Rebekah Harkness spent much of the Standard Oil fortune she inherited on the ballet. Not just going to performances, but sponsoring entire ballet companies, buying up real estate for them and sending them on world tours. In 1962 she turned her Rhode Island estate, Holiday House, into a summer dance camp for the entire Joffrey Ballet company.

Jul 29, 2020 · In 3 minutes 51 seconds, Swift tells the story of Harkness’s legacy through lyrics. But why? Swift explains it briefly in a verse—Harkness once owned Holiday House, the singer’s current Watch...

High Watch (formerly named Holiday House but locally known as the Harkness House) is an 11,000-square-foot (1,000 m 2) home in Watch Hill, a historic district in Westerly, Rhode Island, United States.

Rebekah West Harkness (née Semple West; [1] April 17, 1915 – June 17, 1982) also known as Betty Harkness, was an American composer, socialite, sculptor, dance patron, and philanthropist who founded the Harkness Ballet.

Jul 27, 2020 · One song that has drawn a lot of attention is The Last Great American Dynasty, which tells the story of socialite Rebekah Harkness, who it turns out used to own Swift's Rhode Island mansion, Holiday House. Born in 1915 in St Louis, Missouri, Harkness was the second daughter of prominent stockbroker Allen Tarwater and his wife, also named Rebekah.

Jul 24, 2020 · Everything you need to know about Rebekah West Harkness, the former owner of Taylor Swift's Watch Hill, Rhode Island, manse.

Jul 28, 2020 · In her song, Swift writes that Harkness was blamed for her husband’s early death, and judged for ending one of America’s richest families. (Bill Harkness was the heir to the Standard Oil...

May 30, 2023 · It was widely known that Rebekah's eccentricity was not fully accepted in Rhode Island society at the time. What happened to Rebekah Harkness? Rebekah Harkness died on June 17, 1982 of stomach cancer.

Jul 30, 2020 · Pools filled with Dom Perignon, Gatsby-esque parties, and a Rhode Island mansion with eight kitchens: here’s the story of one of America’s richest women, Rebekah Harkness, as recounted in Taylor Swift’s “The Last Great American Dynasty”.

Jan 15, 2025 · On the personal front, Taylor Swift and Rebekah Harkness are not related in any sense. However, both of them have owned the aforementioned Rhode Island mansion at one point. Born in 1915,...