Johnny Cash’s House Goes Down In Flames

Johnny Cash’s lakeside home in Hendersonville, TN., was destroyed by fire yesterday. The forty-year-old home–which was undergoing construction–is probably one of the most musically significant buildings in history:

Cash and his wife, June Carter Cash, lived in the 13,880-square-foot home from the late 1960s until their deaths in 2003. Barry Gibb, a former member of the Bee Gees, purchased the home in 2006 and had hoped to remodel it and eventually write songs there with his wife.

“So many prominent things and prominent people in American history took place in that house – everyone from Billy Graham to Bob Dylan went into that house,” said singer Marty Stuart, who lives next door and was married to Cash’s daughter, Cindy, in the 1980s.

Stuart said the man who designed the house, Nashville builder Braxton Dixon, was “the closest thing this part of the country had to Frank Lloyd Wright.” When Cash moved there, the road was a quiet country lane that skirts Old Hickory Lake. Kris Kristofferson, then an aspiring songwriter, once landed a helicopter on Cash’s lawn to pitch him a song. Roy Orbison was his next-door neighbor for a while.

Parts of the landmark video for Cash’s song “Hurt” was shot inside the house.

All we know is this: The ghost of Johnny is mighty pissed at that Bee Gees fella right about now.

Fire destroys Johnny Cash homestead [AP] [Photo: AP]