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Elvis Presley’s legendary Graceland estate is an iconic symbol of arguably the greatest pop culture figure of all time. The King of Rock and Roll bought his mansion in 1957 for $102,500. He lived in the home until he died at the age of 42 on August 16, 1977. Elvis, who was buried on the property, carefully curated the aesthetic of the home throughout his lifetime. From having additions built to hand-selecting each piece of furniture, the musician created a world of 1970s luxury.
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His only daughter Lisa Marie Presley inherited the estate after his death and it was later opened to the public as a museum in 1982. When Lisa Marie died in January 2023, her daughter Riley Keough became heir to the estate, prompting a bitter legal battle with her grandmother Priscilla Presley . Although the pair ultimately reached a settlement, Riley faced another court battle which put her at risk of losing the home during a foreclosure auction. A Tennessee judge today blocked the auction and issued a temporary injunction.
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Elvis purchased his Graceland estate in 157, the same year he recorded a slew of iconic hits including ‘Blue Christmas ‘ and ‘All Shook Up.’ His parents and grandmother moved in while he was filming Jailhouse Rock and he didn’t stay in the property until June 26 that year.
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Located in Memphis, Tennessee , the 13.8-acre property attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year, as people remember one of America’s most impactful musicians. The property was constructed in 1939 by Ruth Brown Moore and her husband Dr. Thomas D. Moore, who named the property ‘Graceland’ after Ruth’s aunt Grace Toof, the original owner of the land. When Elvis first bought the home, it spanned 10,266 square feet, but numerous renovations on the way to becoming a renowned museum have seen the mansion grow to 17,552 square feet.
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The performer made several modifications to the property, including having a pink Alabama fieldstone wall installed to surround the grounds. He had local artisan Abe Sauer design and build a wrought-iron gate that is shaped like sheet music and features silhouettes of him playing guitar. He had a meditation garden designed and built, which he is understood to have used as a thinking space, Women’s Wear Daily reported.
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The 23-room mansion has eight bedrooms, four bathrooms, a trophy room and an extensive garage to house the performer’s cars. It also features a kidney-shaped swimming pool, racquetball court, hooting range and a full horse stable. Graceland is known as a zany, folksy look into Elvis’ lifestyle, including the notable ‘Jungle Room’ filled with greenery and family heirlooms, which was initially used as a practical joke by Elvis, who purchased many items of furniture in an attempt to annoy his father.
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According to a video on the Graceland website, every item of furniture in the home is an original piece of furniture that was purchased during Elvis’ time there. Today, the property at 3763 Elvis Presley Blvd stands as one of America’s most famous musical landmarks, which was acknowledged in 1991 when it was added to the American National register of Historic Places.
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It features a museum that houses some of the most notable artifacts from his career, including a 40ft high wall that contains every single of the awards he was given after his death. Lisa Marie, born in 1968, spent her early years at Graceland until her parents’ divorce in 1972, which saw her move to California with her mother Priscilla. However, Lisa Marie did frequently visit the estate throughout her childhood.
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Elvis was found dead on the second floor of the home in 1977 and Lisa Marie inherited of the estate. Her inheritance was kept in a trust until her 25th birthday. The estate cost roughly $480,000 annually to maintain after Elvis’ death so Priscilla, who managed her daughter’s trust, hired a chief executive to turn it into a museum, which opened to visitors in 1982. Lisa Marie’s estate had complete ownership over her father’s mansion and personal belongings. Before she died, she made Graceland permanently available for tours. The property was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2006.
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Elvis’ aunt Delta, who died in 1993, was the last member of his family to actually reside at Graceland. Lisa Marie died in January 2023, at the age of 54, afte r suffering a cardiac arrest at her home in Calabasas, California. It was later found that she died from a ‘small bowel obstruction’ caused by a bariatric surgery that she had undergone according to the autopsy. Graceland was left to Lisa Marie’s daughter Riley and her son Benjamin Keough following her death.
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Benjamin died in 2020, at age 27, after shooting himself dead in the family’s mansion , with sources revealing he had been struggling at the time. Riley was named the sole trustee of the family estate after a legal battle with her grandmother Priscilla Presley , 78. Their disagreement centered around a 2016 amendment to Lisa Marie’s will that excised Priscilla as trustee of the estate. Attorneys for Priscilla said she only became aware of the amendment after the death of her daughter.
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The amendment removed Priscilla and Lisa Marie’s former business manager Barry Siegel, and replaced them with Lisa Marie’s children Riley and Benjamin. Riley’s settlement over the ownership of the Graceland mansion was approved by a judge ten months after her mother Lisa Marie’s death in January 2023. Today, a Tennessee judge blocked the auction of Graceland by a company that claimed his estate failed to repay a loan that used the property as collateral.
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The judge issued a temporary injunction against the proposed auction that had been scheduled for Thursday this week. The injunction essentially keeps in place a previous ruling that he had issued after Presley’s granddaughter Riley Keough filed a lawsuit to fight off what she said was a fraudulent scheme.
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A public notice for a foreclosure sale of the 13-acre estate in Memphis posted earlier in May said Promenade Trust, which controls the Graceland museum, owes $3.8million after failing to repay a 2018 loan. Naussany Investments and Private Lending said Lisa Marie had used Graceland as collateral for the loan, according to the foreclosure sale notice.
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Riley, on behalf of the Promenade Trust, alleged in her lawsuit that Naussany presented fraudulent documents regarding the loan in September 2023. Last year, Priscilla confirmed it is her wish to be buried next to her late ex-husband Elvis on his Graceland estate when she dies. Elvis, Lisa Marie and her son Benjamin are all buried at Graceland.
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