Inside The Walls Of Elvis Presley’s Perfectly Preserved Graceland Mansion

It was early in 1957 when Elvis, then only 22 years old, decided to buy the estate known as Graceland. Located close to Memphis, Tennessee, its 14 acres set the singer back a little over $100,000. The gorgeous house was to be a home for the King, his mother Gladys, father Vernon and grandma Minnie Mae.

Over the years, it also became the home-away-from-home of many members of Elvis’ entourage, who were affectionately known as the “Memphis Mafia.” During the 20 years that Graceland served as Elvis’ home base, numerous romantic partners – including of course his one-time wife Priscilla – resided there as well. And it became a legendary location in the minds of his legions of fans.

When the King died in 1977, Vernon took control of Graceland. He passed on just two years later, though, and Priscilla became executor until such time as Elvis’ daughter Lisa Marie, who hadn’t yet reached her teens, came of age. It was Priscilla who secured the future for everyone associated with the King by creating a museum out of the Graceland estate.

The summer of 1982 saw Graceland welcome its first visitors. Elvis was still the biggest-selling solo artist ever and a huge number of fans wanted to come to his home and pay tribute to their hero. It’s now a major tourist destination – the only U.S. home to receive more visitors is the White House. People love to see the way the singer’s personality is represented throughout the residence.

Elvis’ games area, which featured a large pool table, was inspired by a depiction of billiards room from the 1700s. Elvis’ decorator Bill Eubanks then bought in over 300 yards of cloth that his team spent more than a week processing and fixing in place on the walls and ceiling.

When it came to the television room, Elvis found inspiration in President Lyndon B. Johnson. Not in terms of the décor, but with regards to the amount of TV sets in the room. Elvis found out that Johnson had three, which enabled him to tune in to all the big networks simultaneously. So, naturally, the King felt he needed three as well.

“The room is also famous for its bold yellow, navy and white color scheme with a lightning bolt,” the Graceland website reveals. “The room also features yellow shag carpet, a deep blue sectional, track lighting and chrome arc lamps. Like several other rooms at Graceland, the bar area in the TV room is mirrored to make it seem bigger.”

The kitchen at Graceland is a great example of 1970s interior design. To this day, it still looks the same as when Elvis had it renovated during 1974. Unusually for a kitchen, though, it has light units made of stained glass. The oven and dishwasher are lime green, the refrigerator is bright yellow and there’s also a mammoth eight-burner cooker.

Elvis was always keen to outfit his kitchen with the most advanced technology available at the time. For instance, he was the earliest person in Memphis to own a microwave. It cost him more than $500 back then, which would be an eye-watering sum these days. It’s a great example of how the King didn’t skimp on cost when it came to food.

Elvis had a fondness for banana, bacon, and peanut butter sandwiches, which were prepared for him in the Graceland kitchen. His shopping list also included some other unusual items that he insisted were available to him 24/7, such as wieners and sauerkraut.

The lounge’s décor remained constant from 1957 all the way until the mid-1970s. According to the official Graceland website, “The custom 15-foot sofa and 10-foot coffee table, matching end tables and a few other pieces offered a classic look…” At Christmas time, Elvis would have red fabrics installed in place of the standard blue ones – something that his executors have continued to this day.

In 1974, though, the King wanted a change. So he “redecorated the living room with dramatic French Provencal furniture décor, including red carpet, red velvet furniture and red satin draperies.” That design survived into the early 1980s. But prior to the public being allowed into Graceland, Elvis’ executors opted to revert to the classic look, as that was what the room looked like for the majority of the singer’s time there.

Separating the living room and the music area are colored-glass panels that have become iconic to Elvis fans. These have a peacock design, as the bird is a symbol of immortality in Christianity. They, along with the colored-glass fittings in the games room and by the main entrance, were all created during the fall of 1974 by Memphis’ Laukhuff Stained Glass Company.

Fittingly for a man with peacock-decorated glass in his home, one of Elvis’ main passions was animals. He would eventually erect a huge barn in the gardens to house his pets. At one point, it was home to numerous horses. Elvis also owned a series of dogs over the years, including a Chow Chow, Great Danes and a Basset Hound.

But the King’s most unique pet was Scatter, a chimpanzee he acquired from local TV star Captain Bill Killebrew. Scatter was allowed to wander the estate and spend time with the singer and his entourage. The King reportedly dressed him up in various costumes and, initially at least, was amused by the chimp’s antics. Elvis did eventually concede that Scatter needed to have his own quarters in Graceland, though, complete with climate control.

Arguably the most famous room in Graceland is the “Jungle Room.” While Elvis didn’t know the room by that name, as he always referred to it as “the den,” it was given its current title by a reporter when the house became a museum.

According to Rolling Stone, the Jungle Room became the focal point of Elvis’ residence. Journalist Jordan Runtagh wrote, “There he would take his breakfast, contemplate the enormous artificial waterfall, entertain his coterie of confidants nicknamed the ‘Memphis Mafia’ and, when the urge struck, shoot out his television set with a revolver.” The décor was described by Runtagh as “breathtakingly garish” and “ostentatious kitsch.”

In truth, though, the room was a wonderful representation of Elvis’ unique personality. Runtagh wrote that “this unruly terrain of green shag carpeting, plastic plants, rainbow lights and ersatz animal fur seemed perfectly appropriate” when associated with the King. “His eccentric style, playful humor, manic moods and sheer bravado ooze from every corner.”

When Elvis moved into Graceland in 1957, the area that would become the Jungle Room was simply an uncovered terrace. Before he’d truly made himself at home, though, the King was called up into the U.S. military in 1958. His drafting was a media circus, and he wound up serving for two years in Germany before coming back to America in spring 1960.

On his return Elvis began a host of renovations that would transform the house, piece by piece, into his vision of the perfect abode. By 1965 a nascent version of the Jungle Room had been created, with heavy curtains that meant the area was dark 24/7. The interior design wasn’t quite to the King’s taste, though.

In Elvis and the Memphis Mafia, Elvis’ friend Marty Lacker recalled, “None of the jungle stuff was there, then.” Instead, Elvis’ dad had fitted out the room with Sears items. It had “these big round tables like you’d see in a restaurant, with high chrome bottoms and big round black tops.”

At that time, the main selling point of the room was the huge color TV, which had been supplied to the King for free by his record label RCA. This set, along with the other 13 at Graceland, was treated rather recklessly by Elvis, who would reportedly shoot it with his .357 Magnum when Robert Goulet, whom the King reviled, came on the screen. But, as his father Vernon would later point out, he always “could afford to buy a new one.”

Elvis soon made additions to the room, including a waterfall. While it undoubtedly looked amazing and pleased Elvis aesthetically, it was an unmitigated disaster in practical terms. “It was a great idea, except it flooded everything. It never worked. The whole room would get flooded,” Priscilla recalled when talking to Larry King in 2007.

Lacker agreed with this assessment, writing, “Vernon got this cheap-ass plumber – some $4-an-hour guy – to do it originally, and the guy botched the job. The whole wall leaked, and water would flood the backyard.” Terrifyingly, the leaky waterfall caused a fire during Elvis’ 1971 Christmas get-together. Vernon had to frantically bash through the wall to access the damaged wires and avoid the whole house going up in flames.

In the 1970s the Jungle Room saw extensive – and to some observers even more questionable – alterations in its décor. According to Runtagh, “Antebellum pillars, balustrades and doorways were shrouded in heavy red velvet fabric, lassoed with gold tassels like a Las Vegas Versailles… Floors were cluttered with white fur rugs, robust caryatids and gaudy lamps bejeweled with fake rubies and sequins.”

Elvis’ unique taste was actually joked about among his pals at the time. Memphis Mafia member Alan Fortas once said the Jungle Room included “all the furniture you wouldn’t buy – not in a million years.” Another friend, Lamar Fike, remarked, “Let’s face it – Elvis’ taste sucked. If something wasn’t overdone, it was abnormal to Elvis.”

Eventually the Jungle Room came to resemble a tiki bar, filled as it was with dark-wood furniture. Elvis loved Hawaii, which he often visited and where some of his hit films had been shot. So he wanted to instill some of its spirit in his home. Interestingly, though, some people believe the King knowingly chose garish décor as a joke to annoy his dad.

For example, a number of Elvis’ friends claim that Vernon said one day in 1974, “I just went by Donald’s Furniture Store and they’ve got the ugliest furniture I’ve ever seen in my life.” He then described the items to his son. Without missing a beat, Elvis smiled and said, “Good, sounds like me.” So perhaps he was more aware of how his tastes were perceived than some critics believed.

Amazingly, the Jungle Room even functioned as a temporary recording studio during 1976. With the thick carpets being excellent absorbers of sound waves, a mobile studio was used by the King there for some iconic sessions. The result was From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee, and four tracks also made it onto the album Moody Blue, which was released after Elvis’ death.

Perhaps the most poignant and significant addition to Graceland, though, was Elvis’ “Meditation Garden.” According to Runtagh, writing for People magazine, this was “a secluded patch of plants and fountains cordoned off by white columns and a pergola.” He added that, for Elvis, “In life, it was where he loved to sit and reflect and in death, it serves as his final resting place.”

The Meditation Garden is where the King’s remains were laid to rest, along with those of his mom, father and grandma. There’s also a monument to his twin brother Jessie, who was stillborn. The story of how Elvis wound up buried at his home is an interesting one. He and Gladys weren’t initially buried there. Instead, they were laid to rest at Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis.

Sadly, though, an effort to remove Elvis’ remains from his grave soon occurred, presumably with the intention of ransoming the King’s body. As Runtagh wrote, “Three men were arrested though the scheme was so flimsy that they could only be charged with trespassing in the cemetery. Fearing copycat criminals, Presley’s body, as well as Gladys’, was moved back to Graceland.”

The Meditation Garden held those four members of the family until 2020, when a fifth was added. Elvis’ grandkid Benjamin Keough, son of Lisa Marie, sadly passed away at the age of just 27. He was laid to rest opposite his grandfather.

Today’s visitors to Graceland can walk through the Meditation Garden and pay respects to the King and his family. They can also go inside the first floor of the house. The second floor remains cut off from the public, though. It was where Elvis and Lisa Marie’s bedrooms were located and was seen as his area of private refuge. And because it has stayed off-limits, the second-floor has become the subject of much speculation.

Stories began to spread that the second floor was maintained exactly as it was when Elvis passed. These could never be confirmed, though, as no images of the rooms have emerged, and the only people permitted upstairs are Lisa Marie, Priscilla and the curator of the estate. Even sitting U.S. presidents haven’t been allowed in, with the sole public figure confirmed to have seen the area being Hollywood star Nicolas Cage, who was briefly married to Lisa Marie.

But then in April 2020 a live tour was streamed by Graceland director of archives Angie Marchese – and it included some tidbits about the mysterious cordoned-off floor. Marchese noted, “So the one thing about Graceland and its mystique is the upstairs and the fact that it was Elvis’ private area,” before adding, “It looks as if he just got up and left.”

“It is part of my job to maintain it. So, we do go up there to maintain the space,” Marchese continued. “The record on the record player is the last record he listened to. There’s a Styrofoam cup that sits on a bookshelf. The bed is made, so we really maintain it the way that Lisa wants us to preserve it.”

Lisa Marie had spoken about the second floor a few years earlier during an appearance on British morning show Lorraine. When questioned about her feelings towards Graceland, she replied, “It’s the one place I feel safest ever. I keep the key to upstairs with me.”

“It’s just his room and my room, sort of sanctuary,” Lisa Marie continued. “If I take the key and just shut that door, I feel the safest and calmest that I could possibly feel.” She also revealed that, when she and her family go there when public admission hours have ended, they occasionally sleep on the second floor. This special area of Graceland is, and always will be, for the Presley family alone.