Taylor Swift has walked into trouble in the exclusive beachside community where she bought an $18million vacation home this summer - building an enormous sea wall that has left local residents furious. Swift responded by ringing the property with a six foot fence and posting security guard on the premises 24 hours a day – even when she isn’t there. Laura Dwyer, a spokeswoman for the Coastal Resources Management Council, said the seawall itself predates Swift's purchase of the 1930 home - and possibly dates back to the 1938 hurricane the savaged the coast. Workers are filling in the sand behind a seawall that is a popular hangout for the community and piling large boulders in front of the wall. Like Harkness, Swift made waves when she moved into the exclusive enclave. Mr Bishop has been fishing on the Watch Hill beach since he moved to the neighborhood in 1961. The most-hated office jargon revealed from 'out of the loop' to 'ducks in a... Ireland warns failure to get Brexit trade deal will be 'ruinous' for the UK and anger US president-elect Joe... ANDREW PIERCE: How the Carrie Symonds Crew beat the Boris bruiser in their game of chicken. One time she arrived at a party by climbing to the roof and descending the chimney. Well, as it turns out, long before Swift began throwing lavish, star studded (and, some neighbors might say, raucous) fourth of July bashes at her $17 million estate in Watch Hill, the property had already earned the nickname of “Holiday House” thanks to its former owner: Rebekah Harkness. Other residents say that the new construction on the seawall is an eyesore. She went on to marry four times, but it was her second marriage to Standard Oil heir William Hale Harkness in 1947 that turned her into one of the wealthiest women in America. Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift share a... Taylor Swift spent Christmas with the main man in her life... 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She filled fish tanks with goldfish and Scotch, and — as Swift hints at in the song — cleaned her swimming pool with champagne. ... “We’re, like, Taylor Swift fanatics in my house. The comments below have not been moderated. She reportedly bought it outright with a single $17.75million wire transfer. The new boulders piled in front of the wall, he says, will block him – or anyone else – from getting around the seawall and cross the public beach. Gina Raimondo in 2015 floated, but eventually retracted, the idea of a “Taylor Swift tax” on second homes worth more than $1 million. Harkness used her fortune to sponsor various ballet companies and, in the 1960s, would bring the dancers to Watch Hill for the summer. Watch Hill has long been a playground for the extremely wealthy – the Harkness House itself was built by a Standard Oil heiress. Cue the record scratch. The seawall has been a popular spot for teenagers to hangout for longer than he’s been alive. But Swift brought a fame to the wealthy community that it hasn’t seen in decades. Photo from the official Taylor Swift Facebook Page. “Rebekah gave up on the Rhode Island set forever…” Swift croons at the top of the second verse. It’s also become a makeshift memorial of sorts of for his friend Trevor Johnson, who drowned there in 2004. And so, Harkness, in turn, turned her back on them. Swift is merely bringing it back up to standard after decades of disrepair, she told MailOnline. Considering a change of direction? Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group. Before Mr. Harkness’ untimely death from a heart attack in 1954, the couple bought the coastal property and became known for their, as Swift writes, “tasteful if a little loud” soirees. I can't believe it: Richard Bishop expresses his disbelief at the huge construction work going on behind him at Taylor Swift's Rhode Island home, Rage: Richard Bishop walks past Taylor Swift's seawall at her Rhode Island home which is on a historic part of the New England coast, Too high: Mr. Bishop explained that the wall was constructed without necessary approval and has become an eyesore. Who is this Rebekah? In 2013, Taylor Swift bought Harkness’ former home — Holiday House — in Watch Hill, Rhode Island. Swift did not have to acquire building permits from the town and only had to obtain permission from the state Coastal Resources Management Council – an environmental organization that held no hearings before granting her permission to undertake the construction – estimated at more than a million dollars. It is the only structure jutting out in a long stretch of idyllic New England beach. According to US reports, the pop superstar paid just over $17m in cash to secure this 5 bedroomed, 11,000 square foot, beach front property in Rhode Island's upmarket Water Hill. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Rebekah rode up on the afternoon train, it was sunny, Her saltbox house on the coast took her mind off St. Louis, Bill was the heir to the Standard Oil name and money, And the town said, “How did a middle-class divorcée do it?”, The wedding was charming, if a little gauche, They picked out a home and called it “Holiday House”, Their parties were tasteful, if a little loud, It must have been her fault his heart gave out, There goes the last great American dynasty, Who knows, if she never showed up, what could’ve been, There goes the maddest woman this town has ever seen, She had a marvelous time ruining everything, Rebekah gave up on the Rhode Island set forever, Flew in all her Bitch Pack friends from the city, Filled the pool with champagne and swam with the big names, And blew through the money on the boys and the ballet, There goes the most shameless woman this town has ever seen, Pacing the rocks, staring out at the midnight sea, She stole his dog and dyed it key lime green, Fifty years is a long time
Holiday House sat quietly on that beach, Free of women with madness, their men and bad habits, Who knows, if I never showed up, what could’ve been, There goes the loudest woman this town has ever seen, I had a marvelous time ruining everything. Swift bought Harkness’s Rhode Island “Holiday House” in 2013. Swift captures the tension between Harkness and her neighbors in the song’s chorus, singing: “There goes the maddest woman this town has ever seen / She had a marvelous time ruining everything.”. As outlined by the New York Times, Harkness (nee Semple West) was born into a well-off St Louis family in 1915. Left-wing Dems blame Nancy Pelosi's refrigerator filled with $12-a-pint ice cream in her multi-million... Jeffrey Toobin is fired from the New Yorker weeks after being caught masturbating on a work Zoom call. Society, however, was quick to cast out the socialite-turned-widow who already had a reputation for being a bit eccentric. But not every home has a song, much less a track on the No. Minutes later, a Westerly police cruiser arrived in the driveway of the home. News Style. But local fans (this one included), in particular, got quite the thrill when tuning into track three, “the Last Great American Dynasty.”. Read the full lyrics below for more of Swift’s account and, if you’re interested in hearing “the Last Great American Dynasty” for yourself, you can stream it and the rest of folklore on YouTube (peep a view from the “Holiday House” in the lyric video) or Spotify, or buy the album at taylorswift.com or on iTunes. Her security presence reportedly irked some locals at first, and Rhode Island Gov. Swift explains it briefly in a verse—Harkness once owned Holiday House, the singer’s current Watch Hill, Rhode Island, home. The construction has caught residents off guard. After the 24-year-old singer purchased the largest and most lavish property in Watch Hill, Rhode Island - a neighborhood filled with large and lavish properties – she began rebuilding a seawall on the beach in front of the mansion. On Monday as Mr Bishop examined the seawall, two guards peered down from the cliff above – watching him. Born Rebekah West in St. Louis, Harkness spent her childhood summers in Watch Hill. Every home has a story. When Harkness sold Holiday House in the 1970s, the 40-room property had swollen to such a size that it was divided into three lots, according to “Watch Hill Through Time.” The center lot, containing the house itself — now so large it had to be trimmed through partial demolition on both sides — was sold to the Wattles family, who renamed it High Watch and kept a decidedly lower profile. Locals Just Shake It Off. Hold on. As Swift sings: “Fifty years is a long time / Holiday House sat quietly on that beach / Free of women with madness, their men and bad habits / And then it was bought by me.”. Taylor Swift sings about her Rhode Island beach house — and the wild antics of its former owner . And why is Taylor Swift — notorious for her autobiographical lyrics — singing about her? By Michael Zennie In Westerly, Rhode Island, Published: 04:31 GMT, 31 December 2013 | Updated: 10:26 GMT, 31 December 2013. “Folklore,” which Swift said she wrote and recorded in isolation, is more poetic than punchy pop, a stripped-down symphony of storytelling. Taylor Swift’s new album, Folklore, was released today, and we’re obsessing over one song in particular that tells the story of the former owners of her Rhode Island home, known as Holiday House. And Swift's security guards have begun chasing residents off the sea wall - even though the previous owners allowed locals to use it for decades, Mr Silva said. Number of infected patients transferred to system reaches record... People with learning disabilities are up to 30 TIMES more likely to die from Covid-19, PHE study finds, Nose drops made with chicken coronavirus antibodies 'give short-term immunity to Covid-19', scientists claim. She was once bounced from an ocean liner for shouting obscenities, throwing plates at the band, and swimming nude, according to a 1988 New York Times review of “Blue Blood.” An aspiring composer, she rang J. D. Salinger’s doorbell dressed as a cleaning woman, with hopes of setting the author’s writing to music. Then, just days after the purchase, a fan, Lucas H. Vorsteveld, 22, of Chicago, was arrested trying to enter the property. Iyengar; took in a pet raccoon; and even once filled her pool with champagne.