When author E.L. James started writing her book “Fifty Shades of Grey,” part of her research included finding a home for her twisted and wealthy protagonist Christian Grey.
Now, that penthouse is on the market, and its price recently dropped, according to a listing on Homes.com.
According to lore passed among real estate agents in Seattle, James’ search led her to a glitzy penthouse unit overlooking the city, listing agent Phil Greeley said in an interview. The unit served as the inspiration behind Grey’s home in the three books in the “Fifty Shades” series and subsequent movies.
Though the movies were filmed on a set and not inside the unit, it still claims the inspiration for Grey’s home, according to Greeley.
“She was looking for a penthouse that might befit her character,” he said. “Everybody sort of claims ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ for the building, but this truly was the one.”
The current sellers purchased the condo in 2019 and oversaw extensive renovations that were completed in mid-2022.
The refurbishment went "basically down to the studs,” Greeley said.
Seattle's condo market
The three-bedroom, three-bathroom home first hit the market in June for $12 million. Earlier this month, that price dropped to $11.5 million.
Even with the reduction, the penthouse is still the priciest listing in the downtown Seattle neighborhood and among the costliest listings in all of Seattle on Homes.com.
Greeley said part of why it’s taken so long to sell the property is because Seattle’s condo market continues to struggle.
“The condo market in Seattle basically got crushed during COVID,” he said. “As we’ve come out of that, the condo market has shown signs of improvement in the last six months or so, but I would say that’s more in the more approachable price points right under $2 million.”
Still, there has historically been demand for properties with eight-digit asking prices in the city. In fact, Greeley said, the penthouse could be a fit for someone who works in downtown Seattle or a wealthy buyer looking to add to their real estate portfolio.
“With the tech industry, you have a lot of people in the twilight of their career or retired even that will have large estates,” he said. “And then they look to sort of diversify, so they might keep a Northwest outpost.”