I am a physician, currently practicing as an Anesthesiologist. My other passions are finance and investments. As of 2013, I have passed all three levels of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exams, all in my first attempts. I received my Masters of Business Administration degree in 2008. I received my certification as a securities specialist from the Philippine Stock Exchange in 2009.
Real Estate: Christian Grey’s Escala Penthouse from ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’
In a love story – whether it ends happily or not, the setting is also important. In this post I will feature Christian Grey’s Penthouse in Escala, the setting for most of the “action” in Fifty Shades of Grey.
The Escala apartments is actually a real-life building, though E L James had not been there when she wrote the book. She used the promotional materials of the condo to describe the penthouse.
See related post about Fifty Shades of Grey here. The movie will be open in the Philippines on February 11.
Address: 1920 Fourth Avenue, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
Escala, the setting for Fifty Shades of Grey. Image from bizjournals.com
Penthouse – Christian Grey’s pad in ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’
The penthouse is on the 31st floor, measures 5,181 sq ft (483 sqm), and has a 1,000 sq ft (93 sqm) terrace.
Foyer
The elevator opens directly into the penthouse’s foyer. Image from escalaseattle.com
Living Room
“See the piano in the corner. Christian and Anastasia made out there”, the broker probably said. Mr. Grey happens to be a good pianist as well. Image from escalaseattle.com
Master Bedroom
Christian Grey didn’t allow women to stay the night in his bedroom – until Anastasia of course. “Anastasia lost her virginity here” – the broker will probably boast to the prospective buyer. Image from escalaseattle.com
The beautiful view from Christian Grey’s bedroom. Too bad, I doubt Christian and Anastasia spent much time looking at the view. Image from escalaseattle.com
In this scene from the trailer, they look like they’re in a different room though…
I presume there will be plenty of shirtless scenes for the ladies. Image by popsugar.com from the Fifty Shades of Grey trailer
…. the Guest Bedroom, perhaps?
I think having a guest room is pointless if the host always sleeps with the guest. Image from escalaseattle.com
Bathroom
Since “Fifty Shades of Grey” is a sexy novel, the bathtub is practically a book character. “They got naked here a lot”, the broker probably said. Image by escalseattle.com
Christian Grey didn’t use the shower hose to tie Anastasia up… or did he? Image from escalaseattle.com
Kitchen
This is where Anastasia cooked bacon and eggs for Christian. How sweet! Image by escalaseattle.com
I wonder where in the apartment is this located?
I guess he is not very fond of colorful clothes, he is named Grey, after all. Christian Grey’s closet. Image by popsugar.com from the Fifty Shades of Grey trailer
… probably somewhere here.
There are plenty of flat surfaces here. I’m sure Christian and Anastasia made good use of them. Image by escalaseattle.com
Where in the penthouse might this be?
The discussion between Christian Grey, his architect and his contractor in creating the “red room” must be an interesting one. Image by popsugar.com from Fifty Shades of Grey trailer
Unfortunately, in the real life Escala, the red room does not exist. Of course, you can always have one built.
You want to relive the scenes from “Fifty Shades of Grey”? It will cost you. A penthouse sold in 2013 for US$ 6.2 million (around PHP 275 million). There is a current penthouse listing for US$ 6.6 million (around PHP 293 million).
If you want to live in Escala but don’t have that kind of money, you can always buy the smaller apartments. A similar apartment, one bedroom with an area of 952 sq ft. (88.44 sqm), sold in June 2014 for US$ 489,000 (around PHP 21.7 million).
A smaller one bedroom apartment in Escala. Image from escalaseattle.com
If you just want the ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ experience for only a short while, you’re out of luck. The Airbnb listing of a one bedroom apartment in Escala, for only US$ 257 per night for a minimum of three nights, was taken down because it violated the ownership agreement. Escala doesn’t allow short term tenants.
The Escala apartment in the Airbnb listing. Sadly, for fans of the book and movie, the listing had been taken down
You can always take a picture or ‘selfie’ at the building’s entrance.
The signage at Escala. You can always take a selfie here but you probably have to complete with many other fans. Image by Greg Keraghosian
Finance, M.D. is a practicing physician who dabbles in finance and investment. He has passed all three levels of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exams, all in his first attempts.
thefinancemd.com
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3 thoughts on “Real Estate: Christian Grey’s Escala Penthouse from ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’”
Finance, M.D. thefinancemd.com 
interesting story
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If I owned a unit there, I’ll make a lot of money on Airbnb. Too bad it is not allowed.
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