MACON, Ga. — Have you ever wanted to see what it was like to live where the Allman Brothers did when they were just starting out?
Well, now you can. Gregg Allman's downtown Macon home is now an Airbnb, and when Nathan Reed bought the home, he wasn't expecting this...
"A couple walks up, knocks on the door," he recalled. "Saw the door was cracked open, kind of halfway walked in, and turns out they were from Arkansas."
They found an article that talked about the property he had just bought: 839 Orange Terrace. He also bought the house next door, 847.
Gregg Allman called both home in the early 1970s, and Reed had no idea when he bought them.
"I didn't really grow up listening to them that much. I started listening to them more, probably a little bit before we bought this," he said.
Reed bought the homes a couple years ago.
"My wife and I have been doing some flips and some real estate stuff for the last five years or so," Reed said.
It was supposed to be another regular Airbnb listing for "Midnight Riders" to stop on their "Southbound" trips. He said it was simple.
"We liked the location," he remembered.
The renovation was their "Cross to Bear," and it's come to mean a lot more to Reed and his team.
"Nathan told me, and we started digging into the history. It was kind of like, 'Man, this is a labor of love. I want to honor their legacy through photos,'" said project manager Neil Henderson.
Henderson is a huge Allman fan, but he didn't know about the history either. It "Keeps him Wonderin."
"All most people know is the Big House, and then Duane's apartment and then the hippie crash pad over on College Street," he said.
There are all kinds of Allman attractions in Macon where you can have some "Good Clean Fun," but Henderson says this one has an edge.
"Here, you've actually got a chance to say, 'Hey, I slept where Gregg Allman lived at,'" Henderson said.
The first unit, 839, is open for booking; but 847 is still a work in progress. Reed looks forward to discovering more as he grows into an Allman fan, too.
Reed asked for help to uncover more history as they revive these houses. If you know anything about their history, send him an email at ocmulgeeregional@gmail.com
If you'd like to book a room, check them out on Airbnb.