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Taylor Swift’s Rhode Island Mansion: Here’s Everything You Need to Know

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Taylor Swift’s Rhode Island Mansion: Here’s Everything You Need to Know


The stars aligned (or more accurately, assembled) at Taylor Swift’s Rhode Island home over the weekend. Swift, who finished the European leg of her Eras tour last week, was seen at her famous Watch Hill mansion—which inspired a song on her album Folklore—for the first time this summer. Alongside her was her boyfriend, NFL player Travis Kelce, who wrapped up the Kansas City Chiefs preseason games last week. It also happened to be the birthday of It Ends With Us star (and longtime friend of Swift) Blake Lively on Sunday, making a perfect storm for one of the “Cruel Summer” singer’s legendary celebrity-packed parties at the beachside home—a rarity in recent years. Lively and her husband, Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds, were spotted on the premises with their children in tow. Also seen in paparazzi snaps were Jason and Kylie Kelce; Gigi Hadid with boyfriend Bradley Cooper and his seven-year-old daughter; and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his wife, Brittany Mahomes. The gathering appears to have been fairly lowkey, and none of the attendees have publicly posted photos of it (perhaps owing in part to the backlash that has followed Lively as of late?).

Swift during a recent Eras Tour show in London.

Photo: Gareth Cattermole/TAS24/Getty Images

This stands in stark contrast to a decade ago, when Swift’s Fourth of July parties at the residence were iconic star-studded affairs, attended by (and appearing in the Instagram feeds of) Lively, Hadid, Lena Dunham, Emma Stone, Andrew Garfield, the Haim sisters, the Jonas brothers, Karlie Kloss, Tom Hiddleston in an “I ♥ T.S.” tank top, Cara Delevingne, and the rest of the pop star’s rotating circle of A-list friends, often pictured waving sparklers or synchronously jumping in red, white, and blue swimwear on the “Fortnight” singer’s 5.23-acre property. The tradition began in 2013, shortly after Swift bought the 12,000-square-foot home for $17.75 million, and ended after summer 2016—until a comparatively stripped-down reprise last year.

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Known as High Watch, Holiday House, or Harkness House, the white colonial-style dwelling was built in 1929 at the highest point of Watch Hill, overlooking the Block Island Sound. The property reportedly features 700 feet of beach frontage, eight bedrooms, ten bathrooms, lots of balconies, and a huge swimming pool.

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In 1948, oil heir William Harkness bought the home for $80,000—about $1.04 million, adjusted for inflation. After he died in 1954, the deed went to his wife, Rebekah Harkness—the protagonist of Swift’s 2020 song, “The Last Great American Dynasty.” Following her husband’s death, Rebekah reportedly put in eight kitchens and 21 bathrooms, and was known for throwing wild parties with her self-proclaimed “Bitch Pack” that drew criticism from the neighbors. “Flew in all her Bitch Pack friends from the city / Filled the pool with champagne and swam with the big names,” Swift croons, drawing direct parallels between herself and the late heiress. Of the gap between her and Harkness’s ownership of the property, she sings that “Holiday House sat quietly on that beach / Free of women with madness, their men and bad habits / And then it was bought by me.” After too long a break, we’re glad to see the legendary dwelling back in the spotlight.



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Rhode Island

2 dead, 1 seriously hurt after crash on I-95 South in Warwick

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2 dead, 1 seriously hurt after crash on I-95 South in Warwick


WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) — Two people are dead and another person seriously hurt after a crash involving two vehicles on the highway in Warwick Saturday.

Rhode Island State Police said the crash happened around 1:34 p.m. on the ramp from Route 113 West to I-95 South.

According to police, a Hyundai SUV that was driving in the middle lane of the highway started to drift to the right, crossed the first lane, and then crossed onto the on-ramp lane. The car struck the guardrail twice before driving through the grass median.

The Hyundai then struck the driver’s side of a Mercedes SUV that was on the ramp, causing the Mercedes to roll over and come to a rest. The impact sent the Hyundai over the guardrail and down an embankment.

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The driver of the Hyundai, a 73-year-old man, and his passenger, a 69-year-old woman, were both pronounced dead at the hospital.

A woman who was in the Mercedes was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital in critical condition.

State police said all lanes of traffic were reopened by 4:30 p.m.

The investigation remains ongoing.

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Judge rejects DOJ push for Rhode Island voter information

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Judge rejects DOJ push for Rhode Island voter information


A federal judge on Friday tossed the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit aiming to force Rhode Island to hand over its voter information as part of the Trump administration’s push to acquire voter data from several states.

Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Mary McElroy wrote that federal law does not allow the DOJ “to conduct the kind of fishing expedition it seeks here,” siding with Rhode Island election officials. She added that the DOJ did not provide evidence to suggest that Rhode Island violated election law.

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McElroy, a Trump appointee, wrote that she sided with the similar decision in Oregon. That decision ruled that the DOJ was not entitled to unredacted voter registration lists.

“Absent from the demand are any factual allegations suggesting that Rhode Island may be violating the list maintenance requirements,” she said in her ruling.

Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore (D) praised McElroy’s decision. He said in a statement that the Trump administration “seems to have no problem taking actions that are clear Constitutional overreaches, regularly meddling in responsibilities that are the rights of the states.”

“Today’s decision affirms our position: the United States Department of Justice has no legal right to – or need for – the personally-identifiable information in our voter file,” he said. “Voter list maintenance is a responsibility entrusted to the states, and I remain confident in the steps we take here in Rhode Island to keep our list as accurate as possible.”

The Hill reached out to the DOJ for comment.

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The DOJ called for the voter lists as it investigated Rhode Island’s compliance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which allowed Americans to register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license.

The DOJ sued at least 30 states, as well as Washington, D.C., in December demanding their respective voter data. This data includes birth dates, names and partial Social Security numbers.

At least 12 states have given or said they will give the DOJ their voter registration lists, according to a tracker operated by the Brennan Center for Justice.

The department stated after it lost a similar suit against Massachusetts earlier this month that it had “sweeping powers” to access the voter data and that, if states fail to comply, courts have a “limited, albeit vital, role” in directing election officers on behalf of the administration to produce the records. The DOJ cited the Civil Rights Act as being intended to unearth alleged election law violations.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Single Dad Says Grandparents’ Rights Trial Has Cost Him More Than $500K, but He'll Do ‘Whatever It Takes’ to Keep Daughter Safe

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Single Dad Says Grandparents’ Rights Trial Has Cost Him More Than 0K, but He'll Do ‘Whatever It Takes’ to Keep Daughter Safe


As the two-year anniversary of his wife’s death approaches, widowed single father Scott Naso is sounding an alarm to fellow parents across the country — and especially in Rhode Island, where he lives with his now 4-year-old daughter, Laila.



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