During the height of his fame, Elvis Presley became one of the most famous – and sometimes infamous – sensational, pop culture figures in the United States. Today, he is one of the most studied musical figures in the industry, with an ongoing list of films, documentaries, impersonations, and tributes to his name. However, in life, Elvis greatly valued his privacy and went so far as to install one-way mirrors in Graceland as a means of preserving that privacy.
However, in keeping with his preference for seclusion in his home, Elvis kept some of the spaces where these mirrors hang totally off limits. At least 600,000 visitors go to Graceland each year but his estate honors his demand that parts of the upstairs remain inaccessible to tours. There are permitted ways, however, of spotting these unique fixtures. Here’s how and what they were for.
Tours of upstairs Graceland are limited but informative
Even before his death in ’77 at the age of 42, Elvis liked to keep some degree of separation between his personal and public life, so his bedroom and offices in the upper floors of Graceland were off-limits. Even his illustrious Memphis Mafia had to tread lightly in those areas, and to be invited up was a huge honor.
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Those touring Graceland can see the arcade, which was rigged, Elvis used to play at, the verdant gardens, sitting areas – and partially up the stairs. Express.co.uk found this out when taking part in a virtual tour led by archivist Angie Marchese. The outlet was shocked when Marchese brought the virtual tour camera up the stairs. There, Marchese pointed out a privacy wall on the landing along the right.
It’s not often tours cover the upstairs, but these features happened to be in an area that wasn’t strictly prohibited.
Elvis Presley hung one-way mirrors in Graceland to better ensure his privacy
Fittingly, this privacy wall, enabled by the use of one-way mirrors, was one of the few upstairs features the tour could cover in the upper floors of Graceland. But it came with a lot of history on its own. The feature actually dates to 1957, installed by Elvis when he first moved into Graceland.
“He really had an open-door policy that anyone he was friends with could use Graceland and have people come to Graceland,” shared Marchese. “So, to ensure privacy upstairs he had this wall added and those mirrors you see are actually one-way mirrors where he could see out but no one could see in.”
Check out the video below for more on the King’s illustrious yet mysterious life.
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