Graceland
Graceland, mansion that was American singer Elvis Presley’s home from 1957 to 1977. Today it is a major tourist attraction in Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. Presley is buried at Graceland, as are several of his family members, including his parents, daughter, and grandson.
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.
The Colonial Revival style mansion was built in 1939 by Thomas Moore and his wife, Ruth, and they named it for Grace Toof, Ruth’s aunt, whose ancestors had purchased the land on which it sat in the 19th century. Presley purchased the white-columned property and 13.8 acres of surrounding land in 1957, paying a price of $102,500 (about $1,14 million in 2023 dollars), and he moved in along with his parents,Vernon and Gladys Presley. His mother died the following year and is buried at Graceland. Two years later Vernon remarried, moving his new wife, Dee Stanley, into the home. The situation was fraught, and eventually Elvis moved them out and into an adjacent property.
Much of Presley’s adult life was played out within the walls of Graceland, and several books detailing his life and times there have been published. In 1967, after five years of their living together at Graceland, he married Priscilla Beaulieu. Among the estate’s additions are a kidney-shaped swimming pool and gates that were designed to resemble sheet music.
Following Elvis’s death at the house in 1977, Priscilla Presley—who was by that time divorced from the singer—took over the management of the estate and turned it into a moneymaking enterprise. It was opened to the public in 1982, and in 2006 the couple’s daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, turned over management of Graceland to an entertainment company.
After Lisa Marie Presley’s death in January 2023, Priscilla Presley contested the validity of her daughter’s will. Following a settlement, sole ownership of Graceland was awarded to Riley Keough, Lisa Marie’s daughter.
It is estimated that tourism to Graceland contributes some $150 million to the economy of Memphis each year. In 1991 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. As of 2020 its worth was believed to be between $400 million and $500 million.
