Inside Taylor Swift’s iconic Cornelia Street apartment in New York: the town house made famous on Lover costs US$45,000 a month to rent and has its own pool, drive-in garage and rooftop terrace

A West Village apartment once rented by Taylor Swift is back on the market for an impressive US$45,000 a month, finally giving fans a glimpse of the home that inspired one of her favourite songs.

“Cornelia Street”, the ninth track on Swift’s album Lover, references the three-storey town house. “‘I rent a place on Cornelia Street,’ I say casually in the car,” Swift sings in the first verse – and it’s pretty literal. The pop superstar did rent 23 Cornelia Street for a few months between 2016 and 2017, according to People.

Taylor Swift regularly writes about things that move her in her songs – and in this instance it was a Cornelia Street town house. Photo: AFP/Getty Images/TNS

“Cornelia Street” is an emotional love song where Swift sings about the early days of a relationship – which many fans believe to be about Swift’s current boyfriend Joe Alwyn – and being unable to walk the titular street ever again if the romance were to end. The two have been dating for nearly six years – since at least autumn of 2016, according to Insider.

Swift explained the song’s meaning during an August 23 appearance on Elvis Duran’s radio show, according to People. “It’s about the things that took place and the memories that took place on that street … all the nostalgia,” she said. “Sometimes we bond our memories to the places that they happen. I wrote it alone and it ended up being one of my favourite songs.”

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Swift rented the home on the New York West Village street back in 2016. And – perhaps unsurprisingly to anyone who has an idea about the singer’s real estate portfolio – the property is spectacular.

Keep reading for a closer look at 23 Cornelia Street and for more information about the song’s connection to it.

It’s in the West Village area of Manhattan

The exact location of Taylor Swift’s former Cornelia Street apartment. Photo: VHT for The Corcoran Group

The apartment is located in one of the most desirable and expensive parts of the city, about 15 minutes away from Midtown by subway and just half a kilometre (a quarter of a mile) west of Washington Square Park.

It now costs US$45,000 a month to rent

The exterior of 23 Cornelia Street, Taylor Swift’s temporary apartment while her own was being renovated back in 2016-2017. Photo: VHT for The Corcoran Group

The apartment is now on the market for US$45,000 a month. At present, it is the New York home and showroom of the Italian furniture firm Zanotta. Curbed previously reported that Swift rented the three-story property for about US$39,500 a month while one of her three Tribeca apartments was undergoing renovations. About one year later, it was sold for US$11.5 million.

Though it’s advertised as a three-story property, the home also features a basement with an indoor pool and a gym, plus a spacious rooftop terrace. The home will be available for rent in January 2023.

It’s got a drive-in garage to avoid paparazzi

Taylor Swift was able to drive right in to her home on Cornelia Street. Photo: VHT for The Corcoran Group

While Swift might “say casually” that she “rents a place on Cornelia Street”, the home is anything but understated.

Built in 1870 as a carriage house, it was later transformed into a luxurious 5,500 sq ft, single-family home with a drive-in garage perfect for celebrities looking to enter and exit while avoiding the prying eyes of the paparazzi.

“Drive right in, open a side door, and walk right into the guest suite on the first floor,” the listing reads.

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The massive former carriage house has four bedrooms

The main bedroom of Taylor Swift’s former Cornelia Street apartment in New York’s West Village. Photo: VHT for The Corcoran Group

According to People, most of the windows in the property face the back garden, allowing Swift full privacy when she lived in the apartment.

The home also features five luxurious bathrooms and an additional two small bathrooms.

The primary bathroom features a marble bath with a glass-enclosed shower and skylight.

The home has several cosy fireplaces

The second-floor living room of Taylor Swift’s iconic Cornelia Street apartment. Photo: VHT for The Corcoran Group

There are several chandeliers throughout the space and the extravagant home is fitted with double-height ceilings and three gas fireplaces. The second-floor living room also features a wood-burning fireplace with a marble hearth perfect for the chilly New York autumn days that Swift reportedly spent in the apartment.

Per the property’s listing, the renovated kitchen features a Wolf range stove, a Sub-Zero fridge, a wine fridge, a double-drawer dishwasher and granite worktops.

The kitchen of Taylor Swift’s iconic Cornelia Street apartment was recently renovated. Photo: VHT for The Corcoran Group

The kitchen was recently renovated to feature an open-concept flow into the dining room, which overlooks the West Village.

Large windows, most spectacularly those in the dining room, look out onto prime Village views.

The dining room of Taylor Swift’s Cornelia Street apartment has plenty of natural light. Photo: VHT for The Corcoran Group

The home also features hardwood floors throughout.

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It boasts a swimming pool and private gym

The indoor pool of Taylor Swift’s Cornelia Street apartment. Photo: VHT for The Corcoran Group

There’s also an indoor pool, which measures 30ft by 15ft and is surrounded by a Basalt stone tile floor.

Behind the indoor pool, you’ll find a lounge area with another fireplace and an outdoor patio. Also located on the bottom floor is a gallery space, gym and garden.

One of the private terraces of Taylor Swift’s Cornelia Street apartment has its own outdoor fireplace – cosy! Photo: VHT for The Corcoran Group

The terrace just off the primary bedroom has an outdoor lounge with a gas fireplace. It’s easy to see why the dreamy property would have inspired one of Swift’s love ballads.

The rooftop terrace she sings about is big at 700 sq ft

The rooftop terrace of Taylor Swift’s iconic Cornelia Street apartment. Photo: VHT for The Corcoran Group

The rooftop terrace, where Swift sings she “sat on the roof”, features sweeping views of Manhattan’s West Village.

The nearly 700 sq ft wraparound terrace also has a barbecue and multiple seating areas.

Swift’s landlord had no idea who she was

Taylor Swift on the streets of Manhattan in September 2016, in New York City, around the time she was renting David Aldea’s home on Cornelia Street. Photo: GC Images

Swift’s former landlord, who sold the home for US$11.5 million in early 2019 after owning it for 15 years, apparently had no idea who the songstress was when her people reached out about renting his property.

According to People, at the time Swift was renting it, 23 Cornelia Street was owned by David Aldea, a former executive at Soho House, a hotel chain and group of private members’ clubs.

“I’m just not a pop-culture guy, and I even said to someone, ‘I’m meeting a person named Taylor Swift who wants to rent my home,’” Aldea told Vulture in 2019.

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“Now, mind you, I knew her songs because I had them on my running playlist. I just didn’t match the name to the song. I know, it’s silly,” he added.

And for the record, Aldea also said Swift was “an absolute delight to deal with” during the rental process and he was “so honoured” she wrote a song about his former home.

“I put my heart and soul into building, designing and decorating this house, and for somebody like Taylor to come along and see what I saw and love what I loved, love what I created, it was a total compliment and I will always be grateful to her for that,” he told Vulture. “And when I heard the song came out, I just thought to myself, ‘Wow, that is the most incredible sort of thank you and nod that anyone could ever get.’”

This article originally appeared on Business Insider.
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