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The mansion was once owned by Rebekah Harkness, a high-profile socialite who famously married into the Standard Oil fortune. What she failed to mention at the time though, is how much she related to the woman who famously owned the house before her. Taylor Swift’s 2020 album, Folklore, came as a surprise to everyone — including the artist’s celebrity friends, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, who had cautiously guarded the name of their third daughter since she was born, only to have Swift’s album reveal the name in a track named after her. The medial sales price of a single-family home in Providence, for example, climbed from $337,250 to $373,750 in March, a 10.82% jump.
A New Taylor Swift Song Tells the Story of the Former Owners of Her Rhode Island Home
Her grandfather founded the St. Louis Union Trust Company, ensuring she grew up comfortably. She attended finishing school at the Fermata School for Girls in Aiken, South Carolina, whose other alums included Roosevelts and Auchinclosses. According to Blue Blood, a book by Craig Unger, Harkness wrote in her scrapbook that at Fermata, she set out ‘‘do everything bad.” An example of her mischievousness? (Perhaps this is a tale that inspired the Swift lyric, “She had a marvelous time ruining everything.”) Fittingly, she and her finishing school friends dubbed themselves the Bitch Pack.
A secret love nest for Taylor’s friends?
After skipping the iconic bash for several years, Taylor Swift posted pictures on Instagram on Friday of her celebrating at her Watch Hill Mansion for several of her famous pals. You’ll remember the one – when she and the British actor, he in his ironic (or, as he claims, simply borrowed) “I love TS” t-shirt, frolicked in the waves in front of Swift’s sprawling cliff-top house in the wealthy coastal town of Watch Hill, fuelling endless speculation about their relationship. "Bill was the heir to the Standard Oil name and money," Taylor wrote in the lyrics, allegedly pertaining to Rebekah's second husband, William Hale Harkness, the heir to the Standard Oil fortune. For Independence Day last year, the "Cruel Summer" hitmaker spent time with her "local neighborhood independent girlies" at her seaside estate. Try to imagine a chillier welcome than an entire state attempting to create new tax legislation that was not just aimed at taking your money but was also named after you. It includes eight bedrooms, eight fireplaces, and a pool in the back, which was the site of a notable Fourth of July party that Swift hosted this month.
Taylor Swift
In 2015, High Watch inspired a proposal by the Governor of Rhode Island to impose a luxury tax on expensive secondary homes in the state. In 2017, Swift was sued over her decision to build a seawall on the beach as plaintiffs argued the beach had been dedicated to the public over the years and Swift had no ownership of it; the courts ruled in Swift's favor. L'Officiel has listed High Watch as one of the most expensive celebrity homes in the Americas.
Taylor Swift back in RI for 4th of July party with Haim, Selena Gomez - The Providence Journal
Taylor Swift back in RI for 4th of July party with Haim, Selena Gomez.
Posted: Fri, 07 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
The coastal mansion, located at 16 Bluff Avenue in Watch Hill, Rhode Island, was built in 1930 and sits on the highest point in the coastal town. The 11,744-square-foot holiday house boasts 700 feet of shoreline and offers sweeping views of Little Narragansett Bay, per Business Insider. According to See Westerly, Watch Hill was used as a lookout during battles dating back before the French and Indian War.
Taylor Swift Throws First Fourth of July Party Since 2016 - House Beautiful
Taylor Swift Throws First Fourth of July Party Since 2016.
Posted: Fri, 07 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
“Rebekah rode up on the afternoon train / It was sunny,” Taylor Swift croons in her new song “The Last Great American Dynasty.” In 3 minutes 51 seconds, Swift tells the story of Harkness’s legacy through lyrics. Swift explains it briefly in a verse—Harkness once owned Holiday House, the singer’s current Watch Hill, Rhode Island, home. (Yes, the seaside mansion that was the setting for Taymerica.) However, the connection between the two women, despite being eras apart, may go beyond mere real estate.
Her snaps also showed her massive pool adorned with inflatable swans, unicorns and flamingos, as well as an inflatable activity area. In 2015, Gigi Hadid posed in front of her friend Taylor's "saltbox house" in a red one-piece and a pink volleyball. However, the pricey pad is just one fraction of Swift’s over $80 million real estate portfolio. Swift shared a few snaps from the low-key party online, showing the kitchen as well as some her choices in art for the home. The area had a vintage feel to it, with a built-in cabinet decorated with lots of small knick knacks — including a large “T” sign — as well as several bottles of various alcohols. Jonas, for his part, posted a photo of he and brother Nick Jonas putting Swift’s bar to good use.
The song will go on to tell us the story of Rebekah Harkness, the founder of the Rebekah Harkness Foundation and a well-known patron of the arts. In the above verse, we are also introduced to her husband Bill, who was the heir to a wealthy oil company. ’ represents the negative assumptions and attitudes towards divorced women like Rebekah, and unmarried or independent woman in general of the time.
Taylor Swift's house in Rhode Island
Here, Taylor refers to Rebekah and her life as ‘the last great American dynasty’ and ponders us to wonder what could have been if Rebekah never came to Holiday House. The town saw her as a mad woman, but Taylor suggests that Rebekah didn’t care, she was simply having a ‘marvellous time ruinin’ everything’ in the eyes of the towns people, when she was simply living her life to the fullest. Her last Fourth of July party there was in 2016, the year of the Kimye feud and Swift’s ensuing cancellation. (I saw a man and a woman playing football on the lawn of her house, but all I know for sure was that the man was definitely not Ryan Reynolds.) That summer was also the last time she was photographed publicly in the state. Swift has said that her biggest mistake in creating her public image was not being forthcoming enough about how carefully crafted it was. She brought in hordes of celebrities for her famous — and perfectly Instagrammed — Fourth of July parties.
The most expensive private home in Rhode Island,[2] High Watch has been owned by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift since 2013 and is a subject of publicity and media attention, mostly known for being the venue of Swift's annual Independence Day parties, attended by a range of celebrities. Throughout the song, Taylor draws regular but subtle comparisons between herself and the former owner of her house (holiday house) – Rebekah Harkness. In the above and next verse, Taylor talks about herself as the current owner of Holiday House, and the similarities in the lifestyle she shares with Rebekah.
In the third song from her eight-studio album, Folklore, which won a Grammy for Album of the Year, Taylor weaves a country-folk lyrical story of the history of her Rhode Island Mansion ‘Holiday House’ that was once owned by the notorious Rebekah Harkness. It says something that she’s been scrutinized this much in a town where, until a public outcry and a rash of bad press in 2016 prompted a change in policy, the Westerly Yacht Club did not allow women to be full-time members. It says something more that when Jay Leno bought a $13.5 million mansion in Newport, Rhode Island, in 2017, nobody said a negative word about it; there was certainly no proposed Jay Leno Tax.
They don’t build ’em like they used to – and you’ll understand that the moment you enter one of Rhode Island’s breathtaking historic homes. From Colonial-era cottages oozing charm and history to waterfront Gilded Age Newport Mansions that were once the summer homes of the nation’s wealthiest families. These dozens of buildings – some serve as museums, some have become restaurants, hotels, and resorts, while others still serve as private homes – are must-sees. Swift drops in to this discreet community a few times a year and has been spotted frequenting its age-old local institutions, including the ice cream parlour, “although she doesn’t wait in line like the rest of us,” says Marantz.
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