The Fascinating Story Behind Taylor Swift's Rhode Island Holiday House
Table Of Content
The Last Great American Dynasty, a track on her new album, Folklore, released last Friday, tells of the eccentric socialite, composer and philanthropist Rebekah (“Betty”) Harkness, who bought Holiday House in 1947. Here, it is also revealed that the house Taylor is talking about is the Rhode Island Mansion she brought in 2013, that was once owned by Rebekah Harkness herself. In the above verse, she makes a lot of comparisons about how she is, and Rebekah was a target for harsh criticism from tabloids and people alike. The last great American dynasty is a return to Taylor Swift’s county roots as she uses a common lyrical technique in country songs where they talk about an event or a person in the third person and then weaves themselves into the songs, with references to how the song relates to their own life. This track is both a lyrical story rooted in country and folk music, a history lesson on the life of Rebekah Harkness, and a statement on the sexist criticism that similarly given to both Rebekah Harkness and Taylor Swift. In her now-deleted posts from 2016, she shared a photo of herself with her bikini-clad friends while enjoying the American holiday together.
A New Taylor Swift Song Tells the Story of the Former Owners of Her Rhode Island Home
Taylor Swift Alleged Trespasser Arrested Outside Rhode Island Home - TMZ
Taylor Swift Alleged Trespasser Arrested Outside Rhode Island Home.
Posted: Fri, 07 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
In fact, the 14-time Grammy winner reportedly offered up her saltbox house on the coast to Hadid and Bradley Cooper during the early stages of their romance last year. Although Swift never got the chance to meet the socialite, Harkness still made an impact on the singer-songwriter, who wrote “The Last Great American Dynasty” about her wild lifestyle. With the 2020 release of her eighth studio album, Folklore, fans got the opportunity to see a different side of Swift, as she moved away from writing music from her own perspective and, instead, chose to share other people's stories. "I found myself not only writing my own stories, but also writing about or from the perspective of people I've never met, people I've known, or those I wish I hadn't," she explained in a tweet announcing the arrival of her album. The Snowdens, beginning with George Grant Snowden's father, James McKean Snowden, who was born in 1831 and lived in Pittsburgh, had made their fortune in oil and gas exploration.
... as did "Orange Is the New Black" star Ruby Rose ...
In the lyrics of Taylor Swift's song, "The Last Great American Dynasty," she tells listeners that her Rhode Island mansion sat empty on the coast for 50 years before she purchased it. She also mentions a woman named Rebekah, and it didn't take fans long to discover that the woman in question was Rebekah West Harkness, an heiress from St. Louis who once owned the property, as reported by The Washington Post. In a final moment of clarity, Taylor tells us that she had a marvellous time at Holiday House, living her life, even some people unfairly saw it as ‘running everything’ and Taylor had a marvellous time. The last great American dynasty is the ideal song for a playlist, that’s designed to be listened to on a chilled summer evening, or when you want to listen to a good story, sitting around the campfire. The third track off Taylor Swift’s Folklore album is not one to be skipped over if you decide to listen to the album.
Inside Taylor Swift's $17 million seaside mansion where she hosts A-list parties
It turns out that Swift's Holiday House has a long history of wealth and lavish parties, and is renowned among locals for its coastal views. On the 2019 album Lover, she sang about her former New York City carriage house in the song “Cornelia Street,” and on the brand-new surprise album she released on July 24, Folklore, there’s another tune about once of her residences. “The Last Great American Dynasty” tells the story of a woman named Rebekah, who, the lyrics explain, married the heir to the Standard Oil fortune and purchased a home called Holiday House.
George Grant Snowden and his brother, James Hastings Snowden, explored for oil first in Pennsylvania and then in Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. Swift likens her own star-studded parties to the bevy of famous composers and dancers that once frequented the Holiday House in Harkness’ days. Swift’s song highlights some of the most outrageous antics the heiress was known for, which included filling up her pool with Dom Pérignon, dyeing one of her pets green, and having a relationship with Salvador Dali (himself known as one of the most eccentric artists in modern history).
Inside Taylor Swift's $17 Million Rhode Island 'Holiday House' With 8 Fireplaces, 700ft Private Beach
It should come as no surprise that Swift has a special relationship with her Rhode Island mansion; just last year, during an appearance on Ellen, the singer said that the property is her favorite place to spend holidays. The name is said to come from the wives of mariners, who would watch for their spouses’ return, often in vain as the ocean took their lives, leaving the women widows. The property spans 5.23 acres and is said to be “the highest point of direct waterfront land on the entire eastern seaboard.” It’s also the most expensive privately owned home in all of Rhode Island. And since celebrity homes are in our blood, especially when they come with their own backstory, we just had to do our due diligence and look up Taylor Swift’s house (and the story behind it), and boy, is it a good one. Sales plummeted 19% year over year in March in this category, which is often viewed as a way to own a home and help pay off one’s mortgage. The median sales price was also up, and by double digits — from $319,950 to $370,000, a 15.64% increase.
The house was built in 1929–1930 for the Snowden family, owners of an oil company, who named it Holiday House. It was purchased in 1948 by Rebekah Harkness, socialite and Standard Oil heiress, who became notorious amongst the local residents for her lavish lifestyle there. In 1974, businessman Gurdon B. Wattles purchased and renovated the house, renaming it as High Watch due to its location. Swift purchased the house for US$17,750,000 in 2013, and inspired by its history and Harkness, released the song "The Last Great American Dynasty" in 2020.
Taylor Swift was back at Watch Hill for a Fourth of July bash. Here's who came with her.
How many billionaires does Rhode Island have? It depends if you count summer homes. - The Providence Journal
How many billionaires does Rhode Island have? It depends if you count summer homes..
Posted: Fri, 05 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]
But imagine our surprise when we heard that one of the songs on the album is a reference to the Grammy Award-winner’s house in Watch Hill, Rhode Island. On Monday, a 54-year-old woman was arrested and charged with trespassing outside Swift's home, Westerly Police Chief Paul Gingerella confirmed. "Happy belated Independence Day from your local neighborhood independent girlies," the star wrote on Instagram. Taylor Swift is bringing back all her different eras – including the Fourth of July party in Rhode Island. Legendary tales of the woman that Swift describes as a “misfit widow” include filling the pool with Dom Pérignon (and the fish tank with whisky), dying her neighbour’s cat green as an act of revenge, and holding raucous soirées with the likes of Andy Warhol and Salvador Dalí. When Harkness died from cancer aged 67 in 1982, her ashes were stored in a $250,000 urn designed by the latter.
Also known as High Watch or Holiday House, the hilltop home by the sea reportedly has eight bedrooms, eight fireplaces, 10 bathrooms and a back patio with a massive pool. Rather than lavish paintings, Swift opted for black-and-white photos of her friends and family — which seemingly line one of her hallway walls. The eight-bedroom property, known as High Watch or Holiday House, was built on the highest point in Watch Hill and boasts over 700 feet of private beachfront. Several stalking, trespassing, and home invasion incidents have been reported at the house since Swift's purchase.
After her husband passed away in 1954, Harkness poured more money into her Watch Hill compound, installing 8 kitchens and 21 baths. She even hosted a ballet workshop there for 20 dancers from the Robert Joffrey Company (now known as the Joffrey Ballet) in 1965. Regarding her mansion's interior, it's reportedly decorated with neutral-colored furniture, per Page Six.
Built in 1930, the mansion sits on the highest point in Watch Hill, Rhode Island, and features 700 feet of shoreline and views of Little Narragansett Bay, according to the real-estate site Zillow. The full story of Holiday House is featured in season 3 of House Beautiful's haunted house podcast, Dark House. Although the “Anti-Hero” singer took a break from hosting the star-studded party for a few years, she held a smaller gathering this past Fourth of July alongside BFFs Selena Gomez and the Haim sisters.
The "Holiday House" that inspired the song was reportedly bought by the Grammy-winning singer in 2013 for $17.75 million in cash, per Page Six. Since then, the musician has put her hard-earned, lavish home to good use by hosting numerous parties with famous friends, known as her squad. Since Taylor Swift tends to keep her personal life fairly private these days, details about the house have been hard to come by.
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 Swift's Rhode Island home, known as Holiday House. The song, titled “The Last Great American Dynasty,” is based on the lives of Rebekah West Harkness (known as "Betty"), a composer and philanthropist who founded Harkness Ballet, and her husband, William Hale “Bill” Harkness, whose family founded Standard Oil. Swift purchased the Watch Hill, Rhode Island, house for $17.75 million (in cash, no less) back in 2013, and has since held numerous—very Instagrammed—Fourth of July parties there. Harkness was married to William Hale Harkness, whose family founded the Standard Oil Company.
Fans got a rare glimpse into Swift's home life in 2016 when she made headlines for an elaborate Fourth of July party, which featured several of her A-list celebrity friends in attendance, including Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and GiGi Hadid. In a now-deleted Instagram post (via Business Insider), Swift shared photos of the partygoers on the beach, at the pool, and in front of the giant inflatable water slide that read, Taymerica, causing many to draw further parallels between Swift and the house's predecessor. Dubbed the “Holiday House,” the Watch Hill mansion was bought by Swift in 2013, complete with an Olympic-sized swimming pool and a past that ties it to the Standard Oil fortune. The songwriter spun the story of the house’s past — and the divorcee who lived there, Rebekah Harkness — into the song "Great American Dynasty” in her eighth studio album, "Folklore." Many fans and news outlets have inferred that the woman in question is Rebekah Harkness, a socialite, philanthropist, and patron of the ballet, who Vogue reports once owned Holiday House, the same Watch Hill, Rhode Island, mansion Swift purchased in 2013 for $17.75 million. High Watch, formerly named Holiday House but locally known as the Harkness House, is an 11,000 square feet (1,000 m2) home situated in Watch Hill, a historic district in Westerly, Rhode Island.
Swift put herself out there, right in plain view, just like she does in folklore and the seven albums before that. (So far out there that fans have scaled the seawall and fence to get onto her property, tried to break in, and even tried to swim there.) The old-money families in Watch Hill have passed those homes down through generations. Even Conan O’Brien, who lives just around the corner, gets a pass from whispered scrutiny, maybe because he bought the house from his parents in 1997. He’s fussed over so little that even someone like me, who lives close enough to go to Watch Hill at least twice a month year-round, didn’t know he lived there until recently.
But there are plenty of news stories and tabloid speculation as to what goes on in the singer’s secluded abode. And the most intriguing one, as of late, is a secret romance that reportedly took place in Tay Tay’s beach retreat. According to Rhode Island Monthly, the couple bought the coastal property soon after the wedding, and they became known for their (as Swift points out herself) “tasteful if a little loud” soirees. Known as the Holiday House, Taylor Swift’s home in Rhode Island was built in 1930 and comes with 7 bedrooms and even more fireplaces (there are 8 of them throughout the residence).
Comments
Post a Comment