Having been completed in 1939, the Graceland mansion has only been standing for a relatively short period of time. Yet it has achieved infamy for being Elvis Presley's home for 20 years, and also his final resting place. Presley bought the house for $100,000 in 1957, by which time he had racked up his eighth number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
Elvis' neighbours had begun to complain of excessive numbers of fans crowding around his former home, and so he decided it was time for something more suitable. Given that Elvis lived at Graceland until his death in 1977, it naturally contains a lot of his personal effects and examples of his style - many of the rooms are still decorated in the way he had chosen. Following Presley's burial in the mansion's grounds, Graceland was opened as a museum commemorating his life and works in 1982. It is seen as so culturally important that it was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2006. It is the USA's second most-visited private home, after the White House.
(13 reviews)
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