Elvis Presley House
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Elvis Presley House is a one-story ranch style house in a residential neighborhood in
Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
. Singer
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
lived here with his parents between March 1956 and March 1957, before moving to
Graceland Graceland is a mansion on a estate in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, which was once owned by rock and roll icon Elvis Presley. His daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, inherited Graceland after his death in 1977. Graceland is located at 3764 Elv ...
.


About the house

The house is a one-story ranch-style house with concrete foundation and two-car attached garage. It is located in a quiet residential neighborhood. It has four bedrooms and two bathrooms. A brick and metal fence was installed by the Presley family. In the backyard is a motorcycle garage. Elvis installed a pool in the backyard in 1956, which was reported to be the largest residential pool in the city at the time. The pool was removed in 2006. Originally the house was painted green, then white, then green again.


History

Elvis purchased the house on March 12, 1956, for $29,500 from the Welsh Plywood Corporation and placed a down-payment of $500 on the house. He was only 21 years old. The new home was not far from his previous residence at 1414 Getwell Road, in what is now a coin operated laundromat. Shortly after moving there, his song ''
Heartbreak Hotel "Heartbreak Hotel" is a song recorded by American singer Elvis Presley. It was released as a single on January 27, 1956, Presley's first on his new record label RCA Victor. It was written by Mae Boren Axton and Tommy Durden, with credit being ...
'' became the most popular song in the nation (before topping the Billboard charts at #1 in April), and fans mobbed the house, which quickly became a focal visiting point for fans, celebrities and the media. Photos of the house were published in national magazines such as Look,
Seventeen Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...
, and
Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...
. Police frequently were called to deal with the mobs of fans who would line the street. The crush of fans and photographers became too much, and after 13 months Elvis moved to
Graceland Graceland is a mansion on a estate in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, which was once owned by rock and roll icon Elvis Presley. His daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, inherited Graceland after his death in 1977. Graceland is located at 3764 Elv ...
and sold the Audubon Drive property as part of the mansion and estate’s purchase. Elvis and Graceland owner Ruth Moore swapped residences; she moved into the Audubon home as he moved into the mansion-estate. The property has been sold about eight times since. The house was added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in March 2006, shortly before its public auction on
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two months later. Initially, it was reported that 'spoon-bender'
Uri Geller Uri Geller ( ; he, אורי גלר; born 20 December 1946) is an Israeli-British illusionist, magician, television personality, and self-proclaimed psychic. He is known for his trademark television performances of spoon bending and other ill ...
won the auction with a bid of $905,100. Instead, the house was sold to record company executive
Mike Curb Michael Curb (born December 24, 1944) is an American musician, record company executive, motorsports car owner, philanthropist, and former politician. He is also the founder of Curb Records where he presently serves as the chairman. Curb also ...
at a reported sale price of $1 million. Curb turned oversight of the property over to the Mike Curb Institute at
Rhodes College Rhodes College is a private liberal arts college in Memphis, Tennessee. Historically affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), it is a member of the Associated Colleges of the South and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges a ...
. The new owners repainted the house from white to a green color similar to the one when Elvis owned it, renovated the fence, and removed the pool. The house is currently not open to the public, but occasionally hosts small VIP events and private music concerts. In April 2017, the house was damaged by fire while undergoing renovations. Amazingly, most of the contents were undamaged because they were safely secured elsewhere at the time.


Plaque

A plaque on the brickwork on the fence reads: ::On March 20, 1956 Elvis Presley and his parents, Vernon and Gladys, moved into 1034 Audubon Drive purchased with royalties from his first million-dollar-selling record, "Heartbreak Hotel." It was the year that defined his career. The home is now owned by the Mike Curb Family Foundation dedicated to the support of music education and the restoration of historic music locations. In 2006, the foundation created the Mike Curb Institute for Music at Rhodes College to advance music-related preservation and research.


See also

*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Shelby County, Tennessee __NOTOC__ This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Shelby County, Tennessee. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Shelby County, Tenn ...


External links

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References

{{National Register of Historic Places Elvis Presley Houses in Memphis, Tennessee Houses completed in 1954 Ranch house architecture Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee National Register of Historic Places in Memphis, Tennessee