Have You Ever Moved In After a High Society Slob? Arianna Huffington Accused of Trashing Chelsea Apartment

First of all, Arianna is denying the truthfulness of this half million dollar lawsuit against her, filed by her former landlord, documentary filmmaker Eric Steel. Steel is suing the media queen for $500,000 in damage to his once pristine (he says, I hope she took photos) Chelsea condo. He says she gouged nearly all the walls in the $32,000 a month sub-rental. He said she scratched the wood floors, and stained the guest bathroom during the nearly two years she was a renter. I hope HE took photos. Just because he says she did this, even filed the lawsuit, doesn’t mean it’s true, of course, as I know too well.

But seriously, how do you “stain” a guest bathroom? Isn’t it mostly made of tile?

Blood on the bed and pillows? The woman is worth millions, she could well afford her own pillows and mattress pads from Bed, Bath and Beyond? There’s one on Broadway and one on Greenwich Street.

I forget, this is New York where people use everyone else’s stuff and get bedbugs.

This reminds me of a home we wanted to buy years ago on a toney street in Highland Park. Close to one of the elementary schools. It belonged to a well-known Dallas socialite, which made me super excited when I walked in the double doors. The formals were great. Dining room was the size of one at The White House with elegant panels, hardwood floors. Kitchen was so-so. But behind closed doors, in the upper corners of the gameroom, under the cabinets and inside them, in the kids bedrooms and even the master, the place was disgustingly filthy.

The bathroom was just plain ewwwww. I told my husband, deduct $25K because I’m ripping out all those bathrooms!

I love what the Realtor told me when I announced, this house is filthy: “These kinds of gals don’t do housework, and they just let the maid take care of everything.”

As if that was some excuse. Oh OK, you are a busy socialite and you let your maid handle your home and basically ignore it. Do the same to your kids?

I was at Lisa Blue’s house tonight, 15,254 square feet, every square inch perfectly spotless.    Sure, she has help, but when she set down a drink she was careful to have a napkin below it. This is a woman who cares about her house, who loves it.

I do have a history of being rather OCD in my own homes, and I have never liked the idea of living in “OPD”: Other People’s Dirt. I even cleaned my dorm room scrupulously. Yeah, it got to be a mess during exams and deadlines, but after the exams I cleaned and organized. I had friends in college who couldn’t even pack a suitcase because it had always been done for them. I happily taught them hospital corners and how to pack in tissue paper.

And my son still hates me for vacuuming his bunk at Camp Lajunta.

So the thought of buying someone else’s dirt, and being made to think that just because she was a Dallas socialite, it was somehow better dirt, rather annoyed me. I know this woman and she knows me, and she is delightful. A bundle of energy, But she will never, ever know that I know her dirty little secret: she’s a terrible housekeeper.

So maybe, too, is Arianna Huffington? With all this blogging and launching a business, my house has certainly slipped. Maybe Mr. Steel should have recognized he was getting a busy woman as a sub-lessee who simply had no time for domesticity. Wood floors: Jimmy Choos do a number on them, especially if the heel loses the cap. Luggage wreaks havoc on walls every time you lug it in and up on the luggage rack, where it belongs. Maybe if he had more closet space for $32 grand a month she would not have needed clothing racks. Still, everyone paints after a tenant leaves, it may be code even in New York City to do so. Arianna was limited to who she could share her key fob with, that is pretty standard, and she was to have no more than 12 guests in her apartment.

What is a standard number of guests for a rental lease?  I always guess at 6, which is about the most people I’ve ever had sleeping in my house at one time save for ice storms.

So what do you think: do socialites and VIPs make lousy housekeepers and shall we just let them get lost in their own dust?