Firefighters were called to a suspected arson attack at a derelict building with an unusual past.
Crews were alerted just before 4.30pm yesterday about a blaze at the well-known ‘Elvis’ house in St Peter’s Place, Canterbury.
The house is famous among locals for a poster of Elvis Presley that was displayed in the window for almost 50 years – even after the building was boarded up.
Described as “small” by a Kent Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson, the fire was put out about 20 minutes later.
No injuries were reported, but the cause is being treated as suspicious.
The image of The King was first placed in one of the bedroom windows by Corinne Mills – then aged 14 – 47 years ago.
The former Archbishop’s School pupil moved into 31A St Peter’s Place after her father, Harry, was given the “tied cottage” when he became the foreman of Westgate Gardens and head gardener for parks across the district.
But she left the house following the death of mum Dorothy in 2018, with the now boarded-up building standing eerily empty ever since.
The property became somewhat of a local attraction, with the crumpled image looking down on passers-by from the first-floor bedroom window.
But the council-owned building in St Peter’s Place, which is passed by hundreds of motorists every day, has been left to rack and ruin, becoming a target for vandals and unruly youths.
In 2022, it was revealed that Elvis was set to finally leave the building after almost half a decade.
The top-floor window displaying the poster was covered, prompting a mystery graffiti artist to daub an image of Elvis on the run-down home in its place.
The future of the derelict home remains uncertain.
