Taylor Swift’s Historic Rhode Island Seafront Home

This historic oceanfront home is owned by pop superstar Taylor Swift. Dubbed “High Watch”, it sits on the highest point in Watch Hill, a historic district in Westerly, Rhode Island. It is situated on 5 acres of land and features 700 feet of shoreline with views of Little Narragansett Bay.

The colonial style home was built in 1930 for the wife of oil magnate George Grant Snowden. It was then sold in 1948 to Mr. William Hale Harkness, heir to the Standard Oil Company fortune. Taylor Swift purchased the home in 2013 for $17.75 million.

The home features approximately 11,000 square feet of living space with 8 bedrooms, 10+ bathrooms, 8 fireplaces, 36′ long parlor, formal dining room, kitchen, 45′ long sunroom, lower level rec room with service kitchen, 5-car garage and more. Outdoor features include a gated entrance, terraces, swimming pool and a summer house.

Singer offers Gigi Hadid and Bradley Cooper to use Rhode Island mansion as ‘secret love nest’

Taylor Swift’s mansion explored as Bradley Cooper and Gigi Hadid use it as secret hideout (Image via Instagram/@gigihadid, @taylorswift, @bradleycooperroffical)

Taylor Swift has been trending for a whole lot of things recently, including her relationship with Chief’s star, Travis Kelce, and the massive success of her Eras Tour movie. And now, Taylor’s Rhode Island mansion called High Watch, which she bought in 2013, has catapulted into the news.

Gigi Hadid & Bradley Cooper were photographed together again, and rumors are circulating that they were on a weekend getaway together#bradleycooper #gigihadid pic.twitter.com/EdpeBSTFdG

— BradleyCooperNews (@BCooperfanpage) October 9, 2023

One of Taylor’s best friends, Gigi Hadid, and her new boyfriend, Bradley Cooper, are reportedly using Swift’s mansion to escape the public eye and spend time with each other in privacy. They have used it as something like a ‘secret love nest.’

A source revealed to the Mirror that Taylor was reportedly happy to lend her mansion to the new couple.

Taylor Swift, the total romantic, lends her mansion to be used as a secret love nest

According to a Mirror exclusive, a new power couple, supermodel Gigi Hadid and Oscar-nominated actor Bradley Cooper are using Taylor Swift’s mansion called High Watch as a ‘secret love nest.’ The couple are reportedly using the home to enjoy each other’s company in privacy.

A source revealed to the Mirror that the 1989 hitmaker is allegedly a “total romantic” and that she loves to play cupid for her friends. The source further explained that despite Hadid and Cooper owning private properties, they needed a more private location to “spend time getting to know each other.”

“Taylor was only too happy to help. She said the door to her home is always open for them to use.”

Gigi Hadid has a three-year-old daughter named Khai with Zayn Malik, and Bradley Cooper has a six-year-old daughter named Lea De Seine with Irina Shayk. The duo reportedly bonded over their daughters and was introduced by none other than Bradley’s daughter’s mother, Irina Shayk herself.

From the Snowdens to Rebekah West to Taylor Swift: The legacy of High Watch

High Watch, built in 1930, is located at Westerly, Rhode Island, on the famed historic Watch Hill. It was formerly known as Holiday House. It is now Taylor Swift’s famed Fourth of July party destination. It is a colonial-style, 11,000-square-foot mansion on a five-acre luxurious seafront estate that Taylor bought back in 2013, a year after the release of Red and a year before the release of 1989.

The house contains a generous 16 rooms, which includes eight bedrooms and an estimated 10.5 bathrooms. The house, which also has eight fireplaces, 700 feet of shoreline with an incredible view, and a pool in the back, also sits atop the highest point in Rhode Island.

High Watch has a lucrative history, apart from the history Taylor Swift is making right now. It was built for the Snowden family in 1930, particularly Mrs. George Grant Snowden, who acquired the site from Eugene Atwood. The house was initially called Holiday House. The Snowdens were oil company owners who acquired vast wealth through oil and gas.

The house’s oil-baron history continued when it was sold to the Harkness family’s William Hale Harkness, the heir to Standard Oil, and his wife, Rebekah West Harkness, in 1948. Rebekah, who inherited the property after her husband’s death, was a socialite, philanthropist, composer, sculptor, and dance patron. She was famous for starting the Harkness Ballet.

Rebekah was one of the wealthiest women in America at the time and led a highly publicized personal life, making her a tabloid sensation. She even reportedly filled her pool with champagne. Taylor Swift’s song, The Last Great American Dynasty, off Folklore, is inspired by Rebekah’s life and the public scrutiny she endured for her private life.

Harkness endured many tragedies in her personal life. Harkness got married four times in total, twice after the death of her husband and once before. She was the mother to three children. Her oldest son, Allen, served jail time for manslaughter. Her oldest daughter, Anne, had a child with severe brain damage who died at the age of 10.

Holiday House was bought by the Gurdon B. Wattles family in 1976 and was renamed High Watch. Rebekah Harkness died at the age of 67 in 1982 due to stomach cancer. Her youngest daughter, Edith, had a mental illness and took her own life following her mother’s death.

According to a 2022 Variety article, the house reportedly set Taylor Swift back $17,750,000.