Graceland, yo! The house as legendary and over the top as its former inhabitant. So iconic and such a part of our American vernacular that it is easy to dismiss it as simply a gathering place of the fanatic and the work of a manic (and it may well be), and then miss the masterful interiors. Don’t let its proper Colonial exterior fool you: it’s freaky inside.
I hadn’t thought about Graceland in a long while but as I was looking at Jungle Room pictures a few weeks ago for this post, I was reminded how purely magnificent it is. Like amazing. Garish and so proud of it. Elvis wasn’t a half-asser. And neither were his interior designers. Now I love Elvis as much as the next nut but Elvis’ house! His house!!! He TCB-ed the business out of that place. I visited 10 years ago when we were moving out to North Carolina and I was floored. I expected to really enjoy myself but it was one of the most spectacular things I’ve ever seen. Since then, it somehow got filed back under weird roadside attraction in my brain, but seeing pictures reminded me of its grandness and stature and strangeness and how it was a house that was “all in”. Every house should be so passionate. A few of my favorite rooms…
(If you don’t already have Suspicious Minds playing, better get on it)
The Witco wonderland, the one and only Jungle Room. I love everything about this room. The furniture, the colors, the waterfall wall, the creepy plants, the carpet below (and above!). I could live in it forever and be happy, even though I would be a little scared at night from all the freaky animal faces.
The living room, looking so restrained compared to the above, even though it’s pretty wacky itself.
Yellow all around in this little music room off of the living room.
The room with 6 TVs, the most terrifying monkey statue ever, so much 70’s and even more yellow.
The matching mirrored bar.
This game room is actually upholstered. As in swallowed by fabric. So bizarre.
sources: Retro Renovation and Huffington Post
This place is deservedly a mecca. You’ll probably want to take the virtual tours here, or better yet, take the pilgrimage yourself. Anyone else been and cried tears of amazement?
SUBURBAN * POP 