In 1957, a 22-year-old Elvis Presley paid $102,500 for a Memphis mansion on about 14 acres so his parents would have room to live; today more than 600,000 people a year tour Graceland, more than any other American home except the White House

In early 1957, Elvis Presley was 22 and already the biggest star in America. Heartbreak Hotel had been a smash hit, he was making films in Hollywood, and fans were camping outside his family’s house on a quiet street in Memphis.

He needed somewhere bigger and more private, for himself and for his parents, Vernon and Gladys. In March that year, he found it: a white-columned mansion on a hill south of the city, called Graceland.

A house with a name already

Graceland wasn’t Elvis’s name for it. The land had once been part of a farm owned by the Toof family, named after a daughter, Grace. In 1939, her niece Ruth Brown Moore and Ruth’s husband, Dr. Thomas Moore, built the house there and kept the name.

It was a Colonial Revival mansion with tall columns, set on nearly 14 acres of rolling grounds. Elvis paid $102,500 for it, a large sum at the time, and moved in with his parents and grandmother that spring.

A home for the whole family

Elvis was close to his parents, especially his mother. Growing up poor in Tupelo, Mississippi, and then in public housing in Memphis, the family had never had much space or security. Graceland gave them both.

Gladys loved the house, and she kept chickens on the grounds. Sadly, she lived there only a little over a year. She died in August 1958, shortly after Elvis was drafted into the Army, a loss that affected him deeply.

Making it his own

Over the next two decades, Elvis made Graceland reflect his tastes. He added the famous Music Gates, decorated with musical notes and guitar-playing figures, and filled the house with bold, colorful decor.

The best-known room is the Jungle Room, with green shag carpet on the floor and ceiling and heavy carved furniture. Elvis even recorded music there in 1976. Other additions included a racquetball building, a trophy room and the Meditation Garden.

Death and a new life as a museum

Elvis Presley died at Graceland on August 16, 1977, aged 42. He was buried in the Meditation Garden, alongside his parents and grandmother.

Running the estate was expensive, and by the early 1980s, its finances were under strain. Elvis’s former wife, Priscilla, helped lead an effort to open the house to the public. Graceland opened for tours on June 7, 1982, and the move turned the estate into a major business.

One of America’s most visited homes

Today, Graceland welcomes more than 600,000 visitors a year from all over the world. It’s often described as the second most visited home in the US, after the White House. In 2006, it was named a National Historic Landmark, and that same year, President George W. Bush took Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, a devoted Elvis fan, on a tour.

The upstairs of the house, including Elvis’s bedroom and the bathroom where he died, has always been closed to visitors out of respect for the family. The estate remains in the Presley family, and it’s now part of a wider complex that includes museums, a hotel and Elvis’s private jets.

Visiting Graceland

Graceland is on Elvis Presley Boulevard in Memphis, Tennessee. Tours run throughout the year, but spring and summer are the busiest, when thousands of people can visit in a single day. Booking ahead is a good idea, especially around Elvis Week in August, which marks the anniversary of his death.

For many fans, the most moving part of the visit is the Meditation Garden, where people still leave flowers and notes at his grave.