Sumith Prasad
Elvis Presley’s Graceland is one of the most renowned houses in the country. The property is the resting ground of not only Elvis but also his parents Gladys and Vernon Presley, paternal grandmother Minnie Mae Presley, grandson Benjamin Keough, and daughter Lisa Marie Presley. Baz Luhrmann’s biographical film ‘Elvis’ and Netflix’s ‘Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley’ both indicate the significance of Graceland in his life and career. The famed musician recorded songs in the popular Jungle Room in the mansion and shared his time with his mother and ex-wife Priscilla Presley. The property is also included in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and was deemed a National Historic Landmark!
Graceland’s Location
Graceland is located at 3764 Elvis Presley Boulevard (Highway 51 South) in the neighborhood of Whitehaven in Memphis, Tennessee. Elvis bought Graceland on March 19, 1957, for $102,500. The 13.8-acre property grew 17,552 square feet more after the musician bought it. The 10,000-foot colonial-style mansion in the estate comprises twenty-three rooms with eight bedrooms, eight bathrooms, and five staircases. The property was originally owned by the S.E. Toof family, as part of their farmland. Ruth Brown Moore and her husband Dr. Thomas Brown Moore built the mansion and named it after Ruth’s aunt, Grace Toof Ward.
After Elvis bought the estate, he appointed interior decorator George Golden to transform the house to his liking. “Before leaving for his next film, Elvis left plans for [Golden] on the color and fabric choices and layout of the furnishings. Mr. Golden only had four weeks from start to finish,” Priscilla, who lived with the musician in the house, told Architectural Digest.
Graceland is a Museum Now
As per Elvis’ will, Lisa Marie inherited the property after the former’s death. His father, Vernon, and grandmother, Minnie Mae, lived there until they died in 1979 and 1980, respectively. In 1982, Priscilla opened Graceland to the public as a museum due to the financial challenges the estate faced to fulfill maintenance. Even after turning the house into a museum, the musician’s aunt, Delta Mae Presley Biggs, continued to live there until she died in 1993. Lisa Marie died on January 12, 2023. Her eldest daughter and actress Riley Keough, the present owner of Graceland, then inherited the property. She is known for playing Daisy Jones in Prime Video’s ‘Daisy Jones & The Six,‘ and Lauren Reece in ‘The Terminal List.’
Currently, none of the Presley family members actively live in Graceland, making it a non-residential museum. Keough, however, did live in the house in the past and recently recollected those days as a fond memory. “There were a few times that we slept there [the second floor of the house, which is closed to the public since Elvis died there]. The tours would start in the morning, and we would hide upstairs until they were over. The security would bring us breakfast. It’s actually such a great memory. We would order sausage and biscuits, and hide until the tourists finished,” Keough told Vanity Fair.
For Keough, Graceland has an unignorable association with death. “I always had positive and beautiful memories and association with Graceland. Now, a lot of my family’s buried there, so it’s a place of great sadness at this point in my life,” she added. The Presley family members who are buried on the property include her younger brother, Benjamin, and her mother, Lisa Marie.
Keough inherited Graceland after a legal dispute that also involved her grandmother Priscilla. The dispute mainly revolved around the trusteeship of Lisa Marie’s Promenade Trust, which holds the entirety of the Elvis Presley Estate. This case was ultimately settled between the two parties. Keough clarified that Priscilla will be buried in Graceland if the latter wants it. “I don’t know why she [Priscilla] wouldn’t be buried at Graceland. […] If she wants to be, of course. Sharing Graceland with the world was her idea from the start,” she said in the same Vanity Fair interview.
Graceland is the second-most visited house in the country after the White House with 600,000 annual visitors. “Elvis didn’t fit the mold, he marched to his own drum. But when people walk in that front door, there is a reverence, respect, a quietness. It’s as if his spirit is there. They come back time after time to experience… him,” Priscilla added to Architectural Digest about the unceasing appeal of Graceland.
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