Elvis fan has bought the building

Public Record, The, Dec 07, 2004 by Kleinschmidt, Janice

Reno, Laura and Cameron Fontana have welcomed about 300 people into their home since they moved in on March 10. That's not 300 people at a big soiree or two; that's 300 individually, in pairs or in small groups.

The Fontanas live in one of two homes owned by Elvis Presley when he died in 1977. The first, of course, is Graceland in Memphis. The second is the Chino Canyon Road home Elvis and Priscilla Presley bought on April 14, 1970.

Reno has been an Elvis fan since the age of 8 at a 1961 Christmas dinner in his grandparents' basement. "My aunt had just gotten a record player for Christmas and three Elvis Presley records. And on that day, we played 'Blue Hawaii' over and over," he recalls. "I can see the moment right now as we sit here."

When he and wife Laura were looking for a bigger house this year, he was thumbing through real estate magazines on a Friday night when he saw the Chino Canyon home listed. He called at 9 a.m. on Saturday. "Is it really Elvis' house?" he asked. Assured it was, he responded, "I'll be right there, and I am buying it." He bought the house sight unseen for $1,275,000.

Fontana has bought and sold real estate throughout his life. In 1996, he began buying fixer-uppers and foreclosures in the desert. This house, however, was to become the Fontana family home. "The house had been vacant for 18 years," he says. "When we moved in, we weren't the only residents. We had raccoons in the attic and other critters like scorpions and tarantulas." Also, he mentions, every bulb was burned out.

The home still needs a little work. "But I love every paint chip and every old, creaky door in this house," Fontana says. "It was Elvis's." He says that he and Laura's desire to "bring the house back to life" has added meaning because they have two dogs, 40 fish and a cat (Priscilla, acquired when they had the house in escrow) that just had seven kittens.

"When we moved in, within a matter of hours on the first day people were stopping by taking pictures," Fontana relates. "We were so thrilled to say, 'Would you like to come in and see the house?"' The Fontanas don't share most homeowners' objection to having a lot of strangers coming into their house. "Even though we own the house, we like to think we are caretakers," Reno says. "It's open for Elvis fans."

For the first few months, they invited people in for free. One day, after touring the home, a gentleman said, "It's really gracious of you, but here's $50." After that, the Fontanas fully realized the value of what they had. Ninety percent of the furnishings belonged to Elvis. "You are not just seeing a house he used to live in. You are seeing a real part of his life," Fontana says.

So about three months ago, they taped a small sign on the fence. "Tour Elvis's house. $20. Ring doorbell." Recently, they embarked on a marketing campaign, including flyers, a wall display in the Palm Springs Visitor Center at Tramway Road, brochures at both Palm Springs visitor centers, and an ad on the back page of the 2005 Palm Springs Visitor Guide. They are also creating a Web site.

The Fontanas offer two guided tours, with a maximum of 20 people per tour: $20 for a 30-minute tour on the half-hour from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day but Sundays and holidays and $100 for a two-hour Backstage Pass tour that includes refreshments and viewing exclusive video footage of outtakes from Elvis' television Comeback Special.

Additionally, the Fontanas will rent The King's bedroom for $1,000 a night and rent the house for luncheons and dinner parties. They have turned down some parties because they won't allow the serving of alcohol in the home. It's also important that parties be over by 9 p.m. "in respect of our neighbors," Fontana says. He says one of the reasons opening the home to the public is possible is because he has written support from neighbors to do so. "The reason is very simple," Fontana says. "We went to them and included them in the process."

Additionally, the neighbors may hold an event at the house without charge. "We realize that our neighbors are important to us to make this a success' so for us to benefit from this at their expense would be wrong," Fon tana explains.

The Fontanas also have contacted Graceland about licensing the property to allow them to market it on a worldwide scale.

Because of his dedication to Elvis and Elvis fans, Fontana has researched and gotten confirmation from people who knew Elvis, and obtained written authentication whenever possible. He has a copy of the house title signed by Elvis and Priscilla Presley in 1970, when they bought it for $85,000. The Presleys were not the only famous owners. In 1960, McDonald's founder Ray Kroc purchased the house; and in 1981, Frankie Valli bought it for $750,000. In 1986, Valli sold it to a Japanese corporation for $2.2 million. From then until the Fontanas purchased it, the home was open for a few weeks.

Among the highlights of the tour, visitors will find 15 gold records hung in the entryway, along a nearby hallway, black-and-white photographs valued in 1993 to be worth between $7,000 and $10,000 each. Other photographs in the home show Elvis, Priscilla and Lisa Marie in warm family moments.