Elvis Presley’s Graceland: The 1 Person Allowed to Maintain The King’s Off-Limits Bedroom
Visitors to Elvis Presley‘s Graceland home can see how the King of Rock and Roll lived. Entering the Memphis abode allows fans a glimpse into his personal history as they tour some of the home’s most iconic rooms. However, the upstairs remains off-limits to visitors and most staff. Only one person is allowed to maintain and preserve Presley’s bedroom; here are the details.
The 1 person allowed to preserve and maintain Elvis Presley’s Graceland bedroom
Elvis Presley’s Graceland has hundreds of employees working throughout the year. The home’s official website states that 350 people are on staff annually. That number grows to 450 during peak season.
Graceland jobs include ground maintenance, security, tour guides, bus drivers, sales representatives, and many behind-the-scenes jobs that keep the home operational for the millions of visitors who arrive yearly.
But even with that large number of staff roles, only one person is allowed to preserve and maintain Elvis Presley’s bedroom. Angie Marchese, Graceland’s Vice President of Archives & Exhibits, is the only person, sans Presley’s immediate family members, who is allowed upstairs into the king’s bedroom.
Marchese was tasked with the role by Lisa Marie Presley, the King of Rock and Roll’s daughter.
Angie Marchese says it looks like Elvis Presley ‘got up and left’ one day
During an Instagram Q&A inside Graceland, Angie Marchese admitted the upstairs area is preserved as the king left it in August 1977. She says, “It looks like he just got up and left. It is part of my job to maintain it. So we do go up there to maintain the space.”
She continued, “The record on the record player is the last record he listened to. There’s a styrofoam cup that sits on a bookshelf.”
“The bed is made, so we maintain it how Lisa wanted us to preserve it. So, unfortunately, [fans] can’t see it, but it is taken care of.”
JD Sumner and the Stamps were the band whose record remains on Presley’s turntable. Marchese explains, “It was a recording they had just done in the studio that they had sent to Elvis. I’ve never actually played it, so I don’t know its song. The label on it just has the recording date on it that just says ‘The Stamps.’”
What rooms are located upstairs at Graceland?
Billy Smith, Elvis Presley’s cousin, detailed the original layout of the upstairs at Graceland in an interview reprinted by Elvis.com.au. He walked fans through the experience.
“Originally, you went up the stairs, and to the left were two huge double doors, which were padded at that time. And you went in, and there were two more double-type doors,” Smith began.
“One led to the office, which was his office. The other led to his bedroom, and then off his bedroom was his bathroom.”
Smith continued: “But before you went through the double doors if you went around the little hall area, where his dressing room is now, there was a bedroom. It was just an extra bedroom, and over to the right was another bedroom.”
In that bedroom resided Minnie Mae Presley, Vernon Presley’s mother. “Grandma stayed there for a short period of time, and then they moved her downstairs after I think Gladys died’.
“Later, the bedroom, Grandma’s, became Lisa’s room. And the bedroom joined to Elvis’ bathroom had taken the wall out, and it was his dressing room and bathroom altogether,” he concluded.
Elvis Presley died on Aug. 16, 1977, in his bathroom in Graceland. He was 42.
