while maintaining a creative soul, and the clarity she has gained from restructuring her company to free time for what fuels her.

This episode also turns toward the personal: the role of gardening, cooking, and time in nature; the grounding she found while caring for her mother who was her first business partner and inspiration; and the importance of making space for life, not just work. Nicola reflects candidly on leadership, responsibility, and the internal resilience required to navigate a very public design career in Maine.

And then, we dive into her signature new project: the full restoration of an 1858 Greek Revival home at 37 South Street in Yarmouth—a two-year endeavor that required vision, persistence, and enormous craftsmanship. Nicola shares how she purchased the home sight-unseen while on safari in Africa, the challenges of working within a historic district, and why bringing this property back to life—rather than tearing it down—felt important both for the village and for her own creative journey.

This conversation reveals the depth behind Nicola’s design philosophy: that homes are not simply beautiful objects, but places that keep people together, strengthen families, and anchor lives.

Key Themes

• Creative longevity: how collaboration and continual learning sustain her design perspective
• Leadership and growth: building a team with complementary creative strengths and expanding her firm’s capacity
• Personal grounding: the influence of gardening, cooking, travel, and intentional routines
• The emotional side of building homes: the weight of responsibility, client relationships, and the courage it takes to lead
• Restoring an 1858 gem: the vision, obstacles, and triumphs of her Greek Revival renovation in Yarmouth
• Elegance in Maine: her belief that Maine’s natural beauty, simplicity, and authenticity define its elegance

Featured Project

37 South Street, Yarmo

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Transcript

Elise Kiely: [00:00:00] Today's number is 1858. That is when Nicola Manganello's latest Yarmouth project was born. And trust me, this historic gem is proving just how timeless a thoughtful renovation can be. Hi, friends, and welcome to Elegant Maine Living. I am your host, Elise Kiely. As a global real estate advisor with Legacy Properties Sotheby's International Realty, I am fortunate not only to represent some of Maine's most beautiful homes, but to help people fall in love with this great state.

Whether you are discovering it for the first time or seeing it with fresh eyes after generations of being here. Maine has so much to be proud of, and I love sharing the stories [00:01:00] of the remarkable people like Nicola Manganello, those quiet understated doers and those bold visionaries who make this part of the world so special.

So whether you are here for insight into Maine's real estate market, or simply to celebrate the way life should be, I am delighted you are here and welcome back to the second half of my conversation with Designer and builder Nicola Manganello. In this segment, we move from her early influences and creative evolution into the heart of her current work.

We are going to talk about how she sustains inspiration, leads a growing team and stays grounded while managing complex high-end projects. We also explore the personal side of her craft from the gardens and routines that fuel her creativity. To the experiences that have shaped her perspective. And of course, we are going to dive into our newest project on [00:02:00] South Street in Yarmouth, a true labor of love that reflects both her vision and her resilience.

Let's get started. Nicola, let's turn a little bit and speaking of spec houses I do want it in a minute we're going to get to this incredible spec house you have going on in, in Yarmouth, and I'm going to include links in the show notes to that spec house, which is really incredible.

But let's turn a little bit to your personal philosophy and your practice. You've been doing this for a long time and you've done a lot of houses. How do you keep your creativity going after doing this for so long? 

Nicola Manganello: I have a team that surrounds me too. It's like I, I fine tune everything.

I put the finishing touches on things, but we're all developing. Our own sense of design inside of that process. I can't do it all by myself. You know what I mean? Yeah. It's, it would be impossible. 

Elise Kiely: Is it collaborative with your [00:03:00] team? 

Nicola Manganello: It is. I think that I'm working on it as we're developing and growing the business.

I've recently, I'm hiring a little bit higher level people that are coming with their own sense of design and really their own sense of they're themselves, and so I feel like it's helping the business be independent of me in a way so that I can grow. 

Elise Kiely: And so you can scale. 

Nicola Manganello: Yeah. So I can, and I can travel and see. I have, there was a period of time that I'd never been to California. There haven't been a lot of places. Places, yeah. Because I've been working. 

Elise Kiely: You work so hard, 

Nicola Manganello: so it's like I, I need to see other things and not just, in magazines and 

Elise Kiely: Right. But to see it in person, to touch it and Yeah. And you must have people sending you resumes and portfolios all the time saying, please let me come work with you. 

Nicola Manganello: We do, we have, we are very lucky. We've been able to hire some great [00:04:00] people and haven't had a ton of turnover, over the years. Everybody, we're only so big and everyone, grass is always greener in every company.

Everyone always thinks so. So they come and go. You. That's life. 

Elise Kiely: And you'd mentioned interns, so you must have 

Nicola Manganello: yeah, we do. We get a lot of design interns I bet. Which is great. I think, and I would encourage anyone who's listening, who is interested in going into design at any level, whether you're in school for it or you want to go back to school for it, intern at design firms because there's no better way to learn than to do. 

Elise Kiely: I think, I think that's true across industries. You've gotta get in and see what really happens behind closed doors. Yeah. And know whether that's a, an industry that where you'd want to be. Yeah. And you can survive and thrive.

Yeah. And so on your day to day, you've mentioned you're going to do some more traveling and that kind of thing on day to day, where do you find your inspiration? I know you love to cook, I know you love to garden. 

Nicola Manganello: I do, I wish I could do more. [00:05:00] Yeah. Now you have beautiful, now my husband's making me dinner every night because I'm getting home later than him.

I was like, I used to 

Elise Kiely: by the way that's a strategy I, yeah. I use frequently is honey. I'm sorry, I have a later meeting. Yes. I won't be home till 6:30 or 7 

Nicola Manganello: Yeah, no, he's definitely stepped in and that's been super helpful. I think that there's so much available to us now. Just Instagram alone, is, it's a plethora of information. Information. Yeah. It's, you need to know it, create it, see it. It's there for the, you can find it. So for us, because of the way we work, we, the client will come to the barn and we bring everything to them. So all the materials for the builds, flooring, tile, lighting, all of that is, we research it.

We try to understand their style. And we bring it and do the layouts at the barn, so all those samples and metals in stone and you have it all, it's endless. Yeah, we have a library of stuff, but [00:06:00] we're constantly editing that and traveling to other design centers and different cities and stuff that we go to and shows just for what's the, what's new, what's interesting.

Magazines for me, I'm still a. I still buy mag, I flip pages. I feel like that's such a, I still tear. 

Elise Kiely: And do you like the tactile experience?

Nicola Manganello: I do. I tear it, I make piles. I'm like a, it's important to me 'because it's how I think, yeah. It's almost like vision board type thinking I have all these giant corkboards that line both sides of my office. 'because I'm, I want to, I pin it. To, I said, I got to, I love this, whatever it is. Whether it's a exterior of a shop or a or a light or I pin it up and because I'm like, I need to use that. I love that. 

Elise Kiely: And you just want to have it top of mind.

Yeah. Aware awareness for you. Yeah. Let me ask you this. I know outside being is important to you and I you love being on Casco Bay. Yeah. I think your father has a boat. You're often out on the Yeah. Out on the boat. Yeah. Yeah. Is that the way [00:07:00] you stay connected to nature? Is nature a big part for you?

I just think about all the landscaping and the Yeah. The earth. 

Nicola Manganello: Yeah. Gar gardening's huge for me. I have a I actually, during COVID I bought a tractor and I know much to my husband's chagrin well. I put, it was an anniversary gift to him. He didn't like it as much as I did. So 

Elise Kiely: was it a John Deere? 

Nicola Manganello: Yeah, it was, yes.

Oh good. 

Yeah. Good. Yeah. 

And we did a big, like an English garden with paths and the raised beds and stuff. And so I've been honing that. Yeah. To really, it really other than some light weeding it, it just keeps getting bigger and shock. Yeah. Yeah. But it's because I love cutting flowers, doing flower arrangements.

I'm now starting to dry, I can't even believe I'm saying I'm starting to dry flowers because I want to make wreaths I'm trying to go back to making time for things I used to do that I loved. Yeah. And [00:08:00] that's my goal now is, 

Elise Kiely: That's one of the nice things about being where we are in life. Yeah.

Children are launched. Yeah. And so it does open up some space Yeah. To do things. Yeah. That fulfill us. Yeah. And fuel us. And I applaud you. I think that's, I think that's fantastic. 

Nicola Manganello: So it's just, I like, I'm a, I like to stay busy anyways. I, yeah. If I'm sitting and not doing anything. I'm like, I'm, and I'm not being productive, I feel like I'm, I didn't feel the time. So I'm a, which I don't think is a great trait. I think I could relax a little more. 

Elise Kiely: Nicola, let's turn to some of your projects for a second. Looking back, Maeve's Way or, meeting House Road in Yarmouth, the new project in in Yarmouth on South Street that we're going to talk about in a minute.

Is there one project in your portfolio that you're the most proud of? And maybe it's even a small, simpler house that is, that you find? Boy, that's my legacy. 

Nicola Manganello: Probably my home I'm in now. Is. [00:09:00] The, yeah, when I walk to the office in the morning, sometimes I drive, which is ridiculous.

Elise Kiely: You drive the tractor, 

Nicola Manganello: drive the car over. It's only 'because I have to use it very shortly after that. Have to, it's it's a bit of a pinch me, it was the right move for the company. And quite frankly, if it wasn't for the company, I wouldn't be living there, so it was one of those things, man, that's just being completely honest.

My company allows me to have a beautiful home, and what that's done is when people pull in the driveway, clients, potential clients, existing clients, I wanted that message to be. 

Beautiful. Yeah 'because this is what I do and this is, so I wanted it to be, 

Elise Kiely: and it's your brand. 

Nicola Manganello: My brand. I wanted it to be very clear that, yeah, that they've hired the right person and I wanted them to feel something very special. So that's what I've created there. 

Elise Kiely: What a great decision that was. Was to buy that property. 

Nicola Manganello: It was for me for many rea many reasons. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 

Elise Kiely: And it's [00:10:00] a perfect location for what you do and your clientele too.

Yeah, I think, yeah. Let's turn a little bit to social media. And we were talking about Instagram and you can get some ideas from just seeing pictures of things occasionally. Yeah. Your social media presence is enormous. You're, you're an influencer. I think you have over 87,000 followers on Instagram.

Yeah. How did, was that part of, was that deliberate as part of your business strategy? 

Nicola Manganello: I'm on Instagram a lot. I find it, it's a wonderful resource for all kinds of different things. Yes, I think so. I have had to get comfortable with it. It wasn't very early on. We'd show a lot of the, our work, I wasn't in it.

And then occasionally I'd be in it or talk a little, which I never was very comfortable doing. It's like being on a Zoom call. It's like you never want to go. It's bad enough. You get to sit there and look at yourself all the time while you're talking and it's to have to go back and watch the video and did I say this right or that, and I just, [00:11:00] I really didn't, I really didn't like doing it and I wasn't comfortable in front of the camera.

And those videos were the ones that were getting the most views. And so it became obvious that people were interested and hearing from me and wanted me to explain and really the whole point of Instagram, once you figure it out, is that they want the secrets. 

Elise Kiely: They want the secrets.

Nicola Manganello: The things we used to keep tight. This is this brand of this tile or whatever. We say it all. We tell everybody everything now because you can find it by just plopping a picture in Google, it's like 

So it's like 

Elise Kiely: good luck keeping it secret. 

Nicola Manganello: Yeah. And so how you're using it in the manner you do it, or all the ways in your process, talk about it, put it out there.

Because that's what makes you interested. It's, for us, it's what people want to hear 

Elise Kiely: and it's a, it's part of having an abundant mindset. Yeah. And not being scared that it's going to, yeah 

Nicola Manganello: or that people copy copying is like a, this is [00:12:00] the best form of flattery. Flattery, 

Elise Kiely: Absolutely. Yeah. And so did you, do you do those, does someone on your team do those videos and photography for you? Yes. Do you have a videographer? Yes. 

Nicola Manganello: We do it all. We do it all in house. And videographer, I don't know. It's an apple, it's an iPhone. IPhone. Yeah. And we're like, yeah. It's all done.

So of those videos, wh which one would you say has been the most popular or has gotten the most en engagement? 

The one, I think it's got over 3 million views is the one with the Christmas bells the Christmas bells. At the end of my driveway, I put them on a wreath in a cement urn uhhuh.

And it was like, between that and my Miele roller iron, where 

Elise Kiely: I love the Miele roller. 

Nicola Manganello: The Miele roller iron was like, first of all, I don't read the comments because. As you ask me a question, I'll answer it, but I never read the comments because I have friends that call me laughing because of the mean things people will say about whatever, as there's a, that's out there and some of them are [00:13:00] actually quite funny and, but the Miele iron was like I can't, I'm like, I'm just putting a pa, do I use the Miele iron very much? No, I just, so everybody that went bought Martha Stewart had one, bought one and I was like, love that. I, and I was like, I thought it would be easy to use. It's very hard to use. And the 

Elise Kiely: Miele iron is, it's huge. 

Nicola Manganello: Yeah. It's like a, yes. It's like a roller. It got a pedal.

You step on it. You, it's great for like napkins and tablecloths and things like that. But I don't iron my sheets and everything. It's 

Elise Kiely: you could also take them to Pratt Abbott. 

Nicola Manganello: Yeah. 

Better yet. 

Yes. 

Yes. For probably less. 

Elise Kiely: You talked about Martha Stewart.

Yeah. So tell me about how that came about that. Oh my God, I, yeah, you Martha Stewart found you. 

Nicola Manganello: She, I don't know if it was that I did a show house for Kim Swan up in Bar Harbor and I've done a couple for her and she'll call me occasionally and say we have a space and she's so wonderful and [00:14:00] and they're always, raising money for really good causes. And and they're fun to do, and the team, we tackle 'em. But that one is fun for me because both times I've done it. Martha Stewart has come to the opening night. 

Elise Kiely: And just back up for a second. When you say when you do it, you're taking a project on?

Nicola Manganello: Yes, we take a room. Wan will buy, there's, someone has bought the house and then they'll donate it to the show house cause this one was for the hospital up there and we're, we just did a bedroom in this particular one, 

Elise Kiely: and then people buy tickets and get to come in and see. 

Nicola Manganello: Yeah. And there's an opening night and it's open for, I don't know, a couple of months in the summertime and people travel through, but the opening parties are usually pretty good and. And just because it's up there in that Mount Desert area, like Bar Harbor, Acadia, Martha comes to the opening parties and that's always like a bit of a draw for people. Yeah. 

Elise Kiely: How fun for you? 

Nicola Manganello: Oh my God. Because, and I, the first time I [00:15:00] missed her, she was coming out, but I knew when I, her dogs, she was parked right in the front and her fluffy dogs had their head out the window. And I was like, I knew exactly. 

Elise Kiely: You knew who that was. Just from the fluffy dogs. 

Nicola Manganello: Just from the fluffy dogs. And so this time she actually was in, and the girls had to push me into the room to talk to her because, when you follow someone your whole life like that, I was, oh my God, I'm going to cry.

Elise Kiely: It must have been quite a moment for you, Nicola. 

Nicola Manganello: Oh, i, I thank God so ridiculous. I thank God that I didn't cry in front of her because I cried when she left, but it was like. It really was. It was like, 

Elise Kiely: did you feel like this is a moment like I I've arrived, like I have fulfilled my potential. 

Nicola Manganello: Yep. I can die now. I've met Martha. 

Elise Kiely: Please don't. Please don't. So how, what, how long was your 

conversation with her?

Nicola Manganello: She liked the wall coverings. We had done these murals that looked like old panels. [00:16:00] Paint was falling off them and because I was trying to take this otherwise very boring room and make it interesting, and she was fascinated by them and wanted to know who made them. And I told her the company, and I said, I'll send it, I'll send it to you.

I think I don't actually, we did send it through Instagram to her account. Whether she got it or not, I don't know. But she was just like very, she was exactly how, like, how I thought she'd be. And I the girls, all my girls were like we take a picture of you. And I stood beside her and I had high heels on, and she said, oh, you're quite tall.

Which I could tell was not her first choice. So I bent down, 

Elise Kiely: so you slouched in front of Martha Stewart. 

Nicola Manganello: I would've gotten on my knees if I had to. And she, it was very funny. But the second she left the room, I absolutely busted out crying because it was just such a, like a. Just moment.

A moment. Such a moment. Just a release. I, from back when she was, I think, I [00:17:00] think I was 12 Yeah. When I got her first book. Wow. 

Elise Kiely: That, it's so interesting. I think I shared with you before we started recording that Jill McGowan, who who I've interviewed, and I'll be releasing her episode and actually has her studio in the lower level of where we're recording today. She had an interaction with Martha Stewart as well. Oh my God. And it was, that's a moment, like that's a signature moment when you are in the design creative space and there's an icon. Yeah. And you get to meet that icon. Yeah. And they have positive regard for what you do, and they recognize the talent that you have.

Yeah. It's like a validation. 

Nicola Manganello: Yeah. 

That's, it really 

was. It was just it wasn't much of a contact, but it was like. It was just, something for me that I'll always remember. That's, 

yeah. 

Elise Kiely: That's fantastic. You must have been riding on a high for days after that.

Nicola Manganello: Yeah, I know. I know. Isn't that funny. 

Elise Kiely: So Nicola, and this may be the answer to this next question I have for you. In all your years of deal working with clients and customers in your store and clients now, [00:18:00] a wide range of types of clients and personalities. Yeah. Do you have one? Crazy funny story that you, that a client asked for something that you were just shocked that they asked for this and trying to incorporate a crazy request into their home.

Nicola Manganello: There's, there's two that I'm thinking of because, and when we were pre-talk about the podcast, when you wrote down the I, that was going to be the one that I was going to say, oh good. So it was a gentleman that loved this bar in Chicago that he'd be at because to get into the bar, you had to go down a slide.

So he just thought that was the best thing ever. And he's so as we were developing his basement, it had two different access points. So we turned one of them in the front foyer. You open the door and it's a slide to get into the basement. And that's fun. That's fun. That's, he had a lot of different kind of kooky things we did in that house, but 

Elise Kiely: How fun.

And he had two young girls I think at the time. Yeah. They must have thought that was, I know. Her 

friends must have just loved that. Yeah. Her friend's friend, their daughter's friends must have [00:19:00] loved coming over and everything. Yeah. That's fa Yeah. 

Nicola Manganello: Stuff like that is, and then I've had one who wanted a panic room.

Which was Oh, yeah. Which I had never done before. So I've done the invisible bookcase kind of thing. I feel like that. That's interesting. That's interesting. Did they want power, air, heat, water? Not as much, no. It really was just a course, a small amount of time.

Elise Kiely: Hopefully a small Yeah, I know.

Nicola Manganello: A small space to hide. Interesting. Yeah. 

Elise Kiely: So I thought you were going to say something about dogs. Everyone is, dogs are so 

important in people's lives. 

Nicola Manganello: We do a lot of dog rooms and dog wash. Yeah. Which are wicked cute. Yeah. But, nothing out of the, it's always they want to work it into a beautiful laundry room.

And it's more of a, it's more of a pretty, they're like, could you make a dog wash look really good? It's more like that. 

Elise Kiely: And probably things to attract their grandchildren. 

Yes. Yeah. Like sports 

things or, yeah, fashion things. 

Nicola Manganello: Yeah. Bunk rooms are big. Yeah. We do a lot of bunk rooms for grandkids.

Elise Kiely: [00:20:00] Nicola, what do you think is next for you? Do you have a, do you have a new vision or a new 

Nicola Manganello: I am, I'm recently for my company I've restructured a bit and I've recently hired a CFO and a COO to really start to, I've been running the show for a long time and I want to free myself up to go back to my roots of creativity and being able to focus on the creative parts of things, which is where I got the most joy. And I think that's something that, the stress of the job is real. And that. I think it's, in 25 plus years is it's a very real thing.

And I've recently, my mother passed away. 

Elise Kiely: Who was your first business partner? 

Nicola Manganello: Oh yeah, it was, what was the name of the R-N-N-R-N-N-R-N-N. Riri and Nicola. Yep. 

Elise Kiely: Yeah, she was physically beautiful. And she was one of those people that, you know how you people have energy, I think around them. Yes. And I could have, I could see [00:21:00] Riri in the grocery store.

At the gas station? Yeah. At a Falmouth school event. Yeah. And she was a hugger. Yeah. She was a hugger. 

Yeah. 

And I know she had a big influence on you. 

Nicola Manganello: She did. Yeah, she did. And and it's one of the things with, my, my mother had dementia and it was a long process.

Yeah. And my father cared for her beautifully and we kept her at home. Yeah. So it was making the time. 

Elise Kiely: It's, I think we all realized when we come to certain points in our life that we have an obligation to live our lives to the fullest we can. Yeah. And to not take anything for granted, including if there's something we want to do, whether it's Yeah.

Wreaths or Yeah. Getting travel Yeah. Or doing a podcast.

Nicola Manganello: It was the time around all of that. 

Yeah. 

Made me realize, for me I would leave most days early from work 'because there was a time that was really good to visit with her. And you just had, we had to work it into this, into that schedule every day.

If I [00:22:00] could get there every day, yeah, I would, that wasn't always possible. So with my siblings and stuff, it was great. 'because yeah, we all communicated and filled the voids and tried to help my dad as much we could. 

Elise Kiely: What a blessing that you all three were local. Yes. 

No, it really with your, with your own families and everybody could help and participate and, but I think the, be present, 

Nicola Manganello: the lesson in it for me is that. I, I need more time for important work is important. It's a piece of who I am. It's how I think I define myself, but I've got to work in some space to, for family, for friends. I keep saying for life. Yeah. For life.

Yeah. 

Elise Kiely: Nicola, let's pivot again. Yeah. Let's talk about 37 South Street in Yarmouth, which is your latest project. I wouldn't call it a spec house because there was an existing older home 

Yes. 

That you are renovating. And let me just share I really want to hear your thoughts about what drew you to this house and your vision. The house is on the [00:23:00] market. With Legacy Properties, Sotheby's International Realty by with Will and Ali Fuller, who are fantastic agents listed for 3.85 million.

And there'll be links to photos and everything in the show notes, but yes. T tell us about this project and your vision. 

Nicola Manganello: It was what I call an emotional purchase. I was in Africa, to be honest with you. I was, I had, I never tra, I never travel. And there was a group 

Elise Kiely: and you pick Africa 

Nicola Manganello: and I, yeah, really?

We'd go big. Yeah. And we went on safari with friends and it was just one of those bucket list things. A friend of ours was turning 70 and she says, let's go on Safari. So we, there was eight of us that went and it was wonderful. It was magical, but this house came on the market and it's a, I'm a sucker for a Greek revival and it was in the village in my hometown, and I just saw so much potential and vision in it.

And [00:24:00] what is, Yarmouth is such a quaint place to live. And it's, I just feel like it's within walking distance to everything and it really turned out to be what I would consider a two year nightmare. And let's just say it would've been so much cheaper to tear it down and just start over.

And it's in the historic district, which meant I needed to lift it up. It needed and restore it needed every, it really was a it's a true restoration. Yeah. 

Elise Kiely: And so you're in Africa, you get the call. This house is on the market. Yes. And you probably as familiar as you are with Yarmouth, you probably knew exactly which house it was or, yes.

Yes. So you had an idea about that. Yes. And you thought let's do this. I have a vision. Yeah. Yeah. And pretty much gutted the house. 

Nicola Manganello: Oh yeah. No, we were right down to the old wide pine boards on the outside. It really needed to end everything. Absolutely everything. Yeah. 

Elise Kiely: And how long did the project take you?[00:25:00] 

Nicola Manganello: It has been two years. It's, it has been two years. Two years in October. 

Elise Kiely: Is that because of materials, labor permitting? 

Nicola Manganello: Permitting did take a while. They were, it was a, and this is a, when people want to buy homes in historic areas, which are always the most quaint to live, there is a process to that.

And there is a certain amount of say that the town has, and and that's difficult for people who, what I would consider myself, I'm a developer. I. Pro, bringing things back to life but in a new way. And I think that as much as I want the home to look historic and, the windows were small.

These were, there were things about this house that people aren't going to so it's like that's where I get a little like. I want to increase the window size a little bit in length, maybe a little bit in width. It's still going to look like a gorgeous Greek revival, but town had issue with it.

Elise Kiely: It's so interesting ' because if you drive by [00:26:00] it. 

Yeah. Yeah. And it looks like it's always been there. 

Nicola Manganello: Yeah. I mean it was like even the little details little brackets on the, everything they, there was, they were very particular. 

Elise Kiely: So it was renovation by committee? 

Nicola Manganello: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. That was interesting to me because I, across the street there was a ranch that had been turned into a contemporary Right. Basically. And they found that, okay. And for me, I was. Very confused as to, that's historic district too, how that and the gentleman on the board and it's really who's on the board, 

right? 

And he's oh, that's a fabulous mid-century ranch that's been renovated into, and I'm like, it looks nothing like a mid-century ranch.

And it really is. It almost what made me want to get involved. Really. I did, yeah. In town governance. Yeah. You want an equal playing field 

too. 

Yeah. Yeah. I do feel that I think one of the gentlemen said, Nicola, I'm very familiar with your work, but I think you take a lot of [00:27:00] risks and I was like, I thank you. Thank you. I think, yeah. Thank you. Thank you. I'm like, I don't think he was a fan and I'm this home. I wouldn't have done this house any different really. Than what it looks like now. I don't, I think my home's come out looking a little more traditional than they do risky.

But, again 

Elise Kiely: it's funny you said risk. I think your homes make a statement. 

Nicola Manganello: Let's just say I feel like a broker that lives locally wanted to bring through the neighbors because they were having trouble understanding the value. And I just said let's wait till it's done.

Not that, and that just seems like more of a social thing. They're not, nobody's selling a house or nobody wants to buy it. They want to tour it and understand how I'm coming up with the sale price. I'm coming up with the sale price because of how expensive the project was.

But also you, I look at every project as, whether I'm buying the tile at cost [00:28:00] or the client, anybody buying it would've bought it at retail, or they go down to, Old Port Specialty Tile. They're paying those prices. You know what I mean? This is what this house would've cost for anybody to renovate it themselves.

That's the price tag. 

Elise Kiely: And is it, and it has enhanced the village of Yarmouth. 

Nicola Manganello: Yeah. So it's so if we win, and when I say we win, everybody wins. Not that I feel like jocking up the prices in the village in Yarmouth, but that's what it took to make that, take it from a, it was a three family into a s gorgeous single family home again.

And we didn't cut. 

Elise Kiely: I remember seeing it as a three family. It was tough. Yeah. Yeah.

Nicola Manganello: It was tough. It was, yes. 

Elise Kiely: And have you, have you noticed since COVID and the scarcity of projects the delays in shipping and now with tariffs. Yeah. Have you noticed a significant increase in Yeah. Labor 

and materials?

Nicola Manganello: Yeah. There, there's been no correction as far as construction goes. It's expensive to build right now. And it's, that's just a fact. Nobody needs work. It's [00:29:00] not, you don't find, there's no hungry people out there anymore. They're not like, 

It's, 

Elise Kiely: and it's harder to find people in the trades right now.

Nicola Manganello: It is mean. It's, and there's definitely, 

Elise Kiely: people are aging out 

Nicola Manganello: to find good people. Yeah. And trustworthy. Because, I've I think now I've got, just about everything has happened to me in that line of the work that I do. And, it's like people take advantage and it's, it's, it can be quite brutal out there.

Yeah. It really is. It's a difficult. 

Elise Kiely: Owning your own business. Running a service oriented business. Yeah. Being out in the public, having a brand that's so visible. Yeah. It is not for the faint of heart. Yes. And it's easy for people to sit on the outside in the cheap seats and critique Yeah. Get in the arena.

Yeah. Before you critique. Yeah. There's a Teddy Roosevelt saying to that effect, 

Nicola Manganello: Brene Brown. Yes. Yes. I'm a fan, so Yeah, me too, man. 

Elise Kiely: Man in the arena. Yeah. Yeah. Nicola, thank you for sitting down with me. This has been so much fun. So I just love catching up with you. Yeah. At this [00:30:00] point in the podcast, I always ask people a few, couple si quick signature questions.

Yeah. So I'm going to, I'm going to fire those at you. Okay. What does Elegance in Maine mean to you?

Nicola Manganello: I think Maine is elegant. I've lived here my whole life. I can't I have traveled and I can't imagine living anywhere else. Whenever I travel, I am always like, I'm so glad I'm going home. It's the secret's out, unfortunately, I think, which is good for your business and yours. Yeah. The secret is out.

Yeah. I think that we're very lucky here. Yeah, 

Elise Kiely: there's I always say when I'm traveling and I meet people or I see friends who I know from away and Yeah. I talk about Maine. I notice people lean in Yeah. As have we. There's this romantic idea of what Maine is. Yeah. Which I think is authentic.

Yeah. And for the most part true. And no place is perfect. 

Yeah. But it is pretty special. 

Nicola Manganello: It's very special. I think it, it's funny because when I talk to say people like about 10 years older than me. [00:31:00] They're like, I remember talking about home and people used to wonder if we had electricity up here because Maine used to seem so rural and out of the way, and we're not easy to get to and hard to get 

to.

Elise Kiely: Yeah. We're not easy to get to. You have to be intentional about wanting to come here. Yes. Yeah. Nicola, you're obviously a, speaking of intention, you're obviously a very intentional person. You don't do things, I think just by happenstance. Do you have a favorite book or podcast that you feel is a source of grounding for you or inspiration that you go to as a resource?

Nicola Manganello: I listen to all the, I'm we were talking about this, I am a fan of I love Brene Brown. She's actually one of my faves. Yeah. And as far as grounding goes, I have found that a lot of her. I can relate to a lot of the things that she's talking about. I have a woman that I see regularly, her name's Melissa Boyd, and she's like a, I would call her, she's like a life coach.

And [00:32:00] I life path person. And that's just something like I lean way into, because I was, I'm, a Italian Irish Catholic. I grew up going to church and everything, but as I've grown older, and I've, my life has evolved and things have happened to me. I'm, see, you're constantly seeking answers and I find that even with my business it's all interconnected. Yeah. Personal business, everything, finances, love. It's all connected and I'm always trying to, and it's so important. I think you pay attention to your, to yourself in that way and take care of yourself in that way. And I think that, I see Melissa regularly and she's really helped me listen to my own intuition and

Elise Kiely: you know, it's leadership can often be lonely. Yes. And when you lead a company, you lead a team, you feel the weight of responsibility for those that you lead. Yeah. You feel the weight of [00:33:00] responsibility for your clients. Yeah. And you and I, in each of our careers deal with people at very high emotion times.

Yeah. And very stressful times. And there's a lot of money involved. Yeah. And we have to be the calm, steadying voice. Yeah. The trusted advisor and it's super important to have a resource for us. Yeah. Whether it's a colleague, whether it's a life coach, whether it's a partner, whatever it is.

Yeah. 'Cause it can be it's a wonderful, it's a wonderful life. Yes. But you've got to make sure that you put your oxygen mask on first, yes. 

Nicola Manganello: Oh, definitely. 

Yeah. Yeah. I think that leaning into other podcasts and things we're talking about I follow this woman, Cody Sanchez she's a powerhouse, deals with a lot of billionaires.

And she is a business developer, but she just always says different things that kind of trigger me to, how can I apply that in my life, in my work? Yeah. Or just how can I [00:34:00] make that criticism not feel so go to the core of me. How can I redirect that energy? 

Elise Kiely: It's, I think one of the most attractive qualities in a person is if they have a growth mindset.

Yeah. 

If they are continually learning, continually trying to improve their craft. Not being envious of others, but learning from others. Yeah. And not having scarcity of, I've got mine, so I don't want anyone else to have theirs. Yeah. And it's a very common human nature feeling. And so I think the explosion of podcasts has been Yeah so interesting to see. Yeah. And just the sharing of information and it gives people a voice Yeah. Who might not otherwise have a voice and Yeah. Which is one of the reasons I've. Decided to do mine. Yeah. Nicola, I thank you again. This has been a wonderful conversation. I'm very grateful. 

Nicola Manganello: I'm grateful.

Thank you. 

Elise Kiely: And this conversation with you, hearing how you started with a small shop in Yarmouth, growing into one of Maine's most respected designers, all while keeping your philosophy rooted in warmth. And family [00:35:00] and being an oasis for people and a creating spaces for connection is the ripple effect of that is hard to quantify.

And the relationships that it strengthens. I love that quote that the right space can actually keep people together because that's important in today's world. 

Yeah. 

And design isn't just about beauty. It's about connection. Yeah. And for listeners, if you would like to see Nicola's project at 37 South Street in Yarmouth, you can find the link in my show notes, and if you've enjoyed today's episode, please share it with a friend or a neighbor or a coworker, and follow the conversation about real estate design and lifestyle here in Maine.

As always, if I can be of assistance in your real estate journey, please send me an email or comment on this episode. And remember, this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only, and does not create either a real estate advisory or attorney-client relationship. This is Elegant Maine Living the way life [00:36:00] should be.

And until next time, keep living with elegance.