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Billy Graham at Home: Rare Photos From the LIFE Archives

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Billy Graham with his wife and daughter, 1955.
Billy Graham with his wife and daughter, 1955.Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
By Olivia B. Waxman and Liz Ronk
Updated: | Originally published: ;

It was at his home at Montreat, N.C., that the Rev. Billy Graham, “the father of modern Christian evangelism” and “spiritual advisor” to U.S. Presidents, died Feb. 21 at the age of 99.

In 1955, LIFE photographed him when that 200-acre mountainside home was being built among the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, near the farm he grew up on in Charlotte. It was a sacred place for him — and only fitting that a man who would preach about God’s presence in nature would recharge in such a place between his crusades worldwide and media appearances.

The above photos, most of which were never published in LIFE magazine, show outtakes of the Baptist minister at home. They’re images that Ed Clark had taken for a special issue that came out during the Christmas week that year, at a time when Graham was “the most famous U.S. religious leader,” as the magazine put it. The feature, “Resting Up to Save Souls” (Dec. 26, 1955), showed the “boyish-looking” 37-year-old seeking “seclusion” with his wife Ruth (pictured below, from left) — who “knows the Bible better than he does” — and children Franklin, Virginia, Anne and Ruth, plus the family dog.

Billy Graham with his family in 1955
Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

See more: LIFE With Billy Graham: Rare Photos From the Early Years of His Career

In addition to reading the Bible while relaxing on a hammock, and going on hikes with his family, he played golf with “an unorthodox crosshand grip,” as the magazine observed. Graham told LIFE that the Lord won’t let him play the game well, because if He did, “I’d spend too much time at it.”

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TIME’s new special edition Billy Graham: America’s Preacher is available now in the Meredith shop and at Amazon.

Billy Graham in his home office, N. Carolina, 1955.
Billy Graham in his home office, N. Carolina, 1955.Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Billy Graham at home in North Carolina, 1955.
Billy Graham at home in North Carolina, 1955.Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
The Rev. Billy Graham beside his swimming pool, 1955.
The Rev. Billy Graham beside his swimming pool, 1955.Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Billy Graham with his wife and daughter, 1955.
Billy Graham with his wife and daughter, 1955.Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Billy Graham, his son, Franklin, and his wife, Ruth, in a car, 1955.
Billy Graham, his son, Franklin, and his wife, Ruth, in a car, 1955.Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Billy Graham with his son, Franklin, in 1955.
Billy Graham with his son, Franklin, in 1955.Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Billy Graham and family at a meal, 1955.
The Rev. Billy Graham and family at a meal, 1955.Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Ruth Graham, wife of the Rev. Billy Graham, and daughter, 1955.
Ruth Graham, wife of the Rev. Billy Graham, and daughter, 1955.Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
The Rev. Billy Graham and family, 1955.
The Rev. Billy Graham and family, 1955.Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
The Rev. Billy Graham with his son, Franklin, and the family dog in 1955.
The Rev. Billy Graham with his son, Franklin, and the family dog in 1955.Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
The Rev. Billy Graham relaxes at home, 1955.
The Rev. Billy Graham relaxes at home, 1955.Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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Write to Olivia B. Waxman at olivia.waxman@time.com