Elvis Presley’s Graceland: Lisa Marie’s Childhood Playground Scarred From Her Father’s Wild Hobby

Lisa Marie Presley spent many happy childhood days with her father, Elvis Presley, her mother, Priscilla, family, friends, and their Graceland home. Located in Memphis, TN, Graceland was the family’s home for decades. Remnants of that era remain in the home’s perfectly preserved indoor and outdoor areas. One of these is Lisa Marie’s childhood playground, located right outside Vernon Presley’s office. A simple swingset holds scars from her father’s wild hobby.

Lisa Marie Presley admitted she had ‘the run of Graceland’ when she visited

In a 2013 interview for The Talk, Lisa Marie admitted Elvis was not a “strict dad.” His parenting style differed significantly from her mother, Priscilla, who split from Elvis in 1973. However, they co-parented Lisa Marie amicably.

Lisa Marie said, “He was not strict at all. I was truthfully a terror, to be honest. My mom was completely the opposite. She was really strict. So, it was very confusing when I had to go back and forth between the two.”  

She added, “He would sleep all day, so me and my friends had the run of Graceland. And I knew no one would tell me what to do ’cause they would get fired.”

Having the run of Graceland included tearing up the front and back lawns with her golf cart, riding horses, and playing outdoors on a steel swing and slide set right outside her grandfather’s office. However, the swing set held scars from Elvis’ gun, a bullet hole in the slide.

Why was there a bullet hole in the slide of Lisa Marie’s outdoor play area?

Elvis loved to practice shooting alone and with his friends. It was one of his favorite activities. With almost 14 acres of outdoor grounds, he felt safe indulging in his hobby.

Elvis’s shooting range was in an old smokehouse on the property was not far from the play area. Today, that area is preserved with a paper target tacked to the wall and a case of old bullet casings on display. But, bullets did stray from the enclosed space, which has one open side facing the yard.

Sometimes when Elvis practiced, his bullets would ricochet off, hitting the building which houses Vernon’s office. To this day, bullet marks can be seen on the outdoor facade, painted with white paint. As for Lisa’s swing set, it wasn’t spared from Elvis’ hobby. A bullet hold in the slide remains to this day.

Graceland archivist Angie Marchese said, ‘not even Elvis was a perfect shot’

To Express, Graceland archivist Angie Marchese revealed during a virtual live tour that the shot that pierced Lisa Marie’s play set was accidental. However, neither Lisa nor her friends were near the scene when the shot was fired.

Angie said: “The one you see here obviously is the target. Elvis and the guys did make this a makeshift firing range. The guys would stand at the back of the mansion, trying to hit targets similar to this one. But, if you look around the doorway, you’ll see all of these dings in the brick.”

She concluded, “And there’s even one in the bottom of Lisa’s slide, so not even Elvis was a perfect shot!”