The American Football House Is On Airbnb Now

The most depressing music trend of the week is all the artists canceling their tours due to financial concerns. The most unexpected trend of the week: Famous music locales becoming Airbnbs.

Today a new Guardian feature pointed out that the former site of the Casbah Coffee Club in Liverpool — the family home of former Beatles drummer Pete Best, where the band played dozens of shows in its early years — had been converted into an Airbnb by the Best family. Now Brooklyn Vegan points out that the American Football house is also on Airbnb.

Last year twinkly emo pioneers American Football, their record label Polyvinyl, photographer/videographers Chris Strong and Atiba Jefferson, and a company called Open House Contemporary teamed up to buy 704 W. High St. in Champaign, IL, the house that is depicted on American Football’s massively influential 1999 self-titled debut album. Open House Contemporary, it turns out, is a boutique company “founded as a radical alternative to the conventional lodging experience,” which “hosts guests in welcoming artistic spaces that are designed to relax and escape, adventure and dream.”

Here’s what the company has to say about the American Football house on its website:

704 W. High St. is a multi-use home nestled in the historic, brick lined neighborhood of Urbana, Ill. The white clapboard house, first built in 1893, has housed generations of local families and students, located just off-campus from the University of Illinois. In 1999, local artist and 704 W. High St. resident Chris Strong famously photographed the front facade of the house for the front cover of Urbana band American Football’s debut album, and again for the band’s second album in 2016.

In 2023, the property was purchased by the members of American Football, Strong, and locally based Polyvinyl Records in partnership with Open House Contemporary and photographer Atiba Jefferson. The group renovated portions of the house with plans to reopen it as a multipurpose creative space in August 2024.

By preserving the 131-year-old house and making it available to the public for the first time in its storied history, the goal is for the three-bedroom space at 704 W. High St. to serve as an inspiring location available to artists, to be used for writing retreats, to host small events, for nightly stays, and more.

The Airbnb listing offers further prose:

Welcome to the historic West Urbana neighborhood of Urbana, Illinois! Whether you’re here to draw inspiration from the musical origins of our 131-year old home or bask in the quiet comfort of a tree-lined brick street, The American Football House offers a unique and memorable stay. The quaint, two-story, three-bedroom house is a short three-block walk from campus and has been recently remodeled.

Our Story:

704 W. High St. is a single-family home nestled on a tree-lined brick street in the historic West Urbana neighborhood of Urbana, Illinois. The white clapboard house, built in 1893, has housed local families and students for over a century from its location just off-campus from the University of Illinois.

In 1999, local artist and 704 W. High St. resident Chris Strong photographed the front facade of the house. Later that year, local band American Football would use the photo as the cover of their debut record. In the 25 years since American Football’s album release, this unassuming home has famously become a monument to not only the band, but every fan who listened to their era-defining album that cemented its quaint exterior as iconic midwest imagery. A carved “X” once marked the spot on the sidewalk where Strong stood to take the original photo, and where fans of the band have since stood themselves to recreate it.

Throughout its storied history 704 W. High St. has hosted decades of house parties and punk shows all around the property – from a (now bygone) halfpipe in the backyard to the low-ceilinged basement and everywhere in between. It was even rebuilt digitally inside Minecraft as the official venue for one of the first virtual concerts during the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing people together at a time when they simply couldn’t be otherwise.

In May 2023, the property was purchased by the members of American Football, as well as Chris Strong, Polyvinyl Records, Open House Contemporary, and Atiba Jefferson to protect the house from developers and potential demolition.

The love and attention bestowed upon this humble three-bedroom dwelling over the years has made The American Football House more special than we ever could have imagined.

By preserving the 130+ year-old house and opening it up for artists, creative retreats, events, and nightly stays, we hope this indelible space will continue to inspire others for many years to come–right here in the community that gave shape to its unique legacy.

You’ll be pleased to learn that the home features “a fully equipped kitchen” and “a spacious living room with comfortable seating and a warm ambiance” as well as three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a large backyard with a privacy fence. Matthew Kellen, the founder of Open House Contemporary, will be your contact person should you choose to rent this iconic abode. Unfortunately, it is not available on Sept. 14, the album’s 25th anniversary, but you can celebrate that milestone at a handful of American Football concerts this fall or by pre-ordering the new tribute album.