Tennessee Airbnbs The place Taylor Swift and Dolly Parton Recorded Their Music

• Darkish Horse Property, a non-public recording studio in Tennessee, is house to 3 Airbnbs, and has hosted musical legends like Taylor Swift, Dolly Parton, and Shawn Mendes.
• Lodging vary from The Manor, a sprawling mansion that sleeps 16, and the extra modest Gatehouse and Bunkhouse.
• Company can get excursions of the on-site recording studios, together with the one the place Taylor Swift recorded her first album.

I by no means imagined I’d comply with within the footsteps of famed musicians, however I’m staying in an Airbnb the place among the greats laid down tracks that now play in thousands and thousands of properties.

Because the morning solar gilds the countryside of Center Tennessee, I head for the kitchen, passing platinum information and photos of Taylor Swift, who amassed a brand new era of nation music followers. Dolly Parton’s crimson-colored lips smile throughout the album cowl of “A Holly Dolly Christmas.” Neil Diamond, Jack Harlow, Carrie Underwood, and different legends probably sipped espresso right here, too. The ambiance could also be serene, however the partitions thrum with risk.

I’m staying at Darkish Horse Property, a 1993 personal recording studio that hosts three Airbnbs on a 10-acre property. It’s greater than a tranquil retreat in Franklin, Tennessee, about 20 miles south of Nashville; it’s a glimpse at the place music magic occurs. The Manor, a 14,000-square-foot mansion that sleeps 16, consists of seven bedrooms, 10 bogs, three kitchens, and a celebration barn that is excellent for individuals with entourages. Shawn Mendes, 5 Seconds of Summer time, Greta Van Fleet, and Jack Harlow slept there following its 2024 debut. I stayed within the Gatehouse, a extra modest residence within the recording studio constructing with a queen mattress, daybed, and loft mattress. The Bunkhouse rounds out Darkish Horse’s lodging, with 4 bunk beds encased inside the stone partitions of the studio’s backside flooring.

Evergreen bushes shade the pastoral grounds, planted to simulate the majesty of being within the Rocky Mountains, the proprietor’s different favourite place. A number of chairs on the picket porches are custom-made for guitar enjoying, making jam periods much more seamless. My anxious vitality dissipates as I breathe within the candy Tennessee breeze.

Company can request excursions of the three recording studios on property. Austin Woolsey, the studio supervisor, confirmed us recording consoles, shiny pianos, soundproof rooms with carpets on the partitions and ceilings, and microphones. We witnessed artists at work, their ardour palpable. “At 15 years previous, Taylor Swift recorded her first album right here,” mentioned Woolsey. She was like every other younger hopeful that information right here immediately, proprietor Robin Crow shared. The workers was unaware of the superstardom that awaited the singer-songwriter. Now, greater than 30 years later, Darkish Horse has survived an period the place most artists report at their very own house studios, primarily as a result of they provide a non-public inventive escape. I questioned who is perhaps crafting the following chart-topping hit right here immediately?

Crow carried out as an instrumental jazz rock guitarist for the primary 25 years of his grownup life. “When actuality hit that I’d by no means grow to be a headliner, I opened Darkish Horse Recording,” he mentioned. The title is predicated on the concept of rising as an surprising winner. Inside a pair years, it performed an element in a dozen gold and platinum albums. Now, hundreds of gifted artists have added notes to Darkish Horse’s legacy.

Woolsey is in awe of the truth that Parton’s voice as soon as stuffed the house now occupied by his workplace. Different memorable moments embrace Shawn Mendes driving an electrical grime bike across the yard and Jill Scott inviting Woolsey to eat dinner along with her crew.

The property’s story makes me consider my teenage daughter, on the precipice of releasing her inventive spirit into the world. I really feel inspired myself, as I proceed to evolve at 47 years previous, nonetheless taking nice leaps and chasing what evokes me. Who would have thought an unassuming keep at an Airbnb would drum up a lot inspiration? However that’s the quiet grace of Darkish Horse Property. It subtly radiates a sense that something can occur.