Back in April, Taylor Swift added another piece of pricey real estate to her growing portfolio: a $17.7 million mansion on the coast of Rhode Island. It’s a pretty mansion. It looks like a wedding cake. It has a bajillion rooms and the property abuts a public beach. And that’s become a major problem for Rhode Islanders and for Taylor Swift. It seems Swifty’s bodyguards are not allowing people to access the public beach!
Stopping to pose with fans as she shopped at Stop ‘N’ Shop and Marshall’s in Narragansett, Rhode Island, last Friday, Taylor Swift looked like the sweet girl next door. But her real neighbors are up in arms about changes that have come to Watch Hill, Rhode Island ever since she bought a $17M mansion on the beach there.
“Now that summer has come and people are getting ready to use the beach, people are really grumbling about having Taylor in town,” an insider tells RadarOnline.com.
“Her property line is at the path to the public beach and she always has guards patrolling the area,” the insider explains. “It’s making it such a hassle.”
At another area of Taylor’s property is a beach wall that local teens and surfers have hung out at for years. But now, “her guards are always asking them to leave,” the source says.
Taylor’s caution is understandable, considering a stalker was arrested for swimming up to her beach house earlier this month. But, “If she wanted privacy, she shouldn’t have bought a house overlooking a public beach!” the source says.
I would be interested in hearing more about the logistics of where her property line is and where the public path begins. It might not be her fault, although it sounds pretty dumb if her bodyguards are telling people to leave the PUBLIC beach. And now it’s gotten even worse – Radar says that the bodyguards harassed volunteers who were trying to clean up the beach!
Taylor Swift isn’t just making life difficult for the people who want to use the beach near her Rhode Island mansion.
Her private security team has also harassed the innocent volunteers who donate their time to keep that beach clean, RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned.
On May 26, a group of her bodyguards flipped out on volunteers from the East Beach Association who were trying to pick up beer bottles and other garbage near her property line, one of the volunteers has revealed.
“We were just trying to do our job,” the individual, who asked not to be named, told Radar. “We were out that day handing out trash bags on the beach and trying to help people keep the beach clean.”
One of the worst areas for garbage, the source says, is a wall near Taylor’s property line.
“People in high school go down there and hang out, and all of my friends who surf love to go there too,” the volunteer added. “There’s always beer bottles and trash back there.”
But when the volunteers ventured close to clean up the area, “Close to five security guards in reflective vests that said ‘Security’ on the back came down and got really mad at us. They told us it was private property and that we had to leave. We were just trying to do our jobs and they were really rude.”
Said the source: “I get that she’s entitled to have her privacy and I know that she’s been going around to local businesses and stuff, which is cool and I really appreciate that. It’s just about trying to strike that balance because everyone else has been using that beach for years.”
Swift paid $17 million dollars in cash for the South County property about a month ago.
When Swifty bought the property in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, she only held on to it for about four months, doing some repairs and upgrades, and then she sold it for a substantial profit. It could be that this Rhode Island property will end up being the same kind of deal – Swifty’s on tour most of the time these days, and while she has been visiting the Rhode Island estate, maybe she’s quickly learning that it’s a bigger hassle than she was expecting. I think there’s a good possibility that if people keep complaining, she’ll sell the place for a tidy profit and maybe someone will move in and they’ll have a better attitude about people accessing the beach.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
If people are on her private property, I can understand security asking them to leave. But private security can’t chase people off public property. If that is happening, the beach goers need to contact the proper channels and get it resolved.
There’s a lot of this private vs. public access stuff in the beach area where I work. Some people don’t mind if their neighbors do a short cut through their property, but others are fanatical about it.
+1
I think this is a rather common problem for celebs with security & beach front property. brangelina have been accused of the same.
I was born and raised here and I will tell you many people are not happy about her living in our small town. Westerly is known for our beaches, the town doubles in population during end of may till sept and watch hill is a huge draw. Wait till the crowds really hit -people are not going to deal lightly with not being able to access that area near her home. Its going to be a battle. And she is not the only multi millionaire in the area , plus the Ocean House alone draws in celebs each summer and they don’t put up any kind of fuss. The beaches are for everyone to enjoy. If she wants to be such a pain in the butt she should have purchased in Newport where the homes have private beaches not right next to public ones.
Yes! This! I grew up on those RI beaches as well and folks aren’t going to like it. Go back to where you came from Swifty.
That’s exactly what I was thinking. Bit dumb of her to buy a house plonked near a public beach if she didn’t want people too close.
I grew up in Newport! My favorite beach is right next to Bailey’s Beach and is technically private property, but whoever owns it has allowed the public to enjoy it. Not ALL the rich people are snobs…
Exactly. It’s a PUBLIC Beach. She has plenty of $$ and could easily snatch up a property with a private beachfront.
I would f*cking protest and riot if I live around there.
I’m from RI too, have not had a chance to get down to Watch Hill and go to Olympia Tea room yet. I think I’ve see the house she owns but don’t remember the beach area… Have to check it out when I go down there.
Does anyone remember this: No one owns below the high tide mark? That’s what we were always told when I was a kid at the beach.
That’s how it is here too, if you own oceanfront, it’s down to the water line.
Making enemies of neighbours, wherever she goes…
So, have you seen any unicorns or faeries around there lately?
If the path to the public beach is on her property then she has a right to close that path down; if it is a public path to a public beach then she cannot close it down. I have a feeling this path is private but prior owners have allowed people to use it to get to the beach as a shortcut. I can see her point in not wanting just anybody wandering around her property but maybe she needs to be a bit more gentle about it and not send thugs to harass people. Maybe go to a town council meeting and explain yourself, Taylor.
+1
As far as everyone has ever known in town about that path it’s public and between two private properties. It’s been used forever as an access point to that side of the beach. I used it back when I was in HS and I’m 32. There’s a sign out there about it being an access point but I can’t remember what it says because I use the other side of the beach at this point.
Now just say it is private ( doubtful ) even though there’s a huge wall there , and a path , do you want to be the Ahole that comes in and closes that access point off? Considering how much revenue that beach brings in for the town? No one is crossing her property at all, it’s not like people are walking through her backyard. Google earth it and you will clearly see how it’s formed.
Why haven’t you (if you really do live there) all called the police on Squinty’s security? I find that baffling.
I’m not wealthy, but I live by one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the country and people there don’t let ANYONE mess around with their God-given rights (real or otherwise). They’re so quick to call the police (who’re in their pocket BTW) on anything, that I swear the line to the police chief must be on speed dial.
I simply cannot believe Squinty getting away with all the things Radar is accusing of. Not in that neighborhood.
There may be something in the deed allowing the public to use the path, even if it goes through private land. My friend and her husband were building their dream home and purchased a 5 acre lot. They were just about to sign on the dotted line at closing when he noticed fine print stating that the other homeowners could use a drive-thru segment of the property to come and go. They put up a stink and the deal almost didn’t go through. It took three hours of arguing before that got taken out and they got their lot. In short, the path may go through private property, but it may be part of the deed that the public is allowed access via the path.
It probably is actually private property, but just hasn’t been an issue in the past because the public was allowed to use it. I understand her not wanting the public to use her property if for no other reason than it could open her up to liability if someone gets hurt while on her land. If people are really upset about it, they could see about trying to get some sort of easement, but if it’s her property, members of the public are technically trespassing if they cross it.
Even if it is a private path (which it doesn’t sound like it is), if it has been used publicly for decades, then there is probably some legal issues regarding whether or not she can shut it down. I’m guessing that people from the public path wandered to the private property and her security shooed them away. Knowing who it was, it got reported to tabloids and blown completely out of proportion. I can’t stand Swifty but I don’t really think she’s that stupid.
Actually it’s a public walkway to a public beach. I know the family on other side of the path (think driveway between properties) and they put a row of trees up to stave off lost tourists wandering into their yard. The East Beach Assn is part volunteer part fire district who clean up trash and seaweed regularly. The surfers hang out there because its the surf spot created by the lighthouse point. Wait until July!!
That is an amazing house.
Annoying or not she is one financially savvy young woman. Considering she comes from several generations of bankers I suppose she knows how to make a buck.
I don’t really mind her too much. Not a fan, but she is really ok in my book.
Honestly, considering she never finished high school I suspect her savvy financial decisions are more her parents’ doing than anything else, or her parents picked really good managers. I highly doubt, after seeing her talk in interviews, that she is personally overseeing and planning out her finances.
This.
Her parents are EXTREMELY wealthy. They bought her way into the industry.
You sure about that? Cause Wikipedia says she graduated in 2008.
Wikipedia: known for credibility.
Guys always seem to leave her, maybe she should stick with the stalker because isn’t that what she wants. A guy so desperate for her attention that he will prove his love by battling the ocean with merely his arms. It seems like her songs are about her being pissed because she is not being treated like a princess in a tower. And when she gets what she wants then she freaks out and call the cops.
Why does she need such a huge house??
I would hate having a huge, empty house. Creepy
Probably an investment property. She’s (and/or her people) a good businesswoman, despite her unicorn and rainbows image.
I seriously hate that house, and all houses like it. They’re just gross. If I had that kind of money, I’d have some nice little cottages in various places, a gorgeous apartment in Manhattan — never a mansion. I’d also finance some public parks. These mansions and large amounts of private property are disgusting.
My ex used to work in houses like that and he would say the occupants were usually “huddled together in 1 part of the house, as if they’re afraid of all that space.”
+1
It’s egregious and makes no sense. If I had more money than I knew what to do with, I would not waste it on that. Investment property or not, nobody needs that much space. It’s like living in a high school.
The fact that she is shopping at local places and making sure to get photographed seems like more of a PR move than anything else. The pictures of her shopping at Bristol Farm are clearly a photo-op. B!tch is in it to look like the girl next door, and this post proves that.
is that a helicopter zone in the front yard?
come on swifty, get real, youre 22 ya need a 15 room house that size? and come on w/ the beach, biotch…
so youre taking anice stroll along the beach and ya gotta STOP turn around and go other way cuz swifty needs her privacy. gawd.
I’m sure she plans to flip this but with the current brouhaha about public beach access adjacent to the house, who would want to buy it? That’s not going to help a sale.
I legit choked on my sammich reading this title. That’s all I have to say. Peasants!
At the end of the day, I reckon Squinty will be proven right.
Say what you will about her, but her people aren’t dumb. I can’t believe for a second that her security would harass people on public space. Nor can I believe that her father (the one actually buying all these properties) would have overlooked any public usage clause in the title deed.
I think what’s happening is that it’s indeed private, but the prior owners have allowed public access, which Squinty’s people are now denying.
Remember. Wealthy people live there. If Squinty’s people were really harassing people on public space, they would have called the police on Squinty’s security and had them cited/warned already. Wealthy people don’t mess around. That this hasn’t happened yet tells me that Squinty has the law on her side.
Like This would be the first time any security has over reacted for a celeb because us peasants are too close to what’s theirs. Lmao. And really why didn’t security call the Westerly Police Dept on these so called trespassers, same would apply they would be arrested if they were trespassers. That area has always been public access. Problem is it literally touches her property and security probably doesn’t want anyone that close because it would be easy to get on her property from that point. But why move next to a PUBLIC beach if shes so concerned. Google earth it- she lives right off the main “drag” in that area. Im not putting the exact address here but its all over the net. The path is almost wooded like and is clear as day and Has been used for YEARS and years. You have to live here to understand how everything is seriously squished together in the area. It’s private , public , private literally on top of each other. It gets confusing at times.
And wealthy people live all over town and don’t act like this with their security etc. There has never been an issue in this area. Google the Ocean house , its high end and celebs stay there and no one has had an issue.
And Trust HER dad or who ever would have had that path closed off if it was hers…… Guess we will see soon enough. I’ll be keeping an eye on the newspaper in town and the gossip. Lol.
It isn’t the job of the security to arrest or even detain people. They sometimes do detain and call the police, but not always and only if the tresspassers are manageable, i.e. one or two persons. If it’s bunch of people, trying to detain them is an easy ticket to lawsuit and possible escalation in violence, something no reputable security wants.
The gist of your post suggests to me that the wealthy don’t have a problem with Squinty. It’s the poor townies who do, which is perhaps why no police has been called yet. Otherwise, I’m just as baffled before. I cannot imagine some bratty scions of wealthy execs not throwing up a hissyfit when told to go away by bunch of burley men. The first thing they’d do is call the cops and threaten lawsuit!
@mike no it’s not the poor townies lol. I never ONCE mentioned income or that they were the ones upset. You make no sense- if someone was trespassing the police would have been involved plain and simple. JUST like they WERE when that dumb a$$ swam up to her property. So YES security would have called police would have came etc. AND that access would have been blocked. They were just being bullies because they could and im sorry that may be intimadating to some people. And yes even with crowds The police would still be called. That’s what security does.
And btw yes im from westerly – graduated , grew up , my family lives and owns homes they use as rentals, etc. I’m glad you are a Taylor fan or whatever , but come on. People in town are passionate about it regardless of income, it’s still small town mentality. It’s sad to see someone come into any town and cause issues regardless where you live especially when there wasn’t one before if the rumors are true.
I personally don’t deal with that part of the beach so it’s not an issue for me but I’m going to give a crap about where the area I live and I’m sure anyone would even if they didn’t live here , there or wherever.
I will admit a lot of people have gone down there because of Taylor’s popularity so like I said before I can see security being a little over Protective. So time will tell if that access way gets blocked or whatever may happen so we will all see it unfold.
@Tify
It’s a matter of being able to detain someone. That swimmer guy was arrested because they were able to detain him until the police got there. Because he was ONE person.
Imagine trying to detain 10, 20 people. Do you think all those people would just wait to be ticketed/arrested?! You have an inflated idea of how a good security firm works. If the mob were threatening, they would have called the police, but otherwise, sending the police on a wild goose chase is not the way to go (outside of LA).
Bringing up townies is reasonable. I still don’t get why the police is not involved if Squinty’s people are blocking people. Wealthy people don’t put up with that kind of shannanigan. Look at Lezbieber. The minute he pulled his crap, they called cops on him. Or look at Amanda Bynes. When she misbehaved, the tenants filed complaint and the board began building a legal case for eviction.
Wealthy people don’t mess around. They will invoke the law at the drop of the hat. Thus, if Squinty is in the legal wrong, why isn’t the law involved?
@mike I agree with you with the easier with one person than a crowd. I just think right now the whole thing is in question because its has always been a public access between the two properties out to the public beach. I personally have no interest in using that access for drama like this considering how much beach we have, but there are people who love going on that side not to mention we all did in HS lol . I’m sure with the gossip around it they will get to the bottom of it. Which at this point is all gossip because as far as i know the access is still open?? But I think it’s more about security being over protective and overly cautious than anything and it will prob turn out it is a public access given to the town at some point but who knows only The Town Hall and maybe Taylor does at this point?
Also you have to keep in mind these are large properties the only ones to complain would be close neighbors or the public trying to access the beach. Which seem to have been the only issue which will only get worse when peak season happens. These aren’t huge apartment complexes and homes on top of each other where it would be many people complaining.
The Westerly police admitted after the whole swimmer incident they need to learn how to deal with this because she’s so high profile at the moment. Most of the wealth in our community is old money/politician money- not “pop star money” so there are usually no Paps here . Plus when the “popular” celebs come by in the summer it’s in and out. So just like anywhere it’s gossip. Just like you think I am over estimating the security team the same could be said for your knowledge of the area and the police dept.
( you want good gossip about the local police google Perks and cork arrest and see what comes up might give you an idea of what we are dealing with here lol )
And I think the law isn’t involved because no one is breaking any. The article isn’t about her actually being able to stop people it’s about security harassing people and trying to block them. So there really isn’t anything going on , on either side. Hell now you have me wanting to go down there 😉 lol
**good convo and back and forth btw.**
@mike – there was an update from one town official ( saw on radar ) and its all logistics with the tide but no one mentioned the access point hmmm. Just the part of her property but not the public part. People are going too close to her part of the beach that’s on her property ( all about the high water mark ) and also climbing the wall. Which is understandable that’s why I said a few posts back the whole area is confusing where public starts and private ends. My issue isn’t her area or HER private property my issue was the public area and if security is over stepping because of the influx of people. Again the town not knowing how to handle this situation. That’s the best thing about gossip the story will change 6 times. Funny though how nothing official has been said about any of this from beginning to end.
Hey, mike. I agree 100% with you.
@ Tifygodess24:
My goodness! What an impassioned outcry! It’s almost like…*whispers*…you might be Radar’s “inside source.”
Gasp.
She is such an asshole. I hope they make her “security team” clean up the beach themselves!
a wall on the beach. how romantic.
Many of those walls are to slow or prevent erosion. Would rather have no beach at all? It’s certainly not as bad as all the high-rises that line the beaches in CA and FL.
What i want to know is – how is she making all these profits on real estate during a time when the real estate market is pretty shitty
Taylor and her pretend secret service might banish undesirables and perhaps some of her fans from a public beach but as a citizen we have a right to say: Shame on you Taylor Swift and your not going to make a cent out of me. I hope more people see this story and contact her to demand answers and to within reason protest around her iron curtain.
Well then, just let the garbage pile up right outside Swifty’s little bitty wall! If she wants it cleaned up, she can have her security thugs do it. The nice folks who were trying to do their volunteer work can put their time and efforts into cleaning up areas where it’ll be appreciated.
She can fork over !7 million dollars for a mansion, and she cant afford to wall it all off, and keep her thugs on her side?
This is all such a lie I’m at the beach daily and see what goes on. Her guards have harassed no one. No one has tried to clean up any beach and been harassed. The only thing I see is some white trash kids spitting on the beach and yelling her name. This is so fabricated. its the kids ruining the beach. NOT TAYLOR SWIFT. We are glad to have her here! This is total fabrication.. I’ve been there daily.
maryann…
Sounds like the townies have run amok. This entire post smells like the self-created drama they’ve whipped up to start an internet backlash against ole Swifty. Not that I’m even a fan of hers, but gmab. Glad to hear she’s actually a decent neighbor.
The RI constitution guarantees our right to the shoeline in Article 1, Section 17.
In part it says: The people shall continue to enjoy and freely exercise all the rights of fishery, and the privileges of the shore, to which they have been heretofore entitled under the charter and usages of this state, including but not limited to fishing from the shore, the gathering of seaweed, leaving the shore to swim in the sea and passage along the shore; and they shall be secure in their rights to the use and enjoyment of the natural resources of the state
In addition,the CRMC has published a pamphlet outlining your shoreline rights. I suggest you print & carry a copy of it. If harrassed by her thugs, call 911………
http://www.crmc.ri.gov/publicaccess/PublicAccess_Brochure.pdf
This is ridiculous! No one using the public pathway or public beach is being harassed or even approached by her security. The problem is teenagers attempting to sit on a wall on her private property. I really hope this gets cleared up soon. Most people are so excited to have Taylor in the area; she has bought a lot of furniture and other items for her house from local Westerly shops.