The Vision | The Plan | Capital Campaign Goals | Renovation Updates |

In the early 1970s, the Grand Tudor-style mansion at 2321 Vineville Avenue in Macon, Georgia served as the communal hub around which the family and musical world of the Allman Brothers Band revolved.  With three stories, 6,000-square-feet, 18 rooms, a spacious kitchen, glorious bay windows and an inviting front porch, it became known as the “Big House.” 

The members of the band and its extended family turned it into a home filled with love, friendship and brotherhood.  They lived there, rehearsed there, wrote some of their most classic songs there, raised their children there.  It was their castle, their sanctuary.

Now the house where it all began will preserve the history and legacy of the Allman Brothers Band through the efforts of the Big House Foundation, formed several years ago by a group of friends and fans who wanted to insure that generations to come would know about the band’s pivotal place in music and social history.  

The Foundation’s vision is to transform the Big House into a world-class, interactive museum where visitors can explore the world’s largest collection of Allman Brothers Band memorabilia....sit on the front porch where Duane Allman and Berry Oakley spent countless hours together....walk up the same steps that Butch Trucks, Jaimoe and Chuck Leavell once did...and tour the house that inspired Gregg Allman to write “Please Call Home.”

Macon has a long and rich musical heritage.  The Allman Brothers Band, credited with being the architects of Southern Rock, is an important part of that heritage.  We expect that The Allman Brothers Band Museum will be a major tourism attraction in Macon.  But, a music education program for children will also be a cornerstone of the museum.  We envision opening up new worlds for children through a variety of educational programs.  The museum will collaborate with the Bibb County Public Schools, the Georgia Music Hall of Fame and the Mentors Project of Bibb County to develop and operate arts and humanities programs with particular emphasis on at-risk children. 

Students will have access to free music lessons and instruments in after-school programs and community settings.  They will learn to write and record their own songs or form a rock band.  Programs will be offered that foster positive lifestyle choices and promote multi-cultural unity and understanding.   Educational tours will be developed for school groups who want to visit the museum.  Band members and other musicians will offer seminars for younger students and Master Classes for experienced, older youth and adults.  Workshops will be held to provide advice for local bands.  Performances will be held on and off the museum site to showcase outstanding local bands as well as those from throughout the Southeast and some of the ABB members.  Historians will have use of the museum’s print, video, audio and three-dimensional archival materials.

The Big House Foundation's Role >