A millionaire hotel magnate and his yoga-instructor wife say an interior designer-to-the-stars is holding their $2.1 million worth of custom furnishings hostage including a $37,000 couch.

Cendant Corporation executive Henry Silverman, 73, and his second wife Karen Hader, 43, hired designer Richard Mishaan in October 2013 to redecorate their homes in Manhattan, the Hamptons and the Bahamas.

But when Silverman discovered in September that Mishaan had allegedly taken $246,909 in payments on canceled items, he fired the decorator, according to a lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court Thursday.

Mishaan whos worked with socialites Gigi Mortimer and Allison Rockefeller promptly locked away 160 items in a New Jersey warehouse and stowed another 140 with a Staten Island furniture maker, the suit says.

The designer told Silverman he would only hand over the luxe furnishings including a $37,000 bespoke couch made by Capri Upholstery, a pair of $20,000 Holly Hunt roman ring pendant light fixtures and a $9,000 Ligne Roset armchair if Silverman promised not to sue him.

But the exec, whose company controls the Days Inn, Howard Johnson and Ramada hotel chains, scoffed at the deal and is suing Mishaan and Staten Island-based Capri to get his stuff.

A rep for Capri said he delivered the upholstered pieces to the designer weeks ago.

Mishaan told The Post, Theres nothing really wrong here. Its just a matter of bullying, adding that he only billed for legitimate work.

Read more here:
Interior designer holding $2.1M of furniture hostage: motel mogul

Related Posts
November 14, 2014 at 1:52 pm by Mr HomeBuilder
Category: Interior Decorator