Smith links Landmark to disgraced Merrill man
How is Charlottesville's hotelus interruptus related to the disgraced Merrill Lynch CEO? Via designer-to-the-stars Michael S. Smith, a favorite of hotel owner Halsey Minor. But Smith's $1.2 million office overhaul for Merrill boss John Thain (a relative bargain compared to Smith's $100K job for the Obamas) helped push the banker into the unemployment line. The L.A.-based designer was to have fashioned interiors for Minor's now-paused Landmark Hotel, seen here in mid-November.
