The sprawling seaside estate Taylor Swift was spotted at. Photo courtesy Seaside Properties.
By Kim Kalunian, WPRO Arts and Entertainment
Will pop and country superstar Taylor Swift be Rhode Island’s newest resident?
According to a report and photos from TMZ, the 23-year-old singer and songwriter was spotted touring a sprawling seaside estate on Bluff Avenue in Watch Hill last week. According to the Wall Street Journal, Jim Benson, former CEO of John Hancock Life Insurance, and his wife, Marlene, bought the property in 1996 for $3.5 million. Why? According to the story, they were “downsizing.”
The 5.25 acre property on Bluff Ave. sits 65-feet above sea level and has more than 700 feet of beachfront. According to Zillow, the 11,744 square foot home has 7 bedrooms and 9 baths and was built in 1930. The home appears to have been listed at one time on the realty website Weichert.com for $24 million, but Zillow estimates the home to be worth just over $13 million. The mansion is currently unlisted, though another estate just down the street is on the market for $10,750,000.
Marlene Benson was reached at the telephone number associated with the prestigious Watch Hill address, but said she had “no comment” on Taylor Swift’s reported interest in her home.
Swift previously had a home in Hyannis Port, Mass. near her then-boyfriend, Connor Kennedy.
