The 3.5-acre Lake Erie property historically featured natural shoreline growth, anchored by mature willow, oak, and maple canopies. During ongoing property renovations by pop icon Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce, contractors acted on recommendations from the Davey Tree Company to take out several mature trees, including dogwood, black cherry, elm, and Norway spruce, while cutting back wild shoreline vegetation.
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Local residents, however, raised alarm over the clearing, arguing that natural foraging grounds and nesting habitats were being stripped to make way for manicured turf and tall screening evergreens. Around 35 residents attended the Village of Bratenahl Architectural Review Board meeting to challenge the star couple’s exterior landscape plans.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s neighbors argued that clear-cutting natural shoreline growth disrupts native animal habitats across the small lakeside enclave. Local resident Lucy Weller addressed the board directly, urging the couple’s design team to reconsider their blueprint in favor of native plants that support local fauna.
“Here is a wonderful opportunity for people who have money to put it into the calibre that this house should have. 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,” Lucy Weller said, as per a Page Six exclusive by Leah Bitsky and Lucas Widman. “They don’t need lawns; they need food and cover, and they need places to have s**. I don’t think this landscape does anything to provide for any of the wildlife.”
Chuck Bauernschmidt, who has lived along Lake Shore Boulevard for 47 years, expressed strong frustration over the clear-cutting.
“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.”
Bauernschmidt also noted the loss of natural tree cover, adding, “I take offense when we start knocking trees down,” while stressing that the woodland canopy has long sheltered resident wildlife.
Residents also cautioned that high perimeter fencing introduces hazards for deer navigating toward Lake Erie. He specifically questioned the spear-topped fence pickets, pointing out that deer routinely leap across neighboring yards.
Bratenahl Building Administrator Mary Ranney acknowledged the risk during the public record hearing, admitting that deer getting caught or impaled on high pointed fences has previously occurred in the village.
Despite the vocal objections over wildlife displacement, the Bratenahl Architectural Review Board voted unanimously to approve the updated landscaping application. The decision greenlights 10-foot evergreen privacy shrubs alongside altered brickwork.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce did not appear in person, leaving house manager Patrick Hyland, landscape architect Derek Kuryla, and project manager Jacob Kutz of Tiny Construction to present the revised designs.
The landscaping debate also created friction over the village infrastructure. Next-door neighbor Katherine Bolton warned that planting deep-rooted evergreens along the shared property boundary could compromise an unmapped sewer line running through the parcel.
Bolton also voiced frustration over the couple using the 21,000-square-foot estate as a seasonal retreat without integrating into the 1,200-resident village.
She told the board, “Bratenahl is known for peace and quiet. The arrival of the new owners has been a tremendous blow… they are absentee owners.”
Meanwhile, some residents were also against the local resistance, arguing that the village should welcome them.
“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.'”
Another resident also echoed a similar sentiment, explaining that broader village opinion remains positive despite the pushback from adjoining property lines.
“We don’t want them to feel unwelcome. I don’t think people are angry. I think it’s just the neighbors on either side who object. I don’t know why they object; they’ve done a really nice job fixing up the house.”
Now, it remains to be seen where this conflict between Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift’s privacy and the local flora and fauna goes from here.