On the list of Elvis fan destinations, one would naturally include his birthplace in Tupelo, Mississippi, in addition to Memphis, the launchpad and final resting place of his famed music career. But super fans in Texas should also add in one off-the-beaten-path destination: Waco.
It was here, in a humble 1924 bungalow, that Elvis befriended Dallas DJ Eddie Fadal and his family. Over several years in the 1950s, the Fadals welcomed the megastar into their home, often unannounced—just a limousine turning the corner onto quiet Lasker Avenue—when he needed some respite. Visitors are now welcome to stay the night at the house, which can be rented on Airbnb starting at $330 per night. The home is decorated as it would have been during the height of Elvis’ fame.
Fadal was working at KRLD in Dallas in 1956 when he first met The King, followed by a backstage meetup with Presley during a performance at Waco’s Heart O’ Texas Coliseum, now known as Extraco Events Center, says his daughter, Janice Fadal.“After that show, he invited Elvis to come over to our house for refreshments,” she says. “And then when Elvis was stationed in Fort Hood for Army training before he went to Germany, he used to spend weekends at our house.”
Janice remembers her mom and dad making a big fuss readying their house for the visits. Her mother would go into “overdrive,” fixing her hair and makeup and putting on a nice dress, cooking up a large meal. “Because of our Middle Eastern background, I think that was just my dad’s way,” she says. “He did that his whole life—‘Come over on Sunday, LaNelle’s going to cook, we’d love to have you!’”
In Waco, Elvis’s entourage would occasionally include bandmates, his mother, Gladys, and his girlfriend at the time, Anita Wood. Janice, who was just 4 or 5 in those days, remembers getting kisses on the cheek from Elvis, who doted on her and her younger brother, Dana. He seemed to relish the normalcy of family life in suburban Waco.
“Eddie left an open invitation for him to ‘come out to the house for a spell and kick your boots off,’ wrote authors Stanley Oberst and Lori Torrance in their book, Elvis in Texas: The Undiscovered King 1954-1958. “Comfortable as an old shoe at the Fadal home, Elvis spent his time jawin’ with the home folk, eating, and accompanying little Janice Fadal on the piano while she practiced her scales.”
Entering through the back of the house, just as Elvis would have in this modest working-class neighborhood, far from the watchful eyes of the paparazzi, you step into a small wood-paneled dining area that leads to the kitchen. A more formal dining room is at the center of the home, appointed with a mid-century era dining table, chairs, and a Sputnik-style light fixture that Fadal says is a replica of the original that used to hang there.
The house features three bedrooms—which once belonged to Janice, her brother, and their parents—two bathrooms, and a living room. But the showstopper is the add-on den that Eddie constructed especially for Elvis. The sunken room leads to a black shelving unit on a pink wall filled with photographs and memorabilia. “This was originally a porte-cochère, like an attached carport. Dad basically just enclosed it and made it a listening room for Elvis,” she says.
Though few of the pieces are original—many have been auctioned off throughout the years—Janice has remained as faithful to the old house as possible. After her father’s death, she published a book called Elvis Days using stories he wrote for the Waco Citizen. The book contains candid photos and telegrams from Germany that Elvis sent to the Fadal family expressing his condolences on the loss of Eddie’s mother. Eddie also spent time at Graceland with Elvis when his mother passed. Thanks to Eddie’s music industry connections, the Fadal family crossed paths with many famous personalities through the years, including Buddy Holly and Little Richard, but none made quite the impact that Elvis did. Though they lost touch in Presley’s later years, the Fadals have loved sharing their memories of the music superstar at Elvis fan gatherings across the country. And now with the home rental, they hope to share even more of that magic
