Elvis Presley’s Graceland: 1 Holiday Brought Family Home ‘Back to Life’
Graceland is more than just a museum that pays tribute to Elvis Presley. It is also a family home. While no one currently lives in the Memphis, Tennessee estate, the house holds plenty of happy memories for those who lived and laughed with the King of Rock and Roll for the 20 years he lived there. However, one time of the year brought the family home “back to life” more than any other.
One time of the year brought ‘life’ back into Graceland
Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis and Priscilla Presley’s only daughter, considered Graceland her home. Although she primarily resided in California, she returned whenever possible to her birthplace and ancestral home.
In fact, Thanksgiving is one of the most family-centered times of the year at Graceland. Besides Christmas Day, the mansion is closed to visitors on this day.
On that day, Lisa Marie and her children Riley, Benjamin, Harper, and Finley would return to the estate to enjoy a family meal. They would treat the home as a gathering place instead of a museum. These yearly events brought “life” back into the Memphis home.
Express.co.uk spoke with Graceland archivist Angie Marchese about those traditional Presley family Thanksgiving dinners. She revealed, “The last tour was normally at 5 p.m., and then we would take the ropes down and turn all the kitchen appliances on. Elvis’ original cooks would come and make what they used to make for them, which was quite amazing.”
Marchese continued, “When the last cook passed away, we found a caterer that Lisa liked to come in and make all of her favorite foods. “It really brought the house to life.”
“It was a fun time to experience Graceland in that way, and they’d all leave at like two or three in the morning, and then we’d put the ropes back up, turn the equipment off, put the Plexiglass back on, and tourists would come through the next day,” the archivist concluded.
Will Riley Keough keep the same traditions as Lisa Marie Presley?
Lisa Marie Presley died in January 2024. Her unexpected passing left her daughter, Riley Keough, responsible for the historic family home.
As Riley, husband Ben, daughter Tupelo, and her sisters Harper and Finley are all California-based, time will tell if they adhere to the same traditions their mother insisted on throughout her life. Angie Marchese shared her thoughts on whether or not the clan would continue using Graceland to celebrate holidays.
Angie hopes so. “I think Riley and the girls have a different connection with Graceland than Lisa did. They’re a generation removed from it. They never knew Elvis. They only know Graceland through their mom and through what she shared with them about the house and their memories of the house being there with her.”
She continued, “I think those things will still happen in time. I think right now family is still obviously processing everything and trying to find what their new normal is.”
Lisa Marie Presley called Graceland ‘a very special place’
Lisa Marie shared her thoughts to USA Today in 2013 about Graceland, her childhood home. “It’s a very special place. It shuts down quite nice at night.”
She continued, “I have family that I love very much who live there in Memphis. When I go, I visit [Graceland]. We have dinner there. My family still goes there, and we still have a life there.”
Lisa then revealed that she visited the home “after hours” but was known to pop in “occasionally while tours are happening.”
“It’s got a very special energy there when you go,” Lisa continued. “It’s like a time capsule: nothing’s been changed or moved since 1977.”
“It is like a time warp, and the energy is still very much there. You can feel it,” she says. “It’s from the essence of that time period. It’s a very special place.”
Graceland is open for tours 363 days a year, with the exception of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Lisa Marie is buried in Graceland’s Meditation Garden alongside her father, Elvis Presley, grandparents Vernon and Gladys Presley, Great-Grandmother Minnie Mae, and Lisa’s son, Benjamin Keough.
