Riley Keough has big shoes to fill as the sole owner of one of the most famous properties in American history.
Following her mother Lisa Marie Presley’s death in January 2023, and after a tense legal battle with her grandmother Priscilla Presley, the Daisy Jones & the Six actress became the sole owner of the legendary Tennessee estate that her grandfather Elvis Presley purchased in 1957, as well as sole trustee of her mother’s trust.
Her grandmother Priscilla has always been at the forefront of preserving the “Never Been to Spain” singer’s legacy — and in 1982 she largely saved the Presley family from financial peril when she made the pivotal decision to open Graceland to the public — and now Riley only hopes to do the same.
Riley, speaking with People ahead of the release of her mother’s posthumous memoir, From Here to the Great Unknown, which she helped finish, shared insight into what her “hope” is as the owner of Graceland.
“My hope is to continue what my grandmother did, and then my mother did, which is simply to preserve our family home,” she said.
Elvis bought Graceland for $100,000 in 1957 when he was 22 years old, and Priscilla moved into the iconic property in 1963 at age 18. She married Elvis four years later, after meeting when she was 14 and he was 24.
© GettyAt the time of his death 20 years after the purchase, Graceland was reportedly worth $5 million, however the homes’ worth has since skyrocketed, in large part thanks to Priscilla’s decision to open it to the public.
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Today it reportedly generates over $10 million annually, plus a Presley executive told Rolling Stone in 2020 that the estate is worth upwards of $500 million.
© GettyEarlier this year it was the subject of a lawsuit from a fraudulent lending company alleging that Lisa Marie had placed the home as collateral for a previous loan, though a judge subsequently threw out both the suit and attempted auction of the property.
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© GettyNobody actively lives in the home today, though Riley has hosted special events and TV specials there, and there are portions of the home still closed off to the public, including the room where Elvis was found dead, having suffered from cardiac arrest, as a result of cardiac arrhythmia combined with his drug use and unhealthy eating habits.
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© GettyThe Rock ‘n’ Roll legend, his parents, his daughter, and her son Benjamin Keough, who passed away from suicide in 2020, are all buried on the property’s grounds. Last year, in the midst of Riley and Priscilla’s battle over Lisa Marie’s estate, The Promenade Trust, rumors swirled over whether Priscilla would be allowed to be buried in Graceland, however, Riley firmly stated to Vanity Fair: “I don’t know why she wouldn’t be buried at Graceland,” adding: “I don’t understand what the drama in the news was about. Yeah. If she wants to be, of course.”
She went on: “I always had positive and beautiful memories and association with Graceland,” though noted: “Now, a lot of my family’s buried there, so it’s a place of great sadness at this point in my life.”
