The house that Elvis purchase for Vernon

[ayda]

We all know that Graceland was Glady's home and that Elvis when Vernon re-marry din't like the idea of Dee Presley living in Graceland,so he purchase this house behind Graceland for his father and Dee.After the house was sold to Dona Presley and Im not sure,but I heard that she open the house to cash in?Am I wrong?If I am my apologies,but I wanted to know.some info will be apreciated.

Thank you

Aly

[Lonniebealestreet]

Unless the ownership of the house has changed hands in the last year or so, the owner of the house is not Donna Early but Diana Magrann, who is (or was) the manager of Kathy Westmoreland and is also a friend of the Alden family.

She has let Jordan Ritchie (Jordan's Elvis World) hold the house open to fans on the evening of August 15 for the last few years, and throughout the first floor of the house you can see some of her impressive Elvis paintings on display.

The house really stands out on Dolan, being the only one with brick and wrought-iron fencing surrounding the property. One curious feature inside the house is in the master bedroom there is what looks like a hot tub but is actually around six feet deep...just a really small pool (heated, presumably) inside a bedroom.

I would like to see the estate buy this house and fix it up and add it to the tour.

[ayda]

We all know that Graceland was Glady's home and that Elvis when Vernon re-marry din't like the idea of Dee Presley living in Graceland,so he purchase this house behind Graceland for his father and Dee.After the house was sold to Dona Presley and Im not sure,but I heard that she open the house to cash in?Am I wrong?If I am my apologies,but I wanted to know.some info will be apreciated.

Thank you

Aly

A few more pictures.

[ayda]

Welcome to the home of Vernon Presley. Elvis had this home built for his father as a wedding present. It is directly in back of Graceland.If you sit in the backyard at Vernon's home the barn at Graceland is to the right.

For Elvis week 2001 I was the guest of Donna Presley Early. She asked me to come to Memphis and we would open the house for Elvis week free of charge.

I jumped at the chance. I have been talking to Donna on the phone for a while now . We have become good friends. I am going to bring you through the house and tell you about it , just like it would have been if you were there with us.


The house was painted only a week before the open house. The brick fence was also painted. The fence was added on later by Vernon and Dee. The car port was also added later. Look above the car port in the 3rd photo. The silver roof you see is the barn at Graceland

Photo of Buddy's Cadillac. Donna standing in front of the limousine. Also an inside photo of it. This was the first time I was ever in one. By the end of my time in Memphis , I was ready to get back into a regular car again.

We will now enter the house by the side door. This at one time was the garage. It became the front room and the carport was built. Please note the two lions at the side door . There is also a set at the front entrance. The bottom pedestals are from Graceland . They came from the Meditation Gardens. Donna added the liomo

This is the front room. This is where Donna spent most of her time greeting the fans. The name of the guard at the door is Jim. He was also the limo driver. We became good friends. We had three guards during the day and one at night. Even with the three during the day some fans decided to take a piece of Vernon's home with them. We lost an air-conditioning vent out of the bathroom and out of the hallway. The second photo is of Donna and me. The third is a photo of Pauline Nicholson. She was one of the cooks at Graceland. She still cooks for Lisa Marie and Priscilla when they are in Memphis. She told some great stories about Elvis. There wasn't a dry eye in the house by the time she finished.


We will now step up into the dining room. From this room if you turn left you will enter the sunroom. If you turn right you head into the kitchen. The stairs lead to the second floor where the Stanley brothers had there bedrooms. If you go straight down the hall from this room there is a bathroom to the right. This is where one of the air vents were taken from. Continue down the hall to Vernon's room.


Photos of the sun room. All paintings where done by Diane Magrann.The painting in the second photo is my favorite.

The sunroom was added on after Elvis had it built. If you go through the glass sliding doors it will bring you to the pool and the pool house.

This was Vernon's kitchen. During the open house This is where Kathy Westmoreland signed her photographs and posters for the fans.

Kathy Westmoreland and me. Kathy was a wonderful lady. I look forward to seeing her again next year.

This is a sitting room now. When Vernon was here it was his office. When Dee and Vernon wasn't getting along it became his bedroom said David Stanley. David was one of Elvis's stepbrothers. The glass sliding door to the right leads to the master bedroom. The glass door was there for privacy when it was a office.

This is Vernon's bedroom. It was also mine while I stayed there. It took me a few nights to calm down. I just couldn't get out of my mind where I was and who lived here. also Elvis would visit here and hang to get away from things.

The Jacuzzi is also six foot deep. I have a problem with sleepwalking and was worried I would wake up in it. To the right of the Jacuzzi is a private bath.

This is the back yard with swimming pool and pool house. The pool house is a large room with two small dressing rooms. The pool and pool house are both in badly need of repair. Donna hopes to have them completed before the next open house. If you look in the second photo over the fence and under the tree you can see some brown mobile homes. Elvis purchased them for Donna and her family to live in. Elvis loved his family and wanted them to be close to him.

David Stanley told me while he was at the open house The pool house was the only place Vernon would let him play his drums. He also said he was in a small band and they would practice there. Elvis would sometimes come over to jam with them.

He also said the right side of the white fence would roll to the right allowing Elvis or Vernon to drive the pickup into the yard.

Vernon lost the home to Dee in the divorce. Dee sold it back to Vernon Vernon lived there until Elvis passed in 1977.He then moved to Graceland. But before he did he had the upstairs deck removed so the new owners could not see into Graceland.


NOTE:Credit Elvis 2001

[Jeannie]

Unless the ownership of the house has changed hands in the last year or so, the owner of the house is not Donna Early but Diana Magrann, who is (or was) the manager of Kathy Westmoreland and is also a friend of the Alden family.

She has let Jordan Ritchie (Jordan's Elvis World) hold the house open to fans on the evening of August 15 for the last few years, and throughout the first floor of the house you can see some of her impressive Elvis paintings on display.

The house really stands out on Dolan, being the only one with brick and wrought-iron fencing surrounding the property. One curious feature inside the house is in the master bedroom there is what looks like a hot tub but is actually around six feet deep...just a really small pool (heated, presumably) inside a bedroom.

I would like to see the estate buy this house and fix it up and add it to the tour.

You are correct Lonnie.
Donna Early never owned the Dolan St house.
She did sign a lease for a period of one year with
the owner, Diana Magrann and she proceeded to
have the open house and told all of the visitors
that she owned the house .
She also never paid any of the rent money and
she had to be evicted and sued.

[JDD]

You know you guys never cease to amaze me with some of the photos you come up with. Now I've been to a lot of Elvis related sites and seen a lot but not everything, thanks to stuff like this I feel like I have.

Thats a pretty nice house acually from the looks of the photos

[JDD]

Vernon lost the home to Dee in the divorce. Dee sold it back to Vernon Vernon lived there until Elvis passed in 1977.He then moved to Graceland. But before he did he had the upstairs deck removed so the new owners could not see into Graceland.


NOTE:Credit Elvis 2001

Seems odd He'd go to the effort and expense knowing as tight with a Buck as Vernon was, that he'd tear off the deck knowing that whoever bought it could just add it right back on anytime they chose, or for that matter even build a platform looking into the yard if they chose to be that nosey. It always baffled me why Elvis didn't just buy up most of that land back there to keep it more private, but he obviously wasn't that concerned with privacy as he kept 8 - 10 people living with him all the time. Nice story you posted though I enjoyed reading it, thanks for sharing.

[ELVIS_FAN_1968]

IM IN A GROUP THAT PEOPLE PRAISE DONNA EARLY WAIT TILL THEY GET AHOLD OF THIS

You are correct Lonnie.
Donna Early never owned the Dolan St house.
She did sign a lease for a period of one year with
the owner, Diana Magrann and she proceeded to
have the open house and told all of the visitors
that she owned the house .
She also never paid any of the rent money and
she had to be evicted and sued.

[Diane]

Wasn't Donna and her husband also selling fake items that were supposedly belonging to Elvis on eBay and then not mailing them to the buyers? Seems like I read that they were sued for this?

[Gary1]

For Elvis week 2001 I was the guest of Donna Presley Early.

This is nothing against you Ayda .There is no such person as Donna Presley Early.Her name is Donna Early before she married she was Donna pritchett.The name Presley doesn't come into it.Although she likes to think it does.

[JDD]

This is nothing against you Ayda .There is no such person as Donna Presley Early.Her name is Donna Early before she married she was Donna Nash.The name Presley doesn't come into it.Although she likes to think it does.

I never heard of her frankly but then I'm not all that interested in the family tree full of cousins and distant cousins etc. Here is a article I found after I read this post. If accurate I guess this explains why some don't like her.

http://www.elvispresleynews.com/Donna&BuddyEarly.html


Me I still found photos of the house and interior interesting and had I been offered the chance I'd probably have went just to meet Kathy Westmoreland and see some more of the Elvis sites in person.

[Gary1]

I edited my post because i got her name wrong.

[Jeannie]

Wasn't Donna and her husband also selling fake items that were supposedly belonging to Elvis on eBay and then not mailing them to the buyers? Seems like I read that they were sued for this?

Yes she did that.
Buddy also was selling keys that he said
were the original ones to Graceland...they were
really made at a local key shop and engraved with
EP's initials.
2,000.00 a key, and about a half dozen of them sold.

Then there was the fake TCB they sold the lovely
lady in the UK for 5,000.00. When she demanded a
refund she was threatened with having her legs broken
by Buddy.

The trail of con-jobs is long and ugly

[JDD]

Yes she did that.
Buddy also was selling keys that he said
were the original ones to Graceland...they were
really made at a local key shop and engraved with
EP's initials.
2,000.00 a key, and about a half dozen of them sold.

Why would someone pay 2 grand for a key?
Seriously where are these people when I need money?

I have a 1974 Penny I found on the front walk at Graceland , maybe it fell out of Elvis pocket I should put it on ebay for 500 dollars .

[ELVIS_FAN_1968]

JUST TO LET YOU U KNOW DONNA EARLY DOES USE THE NAME OF PRESLEY A GROUP THAT IM IN HAS A PICTURE OF AND SHE GOES BY DONNA EARLY PRESLEY

[JDD]

Hey anyone that wants to get a feel for where this house is. You can see by going to google maps . Switch to Sattilite view (you'll see three types on top map , sattelite, hybred) . Type in 1266 Dolan Dr, Memphis TN hit enter.

You can zoom down on it pretty well with the control on the right, you can grab the map with your mouse and pull it so you can see graceland and the lisa Marie across the street etc. A friend of mine said she hadn't been there yet and couldn't quite get a picture of it in her head. Just thought some of the rest of you may want to see the location as well.