family heirloom
Who owns the Graceland estate now? Meet Riley Keough, granddaughter and sole owner of Elvis Presley’s Memphis mansion
Find out how much the top US tourist attraction is worth
LISA Marie Presley became the sole heir to her father Elvis's Graceland estate after his mother died in 1980.
However, after her death in 2023, the property was handed down to her daughter, Riley Keough - but reports emerged in May 2024 that it was being put up for action.
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Who owns Graceland now?
Elvis Presley died at Graceland on August 16, 1977, at the age of 42.
His famous property was then handed on to his grandmother, father, and only daughter, Lisa Marie Presley.
His father, Vernon, died in 1977, followed by his grandmother, Minnie Mae, in 1980.
At the age of 25, Lisa Marie set up The Elvis Presley Trust, which is the owner of Graceland and manages the estate.
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After the death of Lisa Marie on January 12, 2023, her daughter Riley Keough inherited the estate and its priceless contents in Memphis, Tennessee.
Lisa, 54, tragically suffered a cardiac arrest at her home in Calabasas, California.
Paramedics tried to revive the singer and she was rushed to hospital before she sadly died.
Long before her death, Lisa Marie told USA Today: “Sometimes there are rumours about [Graceland] being sold. And that is NEVER going to happen. There's always a rumour.
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"It is not getting sold.
"Graceland was given to me and will always be mine. And then passed to my children.
Inside Elvis Presley’s Graceland mansion with bizarre 'Jungle Room' and iconic entrance gate
"It will never be sold.”
After the death of her mother, Riley became the sole trustee for her and her sisters Harper and Finley Lockwood's ownership of the mansion and grounds at Gracelands.
But the property is due to be sold at auction on Thursday, May 23, 2024 — although Elvis' granddaughter is trying to halt the court-approved sale.
Riley claims the company behind the foreclosure auction has no right to it, local CBS affiliate reports.
Naussany Investments and Private Lending claim Riley's mother, Lisa Marie, took out a $3.8million loan in 2018 and used Graceland as collateral.
It claims Lisa Marie signed a Deed of Trust to secure the loan, alleging that she never paid the debt back before her death.
'FRAUDULENT DOCUMENTS'
Riley argues the loan is fake and insists it was not executed by her mother.
Her lawsuit, filed on May 15, 2024, in Shelby County Chancery Court, states that the "documents are fraudulent”.
She claims the signatures on the deed are forged and alleges that Naussany Investments is not a real entity.
In the lawsuit, she claims the lawyer involved in the deed has denied verifying Lisa Marie's signature or ever meeting her.
A temporary restraining order to halt the sale was granted by the court on May 20, and an injunction hearing is set for May 22.
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Do family still stay at Graceland?
Archivist Angie Marchese has given details about what the family gets up to when they are at the mansion.
In 2021 the expert said: “The family… do not stay here at Graceland but they do come here and visit.
“They don’t use Elvis and Priscilla’s china, we do have new china which we’ve purchased for Lisa to use when she’s here.”
Elvis lived at the property until his death on August 16, 1977, when he was found unconscious after suffering a heart attack.
He was only 42 years old.
How much is Graceland worth?
Elvis bought Graceland in 1957 for £80,000.
The estate has more than 600,000 visitors each year and is the second most visited home in the US after the White House.
It earns around $10million (£8.3million) annually during a typical year.
As of 2024, values the estate between $400million and $600million (£315million and £472million).
Who was the last person to live at Graceland?
After his passing, Elvis's daughter, Lisa Marie, was named the sole beneficiary of the estate.
As she was only nine years old at the time of his death in 1977, the executor of the estate became her grandfather Vernon Presley.
Vernon died in 1979, and Lisa Marie's mother Priscilla realised something had to be done otherwise they'd be forced to sell the mansion.
In 1982, the estate was opened up to the public for tours and the ownership of the property remained in a trust before it eventually dissolved on Lisa Marie's 25th birthday.
She took full ownership of Graceland in 1993, and formed the new Elvis Presley Trust.
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Vernon's sister Delta Presley Biggs was the last person to live in the historic estate.
Aunt Delta moved into the house in 1966 following the death of her husband, staying there even after it was opened up to the public, and she remained there until she passed away in 1993.
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