Priscilla Presley at Home: Inside the Muse’s Private Life at Graceland and Beyond

The actor and entrepreneur is largely to credit for turning the Memphis estate she shared with Elvis into an iconic tourist destinationPriscilla Presley moved to Beverly Hills after living in Memphis with Elvis.Photo: Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty ImagesInarguably, Priscilla Presley has had a remarkable home life. The Brooklyn native is one of a select few to have lived in Graceland, America’s most-visited residence (barring the White House), and was also the driving force behind turning that residence into a profitable enterprise. One can trace Priscilla’s ties to the Memphis property to one chance event: Elvis Presley getting drafted to the US Army in 1958. Priscilla Beaulieu was just 14 when she met a 24-year-old Elvis Presley in West Germany, where her stepfather, an Air Force captain, was also based. Elvis was discharged in 1960 and maintained a long-distance relationship with Priscilla until 1962, when she visited him in Los Angeles and at Graceland for the first time. The following year she moved to Memphis, where she lived with Elvis’s parents at first. But the 18-year-old spent more and more of her days at Graceland before eventually moving in full time. Priscilla and Elvis were married at the now-demolished Aladdin Resort in Las Vegas on May 1, 1967, followed by a reception at their beloved Memphis estate.After living at Graceland (but before turning it into the iconic museum it is today), Priscilla moved into an Italian-inspired villa in Beverly Hills, where she remained for over four decades. Below, we’ve rounded up photos of Priscilla at her two most significant homes.Elvis and Priscilla in at the Palm Springs home known as the House of Tomorrow. Photo: Courtesy Everett CollectionHoneymoon HideawayFollowing their 1967 nuptials, Elvis and Priscilla spent their honeymoon in Palm Springs at William Krisel’s House of Tomorrow, a 4,695-square-foot modernist abode sectioned off into four circular spaces under a long, sloped roof. The newlyweds sit in front of one of the home’s curved rock walls in this snapshot. Built in 1960, the dwelling featured then-futuristic electronic temperature controls, outdoor lighting, and sprinkler systems.Elvis purchased Graceland for just over $100,000. Photo: Magma Agency/WireImage/Getty ImagesFamily time at GracelandPriscilla and Elvis welcomed their only child, Lisa Marie Presley, on February 1, 1968. The family of three is pictured at the Graceland pool deck in this circa-1970 photo. Elvis bought the 1939-built Classical Revival–style mansion in 1957 for $102,500. It originally measured about 10,200 square feet, but later additions tacked on during Elvis’s residency expanded Graceland to 17,500 square feet. The “Hound Dog” singer added the kidney-shaped swimming pool shortly after purchasing the property.Priscilla and Lisa Marie during the week of Thanksgiving 1970 Photo: Frank Carroll/Sygma via Getty ImagesAt home in Beverly HillsPriscilla and Lisa Marie pose at their West Coast home in this November 1970 portrait. The Presleys bought the Los Angeles dwelling, at 1174 Hillcrest Road in Trousdale Estates, for $400,000 shortly after their 1967 wedding. Two years after this photo was taken Elvis and Priscilla separated and then sold the French Regency–style dwelling. Their divorce was finalized on October 9, 1973.Priscilla on the leafy grounds of her Beverly Hills property Photo: Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty ImagesVilla PriscillaAfter their divorce was finalized, Priscilla picked up a home of her own in Beverly Hills. “It’s a bit secluded with the gates, so you can’t see in. It was a sanctuary for me,” the Dallas star told Closer during a 2018 tour of the Italian-inspired villa, which sat on two acres dotted with dense foliage. Priscilla poses at the property in the April 1975 photo.Priscilla and Elvis owned Southern California homes near each other after their divorce. Photo: Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty ImagesPosing poolsideWhen Priscilla bought the home, Elvis’s West Coast base was a nearby Holmby Hills property that the former couple had purchased in 1970. “We were very, very close, and I wanted to make sure his house was near to our daughter,” she explained in the Closer interview. In this photo, also from April 1975, Priscilla showed off the villa’s swimming pool.Priscilla on the grounds of her California home with her dog Photo: Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images“Our home”In addition to the paved walkways, tiled fountains, statues, and gardens that were photographed for the April 1975 photoshoot, Priscilla’s Beverly Hills home had a fireplace-warmed courtyard tucked amongst lush landscaping. The phrase “Villa Nostra” was inscribed at the top of the fireplace, emphasizing it as a welcoming spot to gather. “When I had more family here, there was a cozy feeling, and that’s why I put ‘Villa Nostra,’” Priscilla told Closer in 2018. “It means ‘Our Home’ in Italian.”A vibrant fireplace in Priscilla’s home Photo: Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty ImagesItalian-inspired sanctuaryDuring the same photoshoot, Priscilla allowed the cameras inside of the European-inspired home. This photo reveals decadent details: plush red carpet, a fringed lampshade, and a colorfully tiled fireplace. In 1992, Priscilla hired an Italian architect to expand the house, adding a second floor with a library, two bedrooms, and a staircase lined with Italian tiles.Priscilla strikes a pose on her red carpet in this 1975 shot. Photo: Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty ImagesLongtime homeThe Naked Gun actor stayed at the Beverly Hills home all the way until December 2020 when she sold it for $13 million. At that time the villa spanned nearly 9,000 square feet with seven bedrooms and 8.5 bathrooms. After letting go of her home of more than 45 years, Priscilla downsized to a 3,200-square-foot condo in Century City.Robert Kardashian married Kris Jenner (née Houghton) a few years after his relationship with Priscilla ended. Photo: Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty ImagesLove after ElvisAfter splitting from Elvis, Priscilla briefly dated Mike Stone, the karate instructor with whom she had an affair before the divorce. Then, for a stint in the mid ’70s, Priscilla’s boyfriend was none other than Robert Kardashian. This picture of the couple in front of Priscilla’s Beverly Hills home was taken in March 1976. Two years later Kardashian married Kris Jenner (then Kris Houghton), and the rest is reality TV history. Priscilla had more relationships, including a 19-year partnership with Marco Garibaldi, with whom she shares a son. But after Elvis, marriage seemed lackluster. “To be honest with you, I never wanted to marry after him. I never had any desire,” she later said. “No one could ever match him.”Priscilla at Graceland in 1982 Photo: Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty ImagesBack to GracelandElvis died at 42 years old in 1977. “I couldn’t accept that he had passed. I’d felt Elvis would always be there. He was such a force of nature,” Priscilla later reflected. Lisa Marie would inherit Graceland when she turned 25, but until then, it was put under the care of Elvis’s father, who named Priscilla as a trustee upon his death; he died two years later when Lisa Marie was nine years old. Priscilla was then put to the task of figuring out what to do with the famed home, which was rapidly burning through Elvis’s remaining funds. “The attorneys brought me in and said, ‘Priscilla, we’re going to have to sell Graceland. We have no money. We’re not bringing any money in,’” she explained to People in 2025. “I just looked at them, and I said, ‘That’ll never happen, ever.’ Then I left.” The property officially opened as a tourist attraction in 1982, the same year this photo was taken of Priscilla in front of the house’s iconic columns.Priscilla at Graceland in 2006 when Graceland was officially designated a National Historic Landmark. Photo: Mike Brown/Getty ImagesSaving graceThough it was done out of desperation, Priscilla’s attempt to save Graceland by turning it into a profitable business was, of course, a huge success. To this day, it attracts roughly 600,000 visitors annually. In March 2006, Graceland was designated a National Historic Landmark, the country’s highest title for historic places. “To [Elvis], having Graceland was a tangible symbol of how far he had come from his very humble beginnings,” Priscilla said at the ceremony, where she is pictured. While promoting her memoir in 2025, she said, “I am most proud of the fact that Graceland became what it is today because I took a chance.”Not a subscriber? Join AD for print and digital access now.Browse the AD PRO Directory to find an AD-approved design expert for your next project.Katie Schultz is a Brooklyn-based freelance writer who reports on celebrity real estate news and other pop culture-related content for AD. She has previously written for House Digest and the Minnesota Daily. Hailing from small town Minnesota, Katie has a degree in Cinema and Media Studies from the University of ... Read More