The high-society divorce between Whitney St. John and James B. Fairchild took another nasty turn when warring husband and wife faced each other on either side of a gate at their marital mansion.
As directed by a court order, a photographer, appraiser and engineer arrived at the couple’s Bridgehampton home Wednesday to catalog its condition and contents — including jewelry, clothes, furniture, paintings, rugs — before the couple’s divorce trial on Oct. 15.
But sources said St. John was waiting for the inspectors with a security guard who demanded their IDs and to escort them around the property. Meanwhile, Fairchild was watching on the other side of the gate in case the team encountered any issues.
But things quickly got so ugly, the inspectors gave up and left the house after 20 minutes without completing the appraisal. “They didn’t get very far,” a source said. “Whitney hired some sort of goon to guard I don’t know what.”
Sources added that St. John refused to move a car that was blocking the photographer’s shot of the home, refused to allow the fotog’s assistant to enter the gate and told the workers they were required to be with her guard at all times.
When the workers objected, St. John allegedly told one, “You can’t be here!” The appraiser left, and the socialite told the rest to scram and that she’d reschedule, sources added.
Fairchild lawyer Michael Stutman said St. John “has resisted fairness at every turn” and “turned her nose up with impunity” at the court’s order. “It’s astonishing.”
But St. John’s lawyer Don Shlimbaum said, “Mr. Fairchild’s version, as usual, does not reflect what happened at all. Without going into the true scenario, Mr. Fairchild should be reminded that he was not even to be at my client’s residence for this inspection. Yet, like a traffic cop, he was there directing inspection ingress and egress.
“Mr. Fairchild unfortunately is unable to comply with simple directives of the court, which will not serve him well in a trial.”