Boston property magnate worth $220m is accused of hiding $130m from movie director wife he’s divorced twice, after she caught him spending $532,000 on WOODEN DUCKS (but he says she’s so lazy she spent $80,000 on staffer to brush dogs’ teeth!)
- Ernestine Rathborne, 72, and Philip Y. DeNormandie, 75, divorced on February 2
- They split their $221million net worth and property holdings down the middle
- Initially DeNormandie assessed their value at $90million, before Rathborne discovered he had not declared a massive purchase of decoy ducks
An old-money Boston filmmaker who directed episodes of Twin Peaks warred with her husband during their second divorce over $532,000 he spent on wooden ducks.
Ernestine Rathborne, who’s known as Tina, accused property magnate Philip Y. DeNormandie of making her believe their combined wealth was ‘just’ $90 million, when the true figure was actually $220 million.
DeNormandie’s alleged deception unraveled when Rathborne discovered a $532,000 receipt for the wooden duck decoys and other art, triggering a probe into her former partner’s finances.
Rathborne, 72, and DeNormandie, 75, finalized their latest divorce on February 2, with a judge ordering the pair to split their vast fortune evenly.
It includes a portfolio of 139 properties, many of them among the most sought-after in Boston, with Rathborne handed their $7 million Cambridge mansion that was also her childhood home.
Ernestine Rathborne, 72, who goes by Tina and directed a pair of Twin Peaks episodes
Philip Y. DeNormandie, 75, amassed a large real estate empire and collection of decoy ducks
The battle for assets between the couple, who have two sons, began amicably enough.
But it grew ugly once Rathborne discovered assets she claims DeNormandie had been hiding from her, after spotting a $532,000 receipt for the ducks, the Boston Globe reported.
DeNormandie has hit back at his Harvard-educated debutante wife by branding her a highly capable woman, who was nonetheless so lazy she hired staffers to cater to her every whim. One lackey was paid $80,000-a-year just to walk their dogs, and brush the animals’ teeth, he alleges.
Rathborne – who counts actress Isabella Rossellini among her friends – refutes claims she’s profligate.
She highlighted to a Globe reporter that she was wearing an old brown coat on the day the paper interviewed her, as evidence of her parsimony.
One of the many decoy ducks in Philip Y. DeNormandie’s sprawling collection
One of Philip Y. DeNormandie’s decoy ducks, which he began collecting at the age of 10
The 50 year relationship – punctuated by one previous divorce – turned ugly after the latest separation.
Rathborne was angry to discover her husband had spent $532,964.50 on decoy ducks to add to his already sprawling collection, but failed to include them in his financial disclosures. DeNormandie is now the proud owner of decoy ducks worth more than $3 million, having first fallen in love with the objects as a young boy.
The duck discovery led Rathborne to suspect DeNormandie was not being honest about the scope of their family’s finances and property holdings, and shortly thereafter the name calling began.
DeNormandie called Rathborne lazy, out of touch and pampered, and accused her of forcing him to marry her by getting pregnant. In turn, she said she was afraid of his temper and controlling nature.
Both denied each other’s allegations, but as proceedings carried on it was revealed Rathborne’s hunch about their true wealth was right.
DeNormandie’s $90million estimation of their net worth was about $130million shy of a reality which included 139 properties – instead of the 18 Tina thought they owned – and a whopping $3million in decoy ducks.
Ultimately the couple split their estate in half, with Rathborne walking away with their $7.5million Cambridge home and 100 properties across Louisiana.
DeNormandie kept properties including their private island Maine island, along with his beloved decoy duck collection.
The couple first met when they were both students at Harvard University in the 1970s, and married in 1973 shortly after graduation.
‘We loved doing the same things,’ Rathborne told the Boston Globe. ‘We loved hiking and sailing. He’s a nature boy. I loved walking in the woods with him.’
After buying a home in Harvard Square, Rathborne later relocated to New York and then to Los Angeles to pursue a film career, and their relationship suffered until they first divorced in 1987.
‘We were standing in front of the judge sobbing,’ she told the Globe, recalling how the judge asked if they were sure they wanted to end things, and DeNormandie responded ‘It’s geography, your honor. It’s geography.’
Rathborne went on to direct a pair of Twin Peaks episodes in 1990, before the couple reconciled when she became pregnant.
The couple’s $7.5million Cambridge house, which Rathborne won in the divorce settlement. It is her childhood home
DeNormandie got to keep hold of the couple’s private island in Maine, pictured
After having two sons, Rathborne raised them as a stay-at-home mother, saying she had been ‘fulfilled’ in her career.
‘I found the work I was born to do and I was longing for children,’ she told the Globe. ‘I had the privilege of being a mom. I didn’t look back over my shoulder.’
During those years DeNormandie built a sprawling real estate profile over 100 profiles across New England and the south.
The includes the historic Blackstone Block in Boston where the Union Oyster House resides, and the luxury real estate enclave Lewis Wharf on the Boston Harbor waterfront.
When things turned messy after in the midst of their second divorce, DeNormandie recalled those years of much differently than Rathborne did.
‘I made all of the money. She was an incredibly capable person who did nothing,’ he said. ‘She had seven-day-a-week help all the time.’
He told the Globe she kept a personal cook, a secretary, a housekeeper, and spent at least $80,000 per year on a dog walker who would brush their pets’ teeth.
Rathborne said began divorce proceedings in 2017 after years of growing apart, but after she began to suspect DeNormandie had been withholding information about their net worth, she said she was divorcing him over fears about his aggression and controlling behavior. She recalled an incident where he refused to let her use the bathroom during a four-hour car ride.
In response to DeNormandie’s accusations that she was a spendthrift, Rathborne scoffed.
‘I was not spending my time on Newbury Street,’ she told the Globe, referring to the upmarket retail district. ‘I was deeply upset when I read that characterization of me.’
Her attorney, Robert O’Regan, also found his claims ridiculous.
‘Here’s a man who would spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on fine art and wildlife collectibles and in some instances not unpack them from their shipping materials and he’s complaining that Tina lived an extravagant lifestyle?’ he told the Globe.
As for those ducks, DeNormandie said he’d began collecting when he was 10 years-old during family vacations to Cape Cod.
‘We’d go down the Cape in the summer and I’d ride my bike and go into antique stores,’ he said. ‘The only thing I liked were duck decoys since I was about 10. I built up a huge collection.’
The couple also owned the historic Blackstone Block in Boston, which includes the city’s famed Union Oyster house
The couple owned luxury real estate enclave Lewis Wharf on the Boston Harbor waterfront
Sixty-five years later, those wooden ducks cost DeNormandie tens of millions after they tipped off Rathborne that he was undervaluing their net worth.
After she discovered the half-million-dollar duck purchase and the divorce went south, the couple hired a special master, Anthony Doniger, to mediate the litigation. Both agreed to accept the Dongier’s decision, but he said getting DeNormandie to provide financial documents was like ‘pulling teeth.’
When the the full net worth was finally revealed – $221 million – DeNormandie said the ruling was ‘totally biased,’ according to the Globe, while his lawyer insisted the property’s value had merely been assessed differently at first.
‘I was mostly hurt because I had no idea,’ she told the Globe, recalling she was ‘astounded’ to hear the full amount.
Both agreed to split their value down the middle at $110,379,691 apiece, with DeNormandie agreeing to pay $600,000 in Rathborne’s legal fees for prolonging the divorce by not disclosing his full finances.
And though Rathborne walked off with their Cambridge home, he got to keep their $2.6 million home in Antigua.
Source: Read Full Article