What does it mean to “Live like a Rockstar?” Hi everyone, Ken here, welcome to "ThisHouse"!
In 1935, Elvis Presley was born into a poor, working class family in Mississippi. They
lived in a modest, 2 room house, but by 1938 his father, Vernon, had lost the house after
being jailed for writing fraudulent checks. The family relied on the kindness of neighbors
and government assistance programs just to barely get by. When Elvis turned 11 years old,
he had wanted a bicycle as a birthday present, but instead received a guitar.
From that point on, he immersed himself in music, taking guitar lessons from his uncles and the
pastor at the local church. He had sung publicly a couple times while he was in grade school,
but never received any praise for his talents. When he entered middle school,
he began taking his guitar to play at lunch time, though the other kids all made fun of him. With
very few friends, he devoted all of his free time to listening to music and working on his talent.
In 1948, his family was accepted into a public housing program and moved to Memphis, Tennessee
where his music teacher gave him a barely passing C grade and told him he had no future in music.
Defiantly, he kept practicing and in 1953 he paid for studio time so that he could
hear what he sounded really sounded like. He kept trying with recordings in the hopes
that he would be noticed, but it started to seem like no labels would ever pick him up.
He went to work as a truck driver, but stayed persistent with his pursuit of music. Then, one
night while he was just messing around with his buddies in the recording studio, magic happened.
He broke out of the mold, and sang the blues song “that’s all right” while jumping around
with his guitar. There was something to this new sound, and he was given his first chance.
The song was recorded and played over the radio a few days later and listeners immediately began
asking where to buy an album, and who was this new voice on the radio? Over the next few short years,
he would rise to international fame when RCA released Elvis Presley’s debut album. He went
on tour, not just performing, but appearing on talk shows and the covers of magazines.
He began making more money than he could ever know what to do with.
He purchased a modest ranch house in a quiet Memphis neighborhood
and invited his parents to move in with him. But as he skyrocketed in the charts,
fans figured out where he lived and his quiet street became overrun with fans eager to meet him.
In 1957, he gave his parents a budget of 100,000 dollars and told them to find a “farmhouse-like
property… with… space around it.” For the modern day equivalent of just over 1 million dollars,
they purchased a Colonial Revival Style mansion surrounded by 13 acres of rolling hills on the
very edge of the Memphis Suburbs. The mansion, which was named “Graceland” by its previous
owners, had been built in 1939 and boasted over 10,000 square feet of living space.
Elvis immediately spent an extra 500,000 dollars, the modern equivalent of over 5 million dollars,
to renovate and expand the mansion to house over 17,000 square feet of living space.
Included in these renovations were a large, custom designed front gate featuring music notes and a
stone wall to completely surround the property. Now being seen as an icon of counter culture and
the King of Rock and Roll, his house reflected his unique personality. Wearing flashy outfits,
he would pull up the driveway in his bubble gum pink Cadillac to arrive at his front door,
sunken below a classically styled portico and guarded by stone lions. In fact,
as we make our way through the house, we will see how he defined the term “living like a rockstar”
by incorporating strange and unusual design ideas with classical, luxurious architecture.
Entering the home, we arrive in the stair hall where the walls are clad in fabric and
paired with white and gold accents, such as the balustrade and sputnik chandelier.
Rising with the stairs, mirrors reflect light from an antique crystal chandelier.
Turning around, we notice the front door is surrounded by stained glass windows, and to
either side, ornate arches supported by fluted pilasters welcome us into the formal rooms.
First we will venture into the living room where overstuffed white furniture rests on
white carpet in front of mirrored walls. Towards the end of the room, stained glass
panels featuring peacocks frame the music room housing a baby grand piano and a television.
Just beyond the music room is the bedroom that Elvis had finished out for his parents.
Let’s make our way back across the stair hall to find the dining room.
Going against the grain of traditional design, Elvis placed the dining room
table above a tiled black marble floor surrounded by carpet, quite the opposite
of a traditional space which would normally feature a rug set on top of a tiled floor.
Making our way towards the rear of the house, we will find the kitchen which
would have been considered the epitome of modern when the house was renovated,
though it still boasted unique quirks such as a television and built in sound system.
After starring in the film, “Blue Hawaii” Elvis wanted to bring back a piece of the Aloha State
with him. He created the “Jungle Room” as it was called to be reminiscent of the things
and places he experienced in Hawaii. Such items included furniture, plants,
and even a waterfall wall where he could play his guitar to the tune of a trickling stream.
It wasn’t just his tastes that were unconventional, it was his entire way
of being. In the TV room, he was known to watch 3 different channels at the same time,
fining it hard to focus on just one thing. And let’s not forget about the mirrors everywhere,
the walls, ceilings, and the entire wet bar were created an infinite loop of reflections.
The whole house was meant for fun, to entertain friends, and family, some of whom Elvis invited
to move in with him. His billiards room, where he spent a lot of time playing pool,
required nearly 400 yards of pleated fabric to finish out the ceiling and walls. And when he
wasn’t doing that, he was playing raquet ball in his own private court. He filled the estate with
every toy a person could dream of, from fast cars to private jets, the sky was literally the limit.
The grounds were complete with equestrian pastures and playgrounds for his daughter, and the family
could spend time swimming in their inground pool. He had earned everything he had ever
wanted and his fans adored him, that’s why when he passed away it made international headlines.
In 1977, at the age of only 42 years old, while at home, he passed away on the toilet in his ensuite.
He had developed a substance abuse problem, and suffered a heart attack.
When the autopsy results came back, as many as 14 substances were identified in his system.
To this day, no visitors are allowed in his bedroom, nor the second floor for that matter, and
no photos have ever been made publicly available of his bedroom, which has been sealed off since.
Upon Elvis’ death, his estate was placed in a trust for his daughter Lisa, with his father
managing it. When he passed away, the estate went into the hands of Priscilla who did her
best to upkeep Graceland. Unfortunately, the Presley fortune quickly dried up,
and it wasn’t due to mismanagement of funds. All of the amenities, the grounds, and the
mega mansion required an annual maintenance of the modern day equivalent of millions of
dollars per year. That’s when Pricilla turned to Jack Soden, who had gained a reputation as
the world’s foremost expert in creating lucrative House Museums. With his expertise and guidance,
the nearly bankrupt estate of Elvis grew to be worth more than 100 million dollars.
Hundreds of thousands of people were visiting every year to take tours and pay their respects
at Elvis’ grave in the meditation garden. Lisa was able to cash in on the estate by selling
an 85% stake in Graceland while retaining 15% of it as well as partial ownership in
it’s new parent company. Unfortunately, just as her father’s career was cut short, so was hers.
Lisa suffered a sudden, fatal heart attack earlier this year at the age of 54. The estate has once
again been placed in a trust for her daughters, Elvis’ granddaughters, who may one day play an
active roll in managing the empire their family built for them. In the mean time, Graceland is in
good hands and continues to welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors from all around the world.
If you have ever been, I would love to hear about your experience. And if you had a favorite room,
let me know down below in the comments section. Before you go on to the next video,
I wanted to take a moment to let you all know about some exciting news. This summer,
"ThisHouse" is hitting the road to explore some new cities and bring you in person house tours, by
the time Fall rolls around, we will have explored some really amazing mansions together. Make sure
to hit that subscribe button so you don’t miss these exciting, upcoming episodes of "ThisHouse"