On most days, the regulars at the members-only Shoreby Club would not have paid much mind to another private jet buzzing along the Lake Erie waterfront. But on Wednesday, seemingly everyone in Bratenahl had heard that the little Ohio village — population estimate 1,400 — was about to become population 1,402.
So when a table of eight women in the club heard an engine rumble, they paused their canasta game and looked to the sky.
“It’s Taylor and Trav!” cried Sharon Klonowski, 72, as she raised her glass in a toast in case her newest neighbors, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, were zipping by.
Mr. Kelce has purchased a home in this wealthy enclave, which is surrounded on all sides by Cleveland, a city known for its industrial heritage and hard-luck sports teams. The sale was finalized in March and first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, setting off a frenzy of speculation over how Ms. Swift feels about being a part-time Ohioan.
But with the purchase of this particular $5.35 million, 21,000-square-foot historic brick Tudor, the residents of Bratenahl feel confident in what they have to offer.
“With the views on those lakefront properties? You’d think you’re in Newport. Or California. You’d think you’re anywhere other than Cleveland, Ohio,” said Ms. Klonowski, who has spent 46 years in the village.
After the news rippled through the text message chains and Facebook groups of this one-square-mile community, Bratenahl declared a victory of sorts over other affluent suburbs. Last summer, Mr. Kelce and Ms. Swift were photographed having lunch in a picturesque town not far from Cleveland Heights, where Mr. Kelce was raised and where some of his family remains. Commenters were quick to presume the couple was not just visiting, but neighborhood shopping.
Months later, Ms. Swift released an album in which she wrote about a life that sounded familiar to many Ohioans: “Have a couple kids, got the whole block looking like you,” she sang, saying she was “dreaming ’bout a driveway with a basketball hoop.”
The 3.5-acre property purchased by Mr. Kelce does have an extensive driveway, along with eight bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, a heated pool, a sauna, a fitness center, a wine cellar and, perhaps of most interest to the couple, neighbors who are somewhat accustomed to celebrities.
Chief executives, actors and professional athletes have long flocked to Bratenahl’s mansions, which are separated from the rest of East Cleveland by an interstate. One home once served as a backdrop for “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” when Khloé Kardashian was dating the basketball player Tristan Thompson. The mayor, Keith Benjamin, a “Folklore” fan, said his neighbors knew not to gawk.
“We’re used to this in Bratenahl,” Mr. Benjamin said. “Being a welcoming community includes giving people the space to be at home, whether they’re an average resident or the most famous person in the world.”
A former mayor, John Licastro, lamented that most of the neighborhood’s wealthiest don’t count Bratenahl as a full-time residence anyway.
“They pay property tax, but we can’t tax their income,” Mr. Licastro said. “If we could tax some of these high earners, I would have been driving a village Bentley.”
Bratenahl’s reputation as a destination for the elite dates to the Gilded Age, when Cleveland’s industrial barons built stately summer escapes. The 1895 Elizabethan Tudor chosen by Mr. Kelce, named Moyenage, was the project of the iron and steel manufacturer Jay Morse, who wanted a duplicate of his home in Chicago.
Like the seaside Rhode Island mansion that inspired Ms. Swift’s “Last Great American Dynasty,” Moyenage has a history of housing wealthy families, including a president of the Sherwin-Williams paint company, an inventor of medical devices, an antiques dealer and a thoracic surgeon.
Its newest residents are now looking to tighten security. The mayor said Mr. Kelce had applied for a permit to extend the fence to the waterline. It may keep out paparazzi and keep in Wendy, the fluffy Samoyed Mr. Kelce debuted recently in a Tommy Hilfiger ad.
On Wednesday afternoon, the ornate metal gate was wide open, with just a few security cameras and orange cones out front.
Mary Kalan, a neighborhood dog walker, lingered on the sidewalk. She’d noticed a flurry of landscaping at the house lately and “about fell out of bed” when she saw the news on TV. Now she watched a group of teen girls hanging out of a car window to take pictures of the property. Ms. Kalan, too, peered down the long driveway.
“I bet it’s beautiful on the lakefront,” she sighed.
Back at the Shoreby Club, the ladies at the canasta table already had a plan for how to get a glimpse of the couple’s views. Ms. Klonowski organizes an annual community fund-raiser in which locals pay $200 a ticket to attend a party at one of the waterfront mansions. Jimmy and Dee Haslam, the owners of the Cleveland Browns, once opened up their guesthouse for the event.
“I don’t want to jinx it,” Ms. Klonowski said. “But I bet Taylor and Travis would do it in a heartbeat.”
Kitty Bennett contributed research.
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