Lisa Marie Presley's Palm Springs ties go way back

Lisa Marie Presley didn't live in the Coachella Valley. But Elvis' only child, who died Thursday at age 54, was forever linked to the desert, thanks to her parents' marriage.

Priscilla and Elvis Presley honeymooned in Palm Springs in April 1967, and Lisa Marie was born approximately nine months later on Feb. 1, 1968, in Memphis, Tenn.

The "honeymoon hideaway" in the Vista Las Palmas neighborhood, designed by midcentury architect William Krisel and known as the Alexander House and the House of Tomorrow, continues to attract visitors.

Elvis later owned a 5,500-square-foot Spanish ranch-style estate on West Chino Canyon Road in Palm Springs from 1970 until he died in 1977, according to Reno Fontana, who later purchased the property.

At that time, Graceland and the Palm Springs home, fondly called "Graceland West," were the only properties Presley owned, Fontana said.

Priscilla, 77, returned to the desert in October to make an appearance at Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage where she connected with fans and Elvis aficionados and shared memories about her life with Elvis, coping with his death and raising Lisa Marie.

She held a similar event the year before at Oscar's Palm Springs.

Anytime she returns to the desert, it's "a bit melancholy for her," she told The Desert Sun's Ema Sasic last fall, because of the many memories she has made here.

Lisa Marie, too, occasionally visited the area.

In 2001, she notably attended the Rick Weiss Humanitarian Awards Gala in the desert to raise money and awareness to fight AIDS and support local charities including the Desert AIDS Project, AIDS Assistance Program, Guide Dogs of the Desert and the Sinatra Children's Center.

On that evening, she presented a humanitarian award to her mother.

"My mother's heart is so big, sometimes too big for her own good," she said. "I'm here to introduce the woman I admire and adore more than anyone my mother, Priscilla Presley."

Prior reporting by Desert Sun staff writer Ema Sasic was used in this article.

Jonathan Horwitz is a staff writer for The Desert Sun. Reach him at jonathan.horwitz@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Lisa Marie Presley's Palm Springs ties go way back