tara k. foto

Graceland feels like a humble home compared to the homes of modern rock stars and music moguls we see on MTV’s House of Style. Three stories high, the rooms on the first floor feel normal in size (albeit there are 23 rooms in total) and the furniture is modest, even a little small for today’s standards. Don’t let this fool you though. As soon as I walk down the mirrored steps the basement, things get very… lively with the decor. The floor, walls, and ceiling of Jungle Room are covered in green shag and adorned with army camouflage curtains, perhaps a nod to Elvis’s military history. The TV room, paneled entirely with mirrors feels very 1960s mod and ‘Vegas’-ish. As an asthmatic, I held my breath while walking through the billiards room which is covered completely with fabric pleating. Lots of dust, to say the least, but it’s hard not to have a very clear sense of Elvis Presley’s quirky, eclectic and bold tastes.

The house is really cool, but I have to say that the real treat for me was the people watching. There must have been at least a hundred people wandering through Graceland in the two hours I was there (Wikipedia says around 600,000 people visit each year). What really strikes me is that these folks have made the effort to get themselves to Memphis to visit Graceland. They get to feel the physical presence of the home, view the textures of that crazy green shag, look up close on those bejeweled jumpsuits and see their breath fog up the glass of the framed gold records.

There is truly a sense of reverence and awe by these visitors. Even 34 years after Elvis’ death, the management receive thousands of gifts and tributes each year from dedicated fans all over the world. Graceland is not just some two-dimensional image on a screen. It is a living, breathing shrine to one of the greatest rock stars in American history.