In early 2026, Travis Kelce purchased a $5.35 million lakefront property in a very old-money area of Bratenahl, Ohio. Long story short: the neighborhood is full of busybodies and NIMBYs who want to block Travis and Taylor Swift from completely altering the landscaping around their new Ohio home. Travis and Taylor’s people put in their requests with the local Architectural Review Board, and for months now, the locals have been furiously debating the plan to add privacy fences and 10-foot “shrubs.” Some locals believe the privacy fences and shrubs will disrupt local wildlife among other things. One neighbor made a funny remark about how people shouldn’t get too worked up over their new celebrity neighbors because TNT will probably be divorced within a decade. Ouch.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s neighbors met to discuss complaints over proposed renovations at their $5.35 million lakefront property in Bratenahl, Ohio — but in the end, the power couple walked away with a victory.

The local Architectural Review Board convened at the Bratenahl Community Center on Tuesday, where Swift and Kelce’s revised landscaping plans were unanimously approved. Around 35 people attended the meeting, and several residents voiced their concerns over 10-foot shrubs being planted outside the residence for privacy measures.

Resident Lucy Weller was worried about wildlife. “Here is a wonderful opportunity for people who have money to put it into the caliber that this house should have,” Weller said. “I think this is a wonderful opportunity for this camp to go back and learn a bit about native species and designs that show what animals need in this area… They don’t need lawns; they need food and cover and they need places to have sex. I don’t think this landscape does anything to provide for any of the wildlife.”

Chuck Bauernschmidt, who said he lives two houses down from the famous couple, claimed he felt “bad for the village.”

“This is not going to be open,” he said. “This is a forest, and I’m not sure why the board is going in that direction. You’re going against ordinances? Am I mistaken? I don’t think I am.”

Swift and Kelce did not attend the meeting — they were represented by property manager Patrick Hyland, architect Derek Kuryla and project manager Jacob Kutz.

There were supporters in the crowd, including Vasiliki Diamantis, whose comments were met with applause.

“We should feel privileged that these people chose this location for their residence and instead we are arguing over landscape and privacy as opposed to coming together as a community and looking at it as, ‘Wow, they chose Bratenahl, because Bratenahl is a special place,’” Diamantis said. “We should accept them regardless of how many days they live here.”

One attendee was frustrated about the whole discussion, calling it “stupid” to get worked up over a property that will be “sold in seven to 10 years when the divorce happens.”

That comment was met with boos from the crowd.

[From Page Six]

I know this isn’t the point, but I’ve always been sort of amused by Taylor’s real estate “collecting.” She’s not a flipper, she’s a collector. She holds on to the properties she buys for years/decades. In recent years, she’s probably only spent a couple of weeks at her Rhode Island mansion, but she still holds on to it. She probably spends more time at her Nashville penthouse, but she’s had that place since she was a teenager and she’s never made a move to sell it. Now, she recently put her Beverly Hills home on the market, so maybe she’s finally gotten to an age where she doesn’t see the need to have all of these homes. Or maybe she just wanted a new place in LA. My point is that even if Travis and Taylor divorce, one of them will probably hold on to this Ohio home. So their neighbors should just get used to all of those ghastly shrubs and privacy fences.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.