The Roanoker - September / October 2018 - 54
TH E H OME S IS S U E
HOMESTAY BY
THE BOOK
(or Not)
Airbnb and its competitors are an
issue local government is still
wrestling, even as homestay
business thrives in the
Roanoke Valley.
WRITTEN AND
PHOTOGRAPHED
BY DAN SMITH
RIVER LAKER is perfectly content
with Roanoke City's reaction to his
Airbnb business in Old Southwest,
but got so mad he left town, settling
on an island off the coast of North
Carolina.
Corbin Prydwen and Laker are
a couple of high-profile residents
who've been in the news often in
the past, sometimes for the good,
sometimes the not-so-good. Prydwen
undertook the resurrection of the
West End's near-slum a few years
ago and brought it back to a level of
respectability, almost single-handedly.
Laker is a sometimes comic figure, but
always has been a strong supporter of
the Star City.
Each of the men has owned
or owns an Airbnb in a Roanoke
54
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018
residential neighborhood. Their
experiences have been wildly different.
Says Prydwen, "I believe I was one
of the original pioneers of trying out
Airbnb. River Laker originally started
it and then I followed his lead. Through
the years of doing Airbnb, I have always
been combative with the city when it
comes to compliance.
"As the city was forcing me to go
to court or become legal, I decided it
was easier just to close them down.
Making them legal would require
a special exemption permit, a small
business license, and then getting taxed
on every spoon, fork, plate, bowl, sheet,
comforter and pillow, essentially."
"Up until last year everything was
fine with my Airbnb," says Prydwen. "It
wasn't until [mid-2017] that Roanoke
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The Roanoker - September / October 2018
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Roanoker - September / October 2018
The Roanoker - September / October 2018 - Intro
The Roanoker - September / October 2018 - Cover1
The Roanoker - September / October 2018 - Cover2
The Roanoker - September / October 2018 - 3
The Roanoker - September / October 2018 - 4
The Roanoker - September / October 2018 - 5
The Roanoker - September / October 2018 - 6
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The Roanoker - September / October 2018 - 50
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The Roanoker - September / October 2018 - 53
The Roanoker - September / October 2018 - 54
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The Roanoker - September / October 2018 - 97
The Roanoker - September / October 2018 - 98
The Roanoker - September / October 2018 - Cover3
The Roanoker - September / October 2018 - Cover4
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