High Watch

The High Watch, formerly named the Holiday House, is an 11,000-square-foot (1,000 m2) home in Watch Hill, a historic district in Westerly, Rhode Island, United States. It is the most expensive private home in the state. The American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift is the owner of the property since 2013. Locally, the mansion is also known as the Harkness House. A Colonial-style mansion, High Watch sits on a 5-acre (2.0 ha) seafront estate that includes a private beach. The estate is situated atop Watch Hill's namesake hillock, which was used as a lookout point during the Seven Years' War and the American Revolution. The house was built in 1929–1930 for the Snowden family, owners of an oil company, who named it Holiday House. It was then inherited by the Standard Oil heiress Rebekah Harkness—notorious amongst the local residents for her lavish lifestyle—in 1954. 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. The house has since been a subject of publicity and media attention, mostly known for being the venue of Swift's annual Independence Day parties, attended by a range of celebrities. Inspired by the house's history and Harkness, Swift wrote and released the song "The Last Great American Dynasty" in 2020. Several stalking, trespassing, and home invasion incidents have been reported at the house since Swift's purchase. In 2015, High Watch inspired a proposal by the then-Governor of Rhode Island, Gina Raimondo, to impose a luxury tax on expensive secondary homes in the state, nicknamed the "Taylor Swift Tax". In 2017, Swift was sued by her neighbors over her decision to build a seawall on the beach as plaintiffs argued the beach had been dedicated to the public over the years...