An Oklahoma heiress has sparked outrage in Nantucket after renting a summer house and allegedly breaking the billionaire enclave’s secret codes.
Kylie Swanson, 36, signed a lease in the Massachusetts town and turned the rental house into a $3,800 four-day retreat called ‘Camp Nantucket,’ the Wall Street Journal reported.
Her Instagram account is filled with images of Swanson posing by with cobblestone streets, ocean-front estates and lighthouses, showing her followers a lifestyle that’s out of reach for most.
But Nantucket business owners who rely on summer sales told the Wall Street Journal the influencer disrupted them by demanding free products, comped hotel rooms and discounts for the camp in exchange for social media advertising.
Residents also complained that Swanson brought in vendors from outside Nantucket, where there is an unspoken rule that shopping must be done locally.
As locals see it, Swanson was a so-called ‘washashore’ who did not understand their culture and brought in outsiders to the enclave.
‘She basically asked us if we would plan the whole thing for free,’ said Mary Goode, a business owner who interacted with Swanson.
‘It wasn’t offensive to me as much as I realized she didn’t understand Nantucket, and how we have 10 weeks to make money,’ she said of the summer season trade.
Influencer Kylie Swanson, 36, has angered Nantucket locals with her summer camp for adults. She is pictured with a friend, center, and husband, left
Nantucket is known as a tight enclave of wealthy residents with long histories in the area and Swanson was branded a ‘washashore’
Amid the outrage, an anonymous Instagram account called the Nantucket Brief called out the influencer, calling her the ‘Nantucket scammer.’
Meanwhile the owner of an online boutique took to Reddit, claiming she sent Swanson about $400 worth of hats in exchange of social media promotions she never got.
However Swanson, the daughter of a car dealership magnate, defended her Nantucket presence, telling the WSJ: ‘My family has Oklahoma money, but it’s not Nantucket money.’
She added: ‘The American dream that we all try to chase goes across the U.S., including Nantucket…
‘I don’t think there needs to be a price of admission. I call bulls**t and if that pisses people off, I’m so sorry.’
Swanson, married to a petroleum engineer since 2011, was at stay at home mom when she started growing her following as an influencer.
She started housesitting in beautiful homes in Connecticut and Rhode Island, sharing content from the properties and portraying a lifestyle that her critics deem fraudulent.
Nantucket’s director of culture and tourism Shantaw Bloise-Murphy said Swanson did not get the necessary permit to begin her summer camp for adults
Swanson gained her following thanks to her content, which initially showed her traveling with her husband and son
Last December Swanson took a gig housesitting a home on Nantucket and posted a TikTok asking if if she should open a camp.
The post went viral and as many as 3,000 people signed up to a wait list.
But Nantucket’s director of culture and tourism Shantaw Bloise-Murphy claimed Swanson broke the enclave’s rules because her request for a special events permit was denied.
Swanson, however, said she doesn’t care about the criticism, and is planning more camps in places like the Cotswolds in the English countryside.
‘I woke up one day and I just stopped caring about whether or not losers disliked me,’ she told the WSJ.
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