BEDDY BYE: Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan, holding daughter Ursula in 2006, and wife Sara Kate have separated after giving tips on like in cramped quarters. (
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Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan, the founder of popular New York-based home-and-design site Apartment Therapy, may need to redecorate after splitting with his wife and business partner, Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan.
Sources tell us the domestic blogging duo, who have made a living out of giving tips for harmonious co-habitation in cramped city apartments, are separating after nearly a decade together.
“They are separating, and nobody knows what the hell is going to happen to the site,” a source said. “This despite the fact they’ve been very public in sharing their lives as a happy couple living in New York City in a small apartment, with a small child.”
Maxwell launched Apartment Therapy in 2004, when the 250-square-foot West Village apartment he shared with Sara Kate was featured in The New York Times. The neatly edited home was showcased in another feature after the pair had their daughter, Ursula, in 2006. The couple later moved to a slightly bigger downtown pad.
Since then, Apartment Therapy has grown big-time and now draws more than 1 million unique visitors a month. It’s spun off several books and sites covering tech, family and a food site, called TheKitchn, of which Sara Kate was the founding editor.
Maxwell describes himself as “part interior designer, part life coach” and preaches in his mission statement, “A calm, beautiful home is linked to happiness.”
Our source speculated that a future divorce could be complicated by how to divide their assets. “Maybe they should look into launching Divorce Therapy,” snipped the source.
An Apartment Therapy rep would not comment on the divorce, but said: “Apartment Therapy just consolidated and relaunched its sites to enhance the focus on home design and home cooking. We are one of the strongest resources on the Web for food and design, with 9 million unique visitors per month . . . We ask that you respect our family’s privacy.”