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"
