BRATENAHL — Not everyone in Bratenahl is upset with Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s plans for their $5.35 million Ohio estate on the shores of Lake Erie, according to the Akron Beacon Journal — a second neighbor has come forward to say the couple has plenty of support in the village and that the backlash is limited to their immediate neighbors.
The estate, at 12725 Lake Shore Blvd. east of Cleveland, has been a village talking point since October, when some neighbors spoke out against the couple’s plans for the outdoor space at the mansion, the Beacon Journal reported on November 10. But another neighbor told Page Six in a November 9 article that Kelce and Swift have “plenty of support” in the village, and the backlash is limited to their immediate neighbors, according to the Beacon Journal.
The unnamed resident told Page Six that the backlash to Swift and Kelce’s plans for the property is being blown out of proportion, the Beacon Journal reported. “I think it’s just the neighbors on either side who object,” the neighbor told Page Six, as reported by the Beacon Journal. “I don’t know why they object — they’ve done a really nice job fixing up the house.”
The dispute itself is about trees. Neighbors turned out at a Village of Bratenahl Architectural Review Board meeting earlier in October 2026 to complain about Swift and Kelce’s plans to add trees to the rear of the property, 19 News in Cleveland reported, as cited by the Beacon Journal. They were concerned about existing trees coming down, new trees blocking views of Lake Erie, and whether new trees would damage a century-old shared sewer line.
The plan for the rear of the property did not meet the village’s 10-foot limit on tree height, the Beacon Journal reported. The board was expected to meet again on November 10 to review a revised plan — making Tuesday the next decision point in a disagreement that has put one of Ohio’s smallest lakefront villages into national entertainment coverage.
The estate is only a few miles from Kelce’s hometown of Cleveland Heights. Kelce and his brother Jason Kelce have deep roots in Ohio, with both growing up there and playing for the Cincinnati Bearcats before moving to careers in the NFL, the Beacon Journal reported. Travis Kelce married Taylor Swift during a July 3, 2026, ceremony at Madison Square Garden in New York City, which had an estimated guest list of 1,000 people, according to the Beacon Journal.
Security has also become part of the story. Kelce and Swift have beefed up security at the Ohio property, installing an alarm that audibly warns people who get too close, the Beacon Journal reported. “A neighbor approached the house and got a voice warning about not passing onto the property after getting too close to the house,” another neighbor told Page Six in a September article, as reported by the Beacon Journal.
An area real estate agent told Page Six that the village, on secluded lakefront property, does have its own police force, the Beacon Journal reported. However, there may be talks of increasing that security presence with new celebrities moving in.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on
What we know: the couple’s $5.35 million estate sits at 12725 Lake Shore Blvd. in Bratenahl; an October Architectural Review Board meeting drew neighbor complaints about the tree plan — tree removal, blocked Lake Erie views, and a century-old shared sewer line; the rear-property plan did not meet the village’s 10-foot tree-height limit; and at least one other Bratenahl resident has now publicly defended the couple, telling Page Six, as reported by the Beacon Journal, that support in the village is broad and the objections come from the immediate neighbors. Bratenahl is used to lakefront estates making news for quieter reasons — across Northeast Ohio this week, Cleveland is also weighing the fate of a landmark building, as the 1882 Gilman Building faces demolition as a landmarks panel gets the final say, and a familiar Cleveland voice shared personal news, as anchor Nichole Vrsansky said a routine screening found her colon cancer.
What we’re still waiting on: the outcome of the Architectural Review Board’s November 10 review of the revised tree plan, and whether the revised plan answers the sewer-line and lake-view concerns raised in October. NewsForce247 will update readers when the board’s decision is reported.
What happens next is that board review: a revised plan that fits the village’s 10-foot limit — or a board willing to approve it anyway — would clear the way for the planting, while another rejection would send one of the most famous couples in America back to the drawing board in a village of about 1,200 people on Lake Erie’s shore.