The former home of late country singer Johnny Cash burnt down yesterday during renovations being carried out by the former Bee Gees singer Barry Gibb, its new owner.

Cash lived in the house 20 miles from Nashville, Tennessee, with June Carter Cash, from the 1960s until their deaths in 2003. The couple played host to many high profile guests from Bob Dylan to Billy Graham at the property.

Kris Kristofferson once landed a helicopter on the lawn in order to pitch Cash a song he had written, and Roy Orbison was a neighbour.

The singer Marty Stuart, who still lives next door, said: “So many prominent things and prominent people in American history took place in that house. It was a sanctuary and a fortress for him. There was a lot of writing that took place there.”

Gibb, who bought the house for $2.3 million in January 2006, is said to be “saddened and devastated by the news". The Hendersonville fire chief, Jamie Steele, did not know the cause of the fire, but confirmed that a flammable wood preservative applied to the outside of the house during refurbishment helped spread the flames.

The fire began at lunch time and although fire engines were on the scene within five minutes they were unable to quell the flames. The house has been reduced to little more than stone chimneys.

Cash was best known for the songs Ring of Fire and I Walk the Line, as well as his notorious gig at Folsom Prison in 1968.

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