Their squabble over a multi-million-dollar mansion renovation and claims of an extramarital affair engulfed a glitzy Colorado enclave with scandal.
But hopes of a lengthy Desperate Housewives saga were derailed Friday, when fashion model Danielle Braverman’s dirty laundry lawsuit against neighbor Hayley Servatius, 45, came to a shuddering halt. A mistrial has been declared.
Braverman, 44, sued Servatius over claims she botched a renovation of her $2.5 million mega-mansion in the sought-after Denver suburb of Greenwood Village.
Glamorous Braverman claims Servatius took her eye off the ball because she was busy having an affair with her builder John Soderstrom, according to legal documents.
She and her husband are seeking $437,000 in direct costs and ‘far more’ in punitive damages.
Servatius furiously denied the affair allegation during a deposition and is countersuing over claims Braverman was a nightmare boss.
She described herself as a happily-married, ‘God-fearing woman’ who had never had a romantic relationship with anyone other than marketing executive husband Matthew Servatius, 45.
Jurors were banned from hearing about the affair claims – but had been due to see texts between Servatius and Soderstrom that were described as ‘flirty’.
It is unclear how Braverman’s legal team planned to use them.
The ultra-nasty dispute ruptured a once-treasured friendship between the women, with Servatius once calling Braverman ‘sweetie’ and ‘doll’ in affectionate texts.
Colorado designer Hayley Servatius, 45, arrives at Araphoe County Courthouse in Littleton, on Friday morning after being sued by neighbor and former friend Daniella Braverman
Daniella Braverman and husband David Reis arrive for Frida’s hearing which ended in a mistrial after multiple juror commitments raised the prospect of a weekslong delay
Daniella Braverman’s $2.5 mansion in Greenwood Village, Colorado, sparked an ugly legal dispute after she accused interior designer neighbor Hayley Servatius of botching a renovation
By all accounts, Braverman loved and trusted her former friend, too.
She hired Servatius’ firm HLS Designs to remodel her giant mansion – purchased for nearly $1.8million in 2020 – due to her proximity, experience and because: ‘I just liked her,’ the model testified on Thursday.
But things went horribly wrong, with Braverman accusing Servatius of botching the renovation, overstating her credentials, overcharging her and even stealing designer furniture destined for her mansion.
Braverman’s claim Servatius had been distracted by a relationship with her builder was perhaps the most devastating one.
The designer and husband Matthew are parents to three young children and there’s no suggestion the infidelity claims are true.
Servatius hasn’t taken the onslaught lying down, though.
She has countersued, claiming Braverman was a nightmare client whose ever-changing demands spoiled the project and left her in debt.
Braverman’s stony face as she walked into Arapahoe County Courthouse in Centennial Friday clad in a white blouse, tight black skirt and high heels with a sleek ponytail was a possible omen of the drama that was about to occur.
Shortly afterwards, an exasperated Judge Don Toussaint declared a mistrial in her case against Servatius, which was first filed in 2023.
Servatius is pictured in court Friday. She faces months of purgatory after former friend Braverman’s lawsuit against her suffered a mistrial before being pushed back to next year
Hayley Servatious, pictured with husband Matthew and the couple’s three young children, says neighbor-turned-client Danielle Braverman’s unreasonable demands left her in the red
Builder John Soderstrom, pictured, is the construction worker who Braverman said had been having an affair with her interior designer. There’s no suggestion that’s true and Servatius has vehemently denied it
He’d lashed both sides’ lawyers on Thursday for sniping and maneuvering in a way that had left jurors ‘rolling their eyes.’
The trial overran to the point that jurors’ private commitments would have pushed proceedings into a third week.
The judge complained to both legal teams that the six ‘working-class’ members of the jury were being asked to make ‘sacrifices’ too great to hear the case of the warring women.
He added that he was just as unimpressed with the lawyers’ courtroom antics and admitted he’d been forced to keep a ‘poker face’ for the sake of the jury.
Toussaint huffed on Thursday that he had gone ‘above and beyond the call of duty to make this trial work,’ noting that he had another 377 cases on his docket.
Upcoming jury commitments included college midterms, running a small business and caring for a spouse after surgery, the judge said Friday as he attempted to ‘salvage’ the trial.
Servatius was also unavailable over Memorial Day because she ‘has non-refundable…’ her lawyer told the court, before stopping and letting the mysterious commitment hang in the air.
Toussaint finally declared a mistrial Friday morning, apologizing to jurors and thanking them for their service.
That means Braverman and Servatius – who wore a daringly-short brown shirt dress and brown suede heels for Friday’s hearing – will now have to let their feud fester until 2026.
‘We are grateful for the jurors who took time out of their lives to be part of the trial this week,’ Servatius’ defense team told Daily Mail on Friday in a statement.
‘While disappointed the trial could not be concluded, Ms Servatius looks forward to getting back into court so she can continue to expose the false and outrageous allegations that have been asserted.’
Servatius and Braverman live just 500 feet apart, with the designer residing in a gorgeous $2.5 million mansion every bit as impressive as the model’s.
Braverman, pictured with husband Reis, accused her former friend of taking her eye off the ball because of an affair with a builder. She also accused her of lying about her credentials, overcharging and stealing designer furniture
Servatius enormous $2.5 million home is pictured. The two women live just 500 feet apart and now face a year of festering resentment while awaiting a retrial
Judge Don Toussaint declared a mistrial on Friday after chiding legal teams for the defense and plaintiffs, complaining the trial had gone ‘off the rails’ and was wasting jurors’ time
The trial began on Monday and featured days of testimony about wallpaper, wainscoting, fixtures, invoices and project detail, in addition to evidence about the relationship between designer and model.
Much of that testimony came from Braverman herself, who wore a cream blouse with a pearl-dotted collar on Thursday, occasionally smiling gently at jurors or gingerly taking sips of water.
Servatius, whose husband has been a loyal presence sitting behind the defense table throughout proceedings, wore a pastel suit and gold cross necklace on Thursday.
That was an apparent nod to the devout Christianity she cited in her deposition when questioned about the affair, and on a social media biography where she declared her interests as ‘Jesus and mom things’.
Braverman resumed testifying Thursday, sitting ramrod straight, at times touching her long fingers to her neck. The defense projected huge pictures in court of rooms in her 11,000-square-foot home, asking the model to point out ‘damages,’ which she repeatedly failed to do.
She also testified that, while she complained about Servatius’ work on her mudroom and bathroom, she generally liked the spaces – they just weren’t what had been agreed upon.
By the time Braverman and her co-plaintiff husband moved into the home in November 2022, they claim they were disappointed with design flaws and other issues they identified; Servatius quit in January 2023.
Braverman and Reis filed suit against her that June, with the designer filing a countersuit in July – issuing an invoice for more than $9,000 that same day, jurors heard on Thursday.
Braverman testified on Thursday that this invoice, unlike others from HLS, was not itemized – and she believed it to be a legal maneuver accompanying the designer’s countersuit.
Servatius countersued, claiming Braverman and Reis became difficult to work with, expanded the scope of the project, failed to pay her fully and threatened her business
The ugly but petty saga is reminiscent of hit 2000s TV show Desperate Housewives (cast is pictured), which exposed the dark secrets and dramas of the idyllic-looking Wisteria Lane
Braverman, a mother of two, has spoken out in the past about how pressures from the modeling industry contributed to her development of an eating disorder
Braverman testified that she’d spoken to some vendors used by Servatius, finding that the designer had provided project invoices at significant markups.
Jurors heard testimony Thursday from the CFO of an upmarket Denver furnishings store selling to designers and architects who explained how doctored invoices from his place of work, Town LLC, showed prices nearly three times the original.
And while Town always asked for payment to the company, these invoices asked for payment to HLS Designs.
In one example, he told jurors how two Anees Hamilton chairs with swivel were priced at $3,780 each in Town’s original invoice.
In the invoice shown to jurors, however – and ordered to be paid to HLS Designs – the altered price for each chair was $9,005, with the order for two totaling $18,010.
‘Almost 11,000 more than what Town charged,’ a lawyer for the plaintiff pointed out.
The defense pointed out that designers would also be responsible for sales tax, packing and other costs.
Jurors asked detailed questions about the allegations – but less than 24 hours later, the case came off the rails
And now locals invested in the saga of the battling blonde neighbors will have to wait until 2026 to learn who comes out on top.
