Gamebird Nest: Oxonians Rent Their Houses to Fans

On any game day weekends in Oxford the homeowners stake a sign on their lawns: “$20 Parking.” Some lawns are cheaper than others. Some prices depend on what team Ole Miss Rebels are playing. Then there are homeowners who rent their entire houses for a game day weekend!
There are 700 some hotel rooms in Oxford and growing with construction of new hotels. However the Rebel Nation is more than Oxford hotels can handle this year, yet the Oxonians have opened their doors to Rebel fans.
Sarah Beth Wiley rented her home to international students who had the time of their lives at the Ole Miss Homecoming game. She said they found her home rental on airbnb.com. This website is useful for international travel with rentals available from local hosts in 190 countries.
Yet another website, www.collegeweekends.com, is an outlet for Oxonian residents to list their homes for rentals. Jennifer Marascalco and Ginger Gregory are among the homeowners on the website.

Jennifer Marascalco is a project coordinator with the National Food Service Management Institute located on the University of Mississippi campus. Her husband, Frank Marascalco, is the owner of Marascalco Metalworks, LLC, an iron work business in Oxford. Their custom-built home is in the quiet country area of Timberlake subdivision off Highway 30, only five miles away from Oxford. Her husband is busy with his business so she is the primary contact for interested renters as well as the one figuring out the logistics of weekend rentals.
Marascalco moved to Oxford in 2004 as a freshman and has not left since. Upon graduation she and her husband made Oxford their home. They knew friends and families who rented their homes for football games, graduation weekends and other events. When they bought their new home this past January they decided to try the venue.
She says, “Even though this is just our first year, we’ve had a wonderful experience thus far and the most unbelievable renters.”
She offers weekend rentals of her eight-room house with three bedrooms and two and half bathrooms and a well-stocked kitchen upon request at a standard rate of $675 with the peak rate at $875. The house also has a backyard available to the renters. Its two limitations are no pets and no smoking. The house is currently open to booking for this weekend, Presbyterian game day weekend and the graduation weekend in May. It is also open for Double Decker weekends and even for a weekend getaway in Oxford, too. For more information and contact their home’s listing is here.
The renters can also enjoy some privacy. “We move out for the weekend and it’s 100% their home away from home for the weekend,” Marascalco says, “Frank’s parents own a condo right here in Oxford so we normally go there. This allows us to be with our family and still enjoy the games.”
The Marascalcos are long-time Rebel fans despite Frank being a Mississippi State alum. “We are so proud of our Ole Miss Rebels and the success they’ve seen so far this year,” Marascalo says, “One of our most memorable games took place just a few weeks ago when Ole Miss hosted Alabama. Not only did we get to see our Rebels beat Bama and be part of the biggest game in Ole Miss history, we got to experience it with our family.”
Frank’s entire family was in Oxford for the weekend as well as Jennifer’s younger brother. The Marascalcos have enjoyed plenty of Ole Miss ball games but it is rare these days for the entire family to get together for one. Even more remarkable is that fateful Ole Miss v. Bama game was Jennifer’s brother’s first ever Ole Miss football game. “We’ll remember that day for many years to come,” says Marascalco.

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Ginger Gregory is an instructional technology designer with National Food Service Management Institute on University of Mississippi campus. Her husband, Kendall Gregory, is the owner and trainer for Oxford Adventure Boot Camp. Her husband is also the contact for interested renters.
The couple moved to Oxford from Nashville in 2010. As a young couple trying to make do they saw the opportunity to make extra income by renting their house for football games, graduation and all other big events in Oxford. Now into their fourth year of renting the couple reported never having any problems as well as having “the best renters ever.”
Their house is 0.9 miles from the Square and 1.5 miles from the campus. The house has a fenced-in backyard with two queen sized beds, a queen sized pull-out sofa and an additional sofa with room for an air mattress and a crib available upon request. The standard weekend rental rate is $675 with its peak rate as $875. Their house is available for the Presbytarian, Egg Bowl and graduation weekends in May. A full profile of their home along with their contact information is available here. Like the Marascalcos the Gregorys move out to their respective parents’ homes in either Charleston and Corinth to provide privacy for their renters.
Gregory says, “We have had families rent our home for the whole week of Thanksgiving. They had their family Thanksgiving dinner at hour home and also enjoyed the Egg Bowl. If we stay in Charleston we can still drive in for tailgating and the games so we don’t miss out on all the fun.”
Gregory says that when it comes to sports their house is divided. She is an alumnus of Mississippi State and Kendall went to Ole Miss. “We both support each other teams,” Gregory says, “EXCEPT for the Egg Bowl!”
Their most memorable game together is the Ole Miss v. Bama this year which she called the “biggest game in school history.” Her husband’s second memorable game is the 1993 Ole Miss v. Georgia game with a Rebel victory as well as having number one defense in the country at the time. He got to meet the players and get their signatures that day.

The website has 64 residencies from condos to houses open for weekend rentals for y’all gamebirds to fly out to Oxford for this weekend and the next few weekends until the Egg Bowl. Hotty Toddy!
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Callie Daniels is the staff reporter for HottyToddy.com. She can be emailed here at callie.daniels@hottytoddy.com.