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It was opened to the public as a house museum on June 7, 1982, and attracts more than 650,000 visitors annually. [ 6 ] Graceland was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on November 7, 1991, becoming the first site recognized for significance related to rock music.
Graceland History. Graceland was once part of a 500-acre farm that was owned by the S.C. Toof family. The land had been part of the family for generations and was named after one of the female relatives, Grace. According to Graceland history, in 1939, Grace's niece, Ruth Brown Moore and her husband, Dr. Thomas Moore, built the mansion, which ...
Today in 1982, Elvis Presley’s home was opened to the public, becoming the ultimate rock 'n' roll pilgrimage for music fans around the world. On June 7, 1982, around 3,000 fans paid the $5 admission fee for the opportunity to be the first to experience the place that the King of Rock 'n' Roll called home. Before Graceland plaza existed, fans ...
- Overview
- 1. Presley paid $102,500 for Graceland in 1957.
- 2. The mansion is named after an original landowner.
- 3. The King kept a menagerie of animals at the mansion.
- 4. Presley recorded songs in the mansion’s legendary Jungle Room.
- 5. The kitchen was fully stocked for Presley at all times.
- 6. Elvis is buried on the mansion’s grounds.
- 7. Pricilla Presley made Graceland a business.
- 8. Members of Presley’s family continued to live at Graceland after his death.
- 9. You can tour two of Presley’s custom jets.
From how the kitchen was stocked, to who is buried on the grounds, explore facts about the estate that Priscilla Presley converted into a business.
Hot on the heels of his breakout year in 1956 that turned him into an international music, TV and movie star, Elvis Presley, at age 22, bought the 10,000-foot colonial-style mansion on 13.8 acres in Memphis, Tennessee, for what would amount to an estimated $1.1 million today. Presley moved into Graceland with his parents and lived there for 20 year...
Long before the land Graceland sits on belonged to Presley, it was part of 500 acres of farmland owned by the S.E. Toof family for generations. When descendant Ruth Brown Moore and her husband, Dr. Thomas Brown Moore, built their 10,266-square-foot home there in 1939, they dubbed it Graceland, after Ruth’s aunt, Grace Toof Ward. While not named by ...
Elvis Presley's horses on the Graceland estate in Memphis, Tennessee, circa, 1982.
An avid animal lover, Presley kept plenty of pets at Graceland–from Bowtie the turkey to a mynah bird who could chirp phrases including “Elvis isn’t here” to a number of horses and dogs to a chimpanzee named Scatter and a squirrel monkey named Jayhew. Two wallabies, gifted by Australian fans, were donated to the Memphis Zoo, as were peacocks. He even reportedly kept donkeys in his kidney-shaped swimming pool, added in 1957, before it was filled.
To Presley, it was simply “the den.” Still, one of the most unique rooms in the mansion has come to be known as the Jungle Room for its Polynesian-themed decor that includes green shag carpeting on the floor–and ceiling, rainbow lighting, faux wood walls, carved wood furniture and even an artificial waterfall. The room, a 1965 addition, also served as a recording studio, with 16 songs from Presley’s final two albums cut there.
Other Graceland additions and rooms of note:
•Soon after moving in, Presley had wrought-iron gates installed. “With their stylized representations of a guitar-strumming Elvis set against a pattern of musical staffs and notes, the gates suggest the entryway to a musical heaven,” according to the Memphis Commerical Appeal.
•In 1974, Presley had now-iconic stained-glass peacock panels added to the living room.
•Presley added a racquetball building to the estate in 1975 that includes a court, pinball machine and piano, as well as a trophy hall housing memorabilia and awards.
•Inspired by President Lyndon Johnson, Presley had three TV sets mounted in his basement television room to watch the three major networks simultaneously.
According to the 1993 book The Life and Cuisine of Elvis Presley, groceries to be available in the Graceland kitchen “at all times–every day” included fresh, lean ground round steak, one case of Pepsi, one case of orange drink, rolls, at least six cans of biscuits, pickles, wieners, peanut butter, banana pudding, ingredients for meatloaf and sauce,...
Presley’s funeral was held at Graceland the day after a public viewing in the mansion’s foyer drew an estimated 25,000 mourning fans. Elvis was first buried at a nearby mausoleum alongside his mother, Gladys, then their remains were relocated to Graceland’s Meditation Garden after thieves attempted to steal his body. Presley, his parents, grandmoth...
Following Vernon Presley’s death, Presley’s ex-wife, Priscilla Presley, was appointed as a co-executor/co-trustee, and, facing financial challenges in maintaining the estate, she worked to open Graceland to the public in 1982. Her expansions and renovations turned the mansion into one of the most-visited private homes in the country, with more than 600,000 annual visitors, making it the second-most visited home in America, after the White House.
Per Presley’s will, his daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, inherited the property when he died, taking control of her trust on her 25th birthday in 1993. Upon her death in 2023, her daughter, actress Riley Keough, was named its owner.
Presley died unexpectedly in 1977 at age 42, but his father, Vernon Presley, stayed on at Graceland until his death in 1979, and his grandmother, Minnie Mae Presley, remained there until her death the following year. But his aunt, Delta Mae Presley Biggs, lived there longest, even after Graceland opened to the public in 1982, staying on the propert...
Dubbed the Lisa Marie (and also, the Flying Graceland and Hound Dog I), Presley’s private plane, a Convair 880, is displayed at Graceland, and visitors can board it to check out the jet’s master bedroom, living room, conference room, two half-baths and added touches such as gold-plated seatbelts and suede sofas. Also on site is the Hound Dog II, a ...
- Lesley Kennedy
Oct 9, 2024 · Presley’s music changed the face of the 20th century, and he has become one of the most popular and enduring figures in America’s entertainment industry. Graceland was his primary home for 20 years, and the estate became an essential part of the singer’s identity.
- Tamsin Pickeral
Graceland opened for tours on June 7, 1982. In 1983, through a long-term lease, EPE acquired the shopping center plaza across the street from the mansion. From the time the plaza was built in the sixties, it had been a typical suburban strip shopping center.
Jun 2, 2022 · The Elvis Presley mansion, Graceland, went from a closely guarded private estate to hugely popular tourist attraction five years after his death.
