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 Condominium in Seattle.
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
The elevator opens directly into the penthouse’s foyer. Image from escalaseattle.com

 

Living Room

Living room Escala
“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

Bedroom Escala Penthouse
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

 

Bedroom view Escala Penthouse
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…

Shirt removal scene Fifty Shades of Grey
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?

Guest Bedroom Escala penthouse
I think having a guest room is pointless if the host always sleeps with the guest. Image from escalaseattle.com

 

Bathroom

Bathroom - Escala Penthouse
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

 

Shower Escala Penthouse
Christian Grey didn’t use the shower hose to tie Anastasia up… or did he? Image from escalaseattle.com

 

Kitchen

Kitchen Escala Penthouse
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?

Christian Grey's closet
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.

Part of Escala Master Bathroom
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?

Red room
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).

One bedroom apartment Escala Seattle
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.

 

Escala apartment for rent in Airbnb
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.

Signage at Escala Seattle
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

 

That’s free, I guess.

 

 

– Finance MD

thefinancemd.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Finance, M.D.

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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