Dig This 'Wild Vacation Rentals' Slumber Party in a 6-Ton Potato

Best friends and Wild Vacation Rentals co-hosts D’Arcy Carden and Sherry Cola crisscross the country in search of the quirkiest places to post up for the night — and, in Idaho, they met a titanic tuber that’s logged even more miles than they have.

This is the Big Idaho Potato, a six-ton icon that rode a truck across the continental US for seven years to spread the good word about its home state’s signature crop. Redesigned by former Big Idaho Potato Tour spokesperson Kristie Wolfe and planted on 400 acres of farmland south of Boise, this one-of-a-kind bookable retreat is heaven on earth for folks who read Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach for its housekeeping tips. Your move, Wienermobile.

Now nestled 20 miles from downtown Boise (after a career on the road that logged 175,000 miles), the 28-foot potato has dazzling views of the Boise Mountains. “People that rent this place really love the wide open space that we have,” said caretaker Steve Gangwer. “They’re just amazed that wherever you look, we’ve got mountains.”

Kristie, the potato-proprietress, thought the property “needed a pet.” Enter Dolly, the long-lashed Jersey cow who lives on-site and is more than happy to accept treats from a fence-mounted food dispenser. “The guests just love Dolly, she’s the resident cow here at the potato,” Steve explained. “She’s spoiled rotten, boy, I tell you. She acts like a puppy dog!”

Dolly has been on-site since 2018 and has become a local celebrity, because of course she has. “Do you see her beautiful fur?” Sherry asked D’Arcy.

“I want her hair color,” D’Arcy confessed.

“I kind of want her bangs!” Sherry replied.

The thing to remember about communing with beautiful Dolly and offering her the treats she so richly deserves as the property’s official greeter is “COW TONGUE!” Sherry squealed.

“So much slobber!” D’Arcy added.

“It was a lot of slobber,” Sherry confirmed.

If you’re a fan of relaxing in sensory deprivation chambers, the potato’s solid, sound-baffling walls will be right up your alley (-shaped sleeping area). “One thing I’ll say right off the bat: I don’t see one single window,” Darcy noted.

“I don’t necessarily feel that claustrophobic,” Sherry replied. “Because the walls are white, it kind of opens it up!”

Check your expectations about well-traveled tubers at the narrow door, friends, because this one’s anything but time-worn; it's outfitted in on-trend adobe white and mauve with organic accents. Based on the potato’s exterior, “I kind of thought it was going to look like a dirty old potato [inside],” D’Arcy said.

“Yeah, a D.O.P.!” Sherry agreed.

“But it’s so clean and well-done in here!” D’Arcy continued.

The potato is equipped with power outlets, a mini fridge and a record player, along with what we assume is the Mr. Potato Head one must, by law, include in a vacation-rental spud. While there’s no kitchen, the food D’Arcy and Sherry ordered from downtown Boise arrived in less than half an hour; “I do love delivery,” Sherry sighed. They ordered poutine and “an assortment of fries” for research. “When in Boise, make some noise-y!”

With reading nooks, a custom-built bed and textural accessories, the post-prandial snooze area that awaited D’Arcy and Sherry was a welcome surprise. “I definitely expected brown, a lot of brown,” Sherry said.

“Not to gender a potato,” D’Arcy added, “but it was girly. It was girly!”

Substantial as it is, the potato doesn’t have nearly enough room to offer its guests a good scrub — which is where the silo, a few steps away, teeter-taters into the spotlight. Outfitted with the same contemporary-organic character that cozies up the sleeping area, this satellite space features a stock-tank soaking tub and a fireplace.