May 16, 2006 13:04

Elvis Presley’s house bought by Uri Geller

The spoon-bender buys one of the King’s former residences

Elvis Presley’s former house has been bought by spoon-bender Uri Geller.

The psychic purchased the Tennessee residence in an online auction on eBay for $905,100 (£481,000) and now expects it to be restored and opened to the public.

The home was lived in by Presley before the singer moved to Graceland.

"We are unbelievably pleased. This is a piece of history," said Geller.

"As the clock closed on the bidding (on) Sunday (May 14), I felt intuitively I got the price," he added. “Suddenly the radio started playing an Elvis song. That was Elvis telling me we got the house."

As reported by BBC News, Geller bought the house with two others - New York lawyer Jim Gleason and jewellery maker Lisbeth Silvandersson - and revealed that he wants to take children on tours of the restored property before turning it into a museum.

Presley met Geller during the 1970s in Las Vegas, and asked him to perform his spoon-bending.

Living there with his parents and grandmother, Presley bought the four-bedroom residence in 1956 from his royalties.

A year later, as the star’s career took off, police were regularly called to control the crowds of fans who visited the place, and eventually Presley moved in Graceland in 1957.