Alyssa—a longtime “Swiftie”—leads us in a deep dive into the history of Holiday House, Taylor Swift’s oceanfront mansion in Watch Hill, Rhode Island. The co-hosts turn their attention to “the last great american dynasty,” a track off of Swift’s 2020 album Folklore, from which we learned that, just like us, she too enjoys digging into the history of her own home and learning about the people who lived there before her. In the song, Swift sings about the fascinating life of Rebekah Harkness—an American socialite who purchased Holiday House in 1948 with her second husband, Standard Oil heir William Harkness. Following her husband’s death, Harkness spent much of his fortune hosting lavish parties, buying her own ballet company, and pissing off her neighbors in the small resort community of Watch Hill along the way. After scouring through old newspapers and reading ‘Blue Blood,’ the out-of-print biography on Rebekah’s life, Alyssa breaks down the song line by line, revealing which of the wild anecdotes mentioned in the song are true (did Rebekah really dye her neighbor’s dog key lime green??), which aren’t, and what’s missing. She also shares her own theory about the lyrics, and why she thinks they may suggest that Holiday House is haunted by Rebekah’s ghost. Later, the co-hosts discuss Swift’s own struggles since buying the home in 2013, including her many (horrifying) encounters with stalkers trying to gain access to the property. 

CREDITS

Alyssa Fiorentino - Co-host & Producer

Hadley Mendelsohn - Co-host & Producer

Jessy Caron - Producer & Audio Editor

Jacob Stone - Sound Editor & Mixer

To advertise on the show: https://www.advertisecast.com/DarkHouse or email us at [email protected]. 

RELATED LINKS

Holiday House old postcard (PHOTO): bit.ly/3qG8dzS

‘Blue Blood’ by Craig Unger: https://amzn.to/3sjhuy9 

‘Watch Hill Through Time’ by Chaplin Bradford Barnes: https://amzn.to/45Bbb7B 

“Taylor Swift: A former resident of your house would like to meet you” The Day (ARTICLE): bit.ly/44sIhpm 

Watch Hill Historic District Nomination Form (PDF): bit.ly/3OKhWx4

Rebekah Harkness or Jane Lynch? (PHOTO): bit.ly/3KQigt5

Daimoku - Nam myoho renge kyo - 15 minutes (VIDEO): bit.ly/3OHG6bi

‘Blue Blood’ recap series by @JessiSwiftTok (TIKTOK): bit.ly/44iUsVt

‘Blue Blood’ analysis by @Kristina Parro (TIKTOK): bit.ly/3qLttnG

Westerly RI including Taylor Swift's house...Ocean House Watch Hill DJI Phantom 4 Drone view in 4K (VIDEO): bit.ly/3OJjo2B

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