Graceland

Graceland was the home of Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll, and is a shrine to one of the most influential entertainers of the 20th century. Elvis bought the Memphis mansion in 1957 at the height of his early fame and lived there until his death in 1977; he is buried on its grounds. Opened to the public in 1982, Graceland has become one of the most visited private homes in America, drawing hundreds of thousands of fans each year to walk through the rooms where the King lived.

The colonial-style mansion was built in 1939 on what was then farmland south of Memphis and named Graceland after a relative of its original owners. In 1957, a 22-year-old Elvis Presley — already a national sensation — bought the house and its grounds for about $102,500, moving in with his parents. Over the next two decades he transformed it into a personal world, adding features like the racquetball building and the exotically decorated Jungle Room.

Graceland was the center of Elvis's life through the peaks and struggles of his career. He returned there between tours, films, and his legendary Las Vegas residencies, and it was here, on August 16, 1977, that he died at the age of 42. He was buried, along with members of his family, in the estate's Meditation Garden, which became a place of pilgrimage for grieving fans.

Faced with the cost of maintaining the estate, Elvis's former wife Priscilla Presley opened Graceland to the public in 1982. The gamble succeeded spectacularly: the mansion became one of the most popular house museums in the country, second only to the White House among American homes. In 2006 Graceland was designated a National Historic Landmark, recognizing its place in the story of American music and culture.