Bob Dylan and the Band’s ‘Big Pink’ House Opened as Vacation Rental
Upstate New York home that hosted ‘Basement Tapes’ sessions now available to vacationers
Big Pink, the West Saugerties, New York house that served as the setting for Bob Dylan and the Band‘s Basement Tapes sessions in 1967, is now available as a vacation rental. The salmon-colored abode, which also lent its name to the Band’s classic 1968 debut LP Music From the Big Pink, is listed on VRBO with a nightly rental rate of $650, Jambase reports.
Don and Susan LaSala, who purchased the historic home in 1998, began offering the dormer portion of the property for overnight accommodations for the first time this summer. As Big Pink’s description notes, that includes “Levon Helm’s bunk area,” a sunroom (“Rick Danko’s quarters”), the Central Staircase as well as “views of Overlook Mountain.” The 1,850-square foot Big Pink comfortably sleeps nine and features updates like Wi-Fi and limited cable television.
Unfortunately for Dylanphiles who want to grace the hallowed ground where “Million Dollar Bash” and “Tears of Rage” were crafted, the rental posting warns, “the Basement is not included in the rental.” Since being opened as a vacation rental earlier this summer, Big Pink has already scored five five-star ratings on VRBO. As one reviewer notes, the LaSalas have gone to great lengths to preserve Big Pink’s 1967 aura.
In 2014, Rolling Stone ventured back up to Big Pink with the Band’s Garth Hudson to celebrate the release of The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete. “It’s way bigger than I thought,” Hudson said after stepping into the basement. “We’d be around, cleaning up or whatever, and Bob would come in. Bob didn’t like to sing the same song over and over.”