32°50′45.63″N83°39′21.15″W / 32.8460083°N 83.6558750°W /32.8460083; -83.6558750
The Allman Brothers Band Museum, also known asThe Big House, is amuseum inMacon, Georgia,United States. It was the home toThe Allman Brothers Band's original members, their families, and various friends from 1970 to 1973. The Big House was renovated by The Big House Foundation and opened in November 2009 as an interactive museum dedicated to identifying and preserving the history of The Allman Brothers Band.[1]
In 1970 The Big House was rented from Day Realty for $225 a month by Linda Oakley,Berry Oakley's wife. The house is nearCapricorn Records, which was The Allman Brothers recording studio. Also near the house isH&H Restaurant, where the musicians were fed by Mama Louise when they could not afford to pay for food. The first tenants of the 18-room, 4,440-square-foot (412 m2) home were Berry Oakley, his wife Linda, their daughter Brittany, Berry Oakley's sister Candy Oakley,Duane Allman, his wife Donna, their daughter Galadrielle, andGregg Allman.Dickey Betts wrote "Blue Sky" in the living room and "Ramblin' Man" in the kitchen of the Big House. "Please Call Home", "Ain't Wastin' Time No More", "Leave My Blues at Home" and "Midnight Rider" were also composed by Gregg Allman while living there.[2] After the deaths of Duane Allman and Berry Oakley, the band fell apart and in January 1973, Linda Oakley was evicted from the Big House. Kirk and Kristen West bought the house in the summer of 1993 with intentions to open it as abed and breakfast; however, the needed renovations were too extensive. The house was left in the hands of the Big House Foundation, a non-profit organization established to turn the Big House into an interactive museum.[3]
The Big House contains the world's largest collection of The Allman Brothers Band memorabilia.[1]
