Spoonbender Sets Sights on Elvis House
When Elvis made his first million dollars in 1956 he bought a four-bedroom house in Memphis. When he made his second and third and fourth million dollars in 1957 he bought a much bigger house in Memphis: Graceland.
That first house is now for sale on eBay. And Uri Geller, a self-proclaimed paranormalist, wants to buy it and turn it into a museum of oddball Elvisabilia.
Those who were baffled in the 1950s by Elvis' success were probably even more baffled in the 1970s when Geller made millions by claiming to bend spoons with his mind. Geller, who met Elvis in Las Vegas and who owns a collection of Presley memorabilia, told Reuters he wants to transform the 3,000-square-foot home into a museum with "all the bizarre things that Elvis Presley believed in," including UFOs. "He was ahead of his time."
The only traces of Elvis left in the house -- for those without paranormal senses -- are the 1956 musical note wallpaper in the hallway and the barbed wire on the walls and gates surrounding the property. This lack of mementoes has not lessened the desire of fans, and they are bidding up the price.
Geller's initial bid of $300,000 for the house at 1034 Audubon Drive has long since been surpassed (we noticed it had creeped above $450k today), but he has vowed to make the property his own. Elvis and Uri together? In a Supernatural Elvis Museum? We hope he wins.
The auction wraps up on May 14.
[04/29/2006]- Address:
- 1034 Audubon Drive, Memphis, TN
- Directions:
- East side of the city, just east of the University of Memphis. I-240 exit onto Getwell Rd/Hwy 176. North about 2.5 miles until the road ends, then west on Park Ave. about a half mile, then south on Audubon Drive. House on left, low brick wall, #1034, before Haver Hill Rd. Private property - visible from street.