Address Newsletter
Our weekly digest on buying, selling, and design, with expert advice and insider neighborhood knowledge.
$12M Watch Hill property .2 miles from Taylor Swift’s hits the market
The property is on the market for the first time in 90 years, and dates back to the 1800s.
There’s an opportunity to be Taylor Swift’s neighbor — what’s more, to live between her house and the hotel where she is rumored to be marrying Travis Kelce this June.
A piece of real estate in Watch Hill, Rhode Island, just .2 miles from Swift’s mansion is on the market for the first time in 90 years.
Watch Hill is the legendary bit of land surrounded by water where Henry Ford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Albert Einstein used to vacation. A true holiday spot, the year-round population is fewer than 100 households. This is where Hugh Jackman and Conan O’Brien go, and, yes, Swift has a house here — the former home of Standard Oil heiress Rebekah Harkness. Watch Hill is also home to Ocean House, Rhode Island’s only five-star hotel, where Swift has been rumored to be hosting her wedding (though the hotel put to rest the hearsay that the pop star bought out another bride).
“Watch Hill owes its exclusivity to its historic remoteness,” said listing agent Donna Krueger-Simmons of Mott & Chace Sotheby’s International Realty. “In the 1840s, [Nathan] Nash let guests stay in the lighthouse. He then built a string of resort hotels. People came from Cincinnati and St. Louis — they took the train to Stonington, Connecticut, and then took a steamship from there to Plympton Dock. There were no roads to Watch Hill at the time, and its inaccessibility was part of its mystique.”
The property at 6-8 Chapel Place is on the market for $12,200,000 and encompasses 2.6 acres and three buildings; it offers eight bedrooms and six bathrooms within 4,645 square feet of living space. The property has views of New York and Connecticut across expanses of ocean.
Advertisement:
The main house on the lot dates to 1850. The rustic cottage, which has natural wood siding, features a deep porch that looks west, toward the sunset. A guest house dating to 1920 is not as well maintained, but usable, while the two-car garage has attached living quarters.
“Some buyers might consider the guest house a tear-down,” Krueger-Simmons said. “This property is made up of two separate parcels in a 1- acre zone and offers tremendous possibilities to build, design, and create your own secluded family compound. The houses on the property offer the buyer an immediate opportunity to move in and begin enjoying summer while they ponder the possibilities.”
Advertisement:
From the property, a hidden path leads to the restaurants and shops of the village; another path leads to East Beach, where Swift’s house is located. Yet another short walk takes the pedestrian to the storied Ocean House.
Although the lots are behind and above the main road, and thus not waterfront, views of Napatree Point, Little Narragansett Bay, Block Island, and Fishers Island are all visible. And while it’s not clear if Swift and Kelce will, in fact, be wed in town, there’s a decent chance of catching a glimpse of her at some point from this house too.
Donna Krueger-Simmons and Mott & Chace Sotheby’s International Realty hold the listing.
More Real Estate
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com