Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s lakefront mansion outside Cleveland picked up a partial green light and a pile of grievances on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, when the Bratenahl Architectural Review Board approved landscaping in front of the estate but put the rear-yard tree plan on hold over a dispute about how tall the plantings would grow.
The sharpest objection came from Katherine Bolton, who has lived next door for more than three decades and shares a 115-year-old sewer line with the property. Bolton told the board that planting roughly 50 evergreens close to that line would eventually ruin it, and said she has been quoted $75,000 to line the aging pipe against roots — a problem she is working through with the couple’s attorney.
“What am I going to do when I have 50 evergreen trees on my sewer line, and they’re gone?” Bolton asked the board. She raised the possibility that the owner could sell and buy somewhere else within the year while she remains in the village, and said she is not against the trees at all — she simply wants a neighborly fix that spares the sewer.
The Fence Fight Came First
This is round two. In early September, the same board unanimously approved a 6-foot black powder-coated aluminum fence over neighbor objections. At that meeting, Bolton called the new owners a “tremendous blow” to the village’s “peace and quiet” and described an “absentee owner.” According to a meeting transcript, the barrier had already been scaled back from an 8-foot fence ringing the whole property to a 6-foot version that stops short of Lake Erie, and it is to sit about 2 feet inside the actual property line to stay clear of sewer lines. Local rules cap lakefront fences at 2.5 feet unless they are at least 75 percent see-through.
Chuck Bauernschmidt, who lives two doors down and says he has been in Bratenahl for 47 years, told the board he objects to vegetation being cleared on the property. “I take offense when we start knocking trees down,” Bauernschmidt said, adding that he is simply trying to protect his own place. Neighbors also raised the prospect that deer, plentiful in the area, could be impaled on the fence posts.
What the Couple’s Team Told the Board
Jacob Kutz of Tiny Construction LLC, the couple’s planner, said the pair are after privacy and security following one of the largest home sales in Cuyahoga County. He ran through the gestures made so far, including having the sewage line jetted and cleaned without being asked and adding a gate for Bauernschmidt, who had felt closed off. The firm also said there had been confusion about the tree restrictions, and that now that it knows about the 10-foot limit, it is willing to adjust and follow the law.
Village solicitor Dave Matty said the setback line applies to anything behind the home and that the landscaping has to meet a mature-height limit, noting the entire front setback has approval. One board member said privacy and screening can be achieved with plants under 10 feet, and another said what the team presented was a screening plan rather than a full landscape plan.
Inside the Moyenage
An LLC linked to Kelce, 37, bought the Tudor-style mansion known as The Moyenage in March for $5.35 million, below its most recent $5.99 million asking price. The home spans roughly 21,000 square feet on 3.5 acres along Lake Erie, with eight bedrooms and 11 bathrooms. Kelce grew up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and Bratenahl is used to boldface names: Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam live in the village, and former Cavaliers Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson have owned property there. Swift, 36, married Kelce on July 3.
Security has been a running theme. In 2025, Swift obtained a restraining order against Brian Jason Wagner, a man accused of repeatedly showing up at her Los Angeles homes. A September report said a warning system at the house delivers a voice warning to anyone who gets too close.
Not everyone in the village is grumbling. Mayor Keith Benjamin has said the village is accustomed to high-profile residents and welcomes Swift and Kelce. Swift’s song “Cleveland!” nods to the wedding and takes aim at her critics, and Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs are off to a 4-0 start. The board is scheduled to take up a revised landscape plan Tuesday, Nov. 10, and members said they hope to finalize it then.