There used to be a time when fans and visitors were chased away from 1266 Dolan Drive, the former house of Vernon Presley, where he lived with his fiancée Sandi, and earlier on, with his wife Dee. The new owners didn’t care too much for fans, and made that clear with signs such as “Stay away” and “No pictures”. But times, they are a-changing. On August 15th, initiated by the Britsih fanclub Essential Elvis, the Dolan House opens up the gates for fans who wish to take a look inside.
Backgrounds on the house:
The house was actually a wedding gift from Elvis in 1962, built at a cost of $25,000 and situated behind the barn at the north end of the Graceland property. The Dolan House was original part of Graceland property. Elvis had the Tudor style house built so a back entrance could connect the two properties. Before Elvis died, it was possible to roll the fence to one side allowing Vernon or Elvis to drive between the two houses.
It has been said that Vernon built the house the way he wanted it, then Dee remodeled it to her liking. Some of the changes she made included, enclosing the back patio, turning the garage into living space, constructing a separate carport, and knocking out walls to enlarge the size of the kitchen and dining room. The Jacuzzi (see picture above) in the master bedroom was also Dee's idea.
The first bedroom at the top of the stairs is where Priscilla called home when she first moved to Memphis to be close to Elvis. Other than new paint and carpeting, the house is exactly the way Vernon left it when Elvis passed away. Later Vernon moved into Graceland , and sold the house to the couple that owned the Hickory Log restaurant across from Graceland .
Dee was awarded the Dolan House when she divorced Vernon. Some time later, Vernon bought it back from her and lived in it with his fiancée, Sandy Miller. To the left of the fireplace are steps leading to the upstairs bedrooms that were once occupied by the Stanley brothers.
Vernon’s House Open For Public
June 01, 2007 | Other Source:ElvisMattersangora99 wrote on
June 01, 2007
The article does not mention which (new) owners of the Dolan house were chasing away the fans. Surely it is not the former owner, Mrs. Magrann since she always made the house available to anyone and even allowed fans from other countries to stay at the house during Elvis weeks. Mrs. Magrann also permitted her friend Jordan (jordans-elvis-world) to have two open houses during Elvis weeks of 2002 and 2004. Admission was free and free refreshments were available and even a sit down casual discussion with Elvis' friend Larry Geller was included. I have to wonder if Essential Elvis will be letting the fans tour for free,or will there more than likely be an admission charge?
Bill E. Burk wrote on
June 02, 2007
"The first bedroom at the top of the stairs is where Priscilla called home when she first moved to Memphis to be close to Elvis." Not so. Vernon was living in a house north of Graceland when Priscilla first arrived and "supposedly" stayed with him and Dee (to make things look kosher). I think the house was on Hermitage or Singing Trees. Up towards where Linda Thompson's house was.