WESTERLY, R.I. | When a large tent appeared next door to Taylor Swift’s Watch Hill estate last week, it didn’t take long for speculation about the superstar’s impending nuptials to ripple through the affluent New England seaside village — and the internet.
Soon, fans were swapping theories online, photographers were staking out vantage points and residents found themselves fielding questions about a wedding that never was. Or at least, a wedding that seems yet to happen.
The rumors, so far, have proved unfounded. But they offered a glimpse into life in Watch Hill, the Rhode Island beach community in the town of Westerly, close to the Connecticut border, where Ms. Swift has owned a home for more than a decade and where curiosity about the singer has become woven into everyday life.
From the nearby lighthouse, visitors craned for a better view of Ms. Swift’s mansion, a sprawling white home perched atop a rocky bluff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Security cameras dotted the property, and a guard called out to visitors who strayed too close.
Wedding planner Nicole Simeral, dressed in black, stood outside the small white chapel across from the massive yellow Ocean House hotel — Ms. Swift’s neighbor on the beach — waving along cars and buses that slowed and directing traffic to keep moving.
She watched visitors speculate about a wedding she said she knew wasn’t Ms. Swift’s. She’s working a different wedding every weekend in June in that spot. Still, the questions kept coming.
PHOTOS: In Taylor Swift’s beach town, every clue becomes a wedding rumor
“Is Taylor Swift getting married here? Many, many, many have asked,” Ms. Simeral said.
She said there had been “a lot of chitter chatter” as people tried to connect sightings of people who know Ms. Swift in local shops to impending nuptials. But she doubted Watch Hill would be practical for a wedding of that scale because of its limited luxury lodging.
The Watch Hill rumors also dovetailed with separate online speculation that Ms. Swift and her fiance, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, were planning a celebration at Madison Square Garden, though no details about the pair’s wedding have been released, despite multiple requests for comment to Ms. Swift’s spokesperson.
The tent itself, Ms. Simeral said, was hardly unusual. “Next weekend, there’ll be another tent just like this.”
For two summers, Westerly Police Department community service Officer Nick Quaratella has stood at the entrance to a public path leading to the beach beside Ms. Swift’s estate, answering questions from beachgoers and keeping traffic moving.
“They come to the beach, but then they also ask if she’s here or not,” Officer Quaratella said.
He said he can’t help but joke around with some fans.
“I’ll say, ‘Oh, did you hear that she moved?’” he said. “And they’ll say, ‘No.’ And I say, ‘Yeah, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson moved in.’ And they’ll go, ‘Oh, really?’ and then they’ll walk away.”
“That’s pretty funny,” he concluded.
Over the years, he’s seen plenty of unusual reactions. His coworker once spotted a fan on their knees, bowing toward the entrance gate near the property. Visitors have shouted “I love you, Taylor!” from the roadside. One woman convinced her granddaughter he was Ms. Swift’s security guard and posed for a photo with him.
Officer Quaratella has fielded a few questions about the supposed wedding, but not as many as he expected.
“At this point, it’s part of my job,” he said. “It makes me smile. It makes me laugh. I have no problem with it. It makes the day go by.”
Down near a strip of beach boutiques, lifelong resident Lauren Nigrelli said the frenzy surrounding the star has eased since Ms. Swift first moved into the neighborhood in 2013. Back then, Ms. Nigrelli recalled, fans would drive around in circles by her shop playing Ms. Swift’s songs.
“Things have definitely calmed down since then,” she said.
Today, Ms. Swift’s presence remains a fixture among local businesses in what she described as a “quaint New England coastal community.”
Ms. Nigrelli, a Realtor who owns the boutiques Tide and Tide Kids, said she began selling apparel emblazoned with “Holiday House,” the nickname associated with Ms. Swift’s mansion, after children began coming into the store asking for it. On Saturday, she was also selling a Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce wedding sticker book.
“I think every shop has something related to her,” Ms. Nigrelli said.
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