Tenpenny Tower

Tenpenny Tower is a fortified settlement in the Capital Wasteland containing one of two locations for safe player housing (the other being Megaton); Tenpenny Tower is located out in the wastes west of the DC ruins, directly southwest of the RobCo main production facility.

A pre-War luxury hotel, by 2277 Tenpenny Tower had become a private and elitist residential and commercial building owned by Allistair Tenpenny, who only permits the well-to-do or wealthy to reside there. Tenpenny is prejudiced, especially against the "ghoul problem" that is the frequent attempts of sentient ghouls to gain access and residence.

Completing a very evil act will gain the Lone Wanderer possession of their own penthouse suite here.

Pre-War
Before the Great War in 2077, the tower was a resort. The ghoul Michael Masters, who was once an eminent scientist 200 years previously, vacationed at the tower and noted that it was "a resort for the wealthy and powerful." Michael Masters also says that the Statesman was built on the foundations of a plantation.

Tenpenny Tower
After the bombs fell, the tower laid vacant for the best part of two centuries, before Allistair Tenpenny, an entrepreneur from England, along with a small mercenary crew led by Chief Gustavo, right-hand-man Mister Burke, and including the protectron Shakes, came across the tower and rid it of a few feral ghouls. After realizing the water in the tower was not irradiated and still clean, a rarity in the wasteland, they siphoned off electricity from the still-working underground DC Metro system to re-power the tower, fortified it with steel and concrete barricades, strengthened some exterior walls in the same manner, and renamed it Tenpenny Tower in accordance with Tenpenny's elitist vision. Soon, word had spread among the wastes and many flocked to this new settlement, but Tenpenny would only let in traders or those in with enough caps, and certainly no ghouls. Soon shops, a bar and a clinic were set up in and around the lobby, and the penthouse suites given to Tenpenny's favored, where they could watch Tenpenny take pop-shots with his sniper rifle as part of his "wasteland safari". Gustavo took over security detail for the tower and concerned himself with the "ghoul problem", Mr. Burke set out to find a way to end the "eyesore" on the horizon which distressed Tenpenny, and Shakes was reprogrammed to be the tower's barman.

Exterior
The structure itself is surrounded by tall concrete walls, which create a compound of sorts. Around the rear of the building is the entrance to the generator room, which is used in the quest "Tenpenny Tower." There is also a covered area to the right of the main gate which serves as the guard's quarters. The building did not completely escape damage from the bombs, and was repaired with sheets of metal in the areas of the hotel that took the most damage.

The wall can be jumped over to get inside, which is particularly useful if the player does not want to pay the entrance bribe, or has not attached the fusion pulse charge to the bomb in Megaton during the quest "The Power of the Atom." To get inside, go to the west side of the wall and look for a relatively large outcrop of rocks. There is a portion of the wall that has fallen over and is lying on the ground against the rest of the barrier. Jump on top of the broken piece and then through the gap.

Should the player choose to enter through the wall without ever coming through the actual gate, the gate can be opened from the inside by interacting with the speaker near the guard posted there. If not, you will have to pay to come inside again when speaking to the gate keeper through the intercom.

Interior
Entering the building, the player will find him or herself in the lobby, which contains stairs to the third-floor apartments, an elevator to the penthouse, and is home to a variety of businesses, including:
 * Boutique Le Chic
 * Café Beau Monde
 * Federalist Lounge
 * Gustavo's armory
 * New Urban Apparel
 * Wellness Center

The player's suite shares a balcony with Allistair Tenpenny's, who can sometimes be found there, hunting with his sniper rifle.

While it is possible to steal from the safes and cash boxes of the store owners, doing so causes the store owners to complain about security and leave, meaning the player can no longer shop from them. However, the player can follow them outside Tenpenny Tower and kill them for their inventory keys without making the other residents hostile.

Appearances
Tenpenny Tower appears only in Fallout 3 but a picture of it and a man standing in front of it can be found in The Tops Casino in Fallout: New Vegas. This picture also appears in a room on the top floor of the REPCONN test site.

Behind the scenes
According to an interview in 1UP magazine, Emil Pagliarulo confirmed that Tenpenny Tower was slightly inspired by Fiddler's Green: the skyscraper in George Romero's Land of the Dead.

Bugs

 * On rare occasions if you go onto the back of the balcony and aim at the door, you will see a gray, green and white flashing, mainly caused by a glitch in the game's coding.
 * It is possible to get the front gate of Tenpenny Tower to remain open indefinitely by fast-traveling away while it's in the process of opening. This helps save a few seconds on subsequent visits to the location. However you must be quick about it.
 * If you mezz and collar the main gate guard, he will no longer open the door and the game will freeze. This will also occur if the guard is killed on his way to Paradise Falls.
 * When exiting your Tenpenny Tower suite onto the balcony, the player may drop dead after a short (2-3 Minutes) wait.
 * If Fawkes is following you when entering the Generator Room from the lobby, he will not appear beside you as you spawn on the other side but instead will spawn in the room beyond the locked door at the bottom of the stairs where the feral ghouls wait after you unlock the exterior basement door outside Tenpenny Tower. When you descend the stairs he will slowly slide through the door to join you. If you have already entered the basement using the key but did not yet unlock the door for the feral ghouls, you can use this glitch to have Fawkes spawn in the room where he will attack the feral ghouls. This has no effect on the outcome of the Tenpenny Tower quest as the tower will still be overrun by feral ghouls after unlocking the door.
 * Residents in Tenpenny Tower will not spawn and may not reappear after days or may never reappear.
 * If the player has the Tenpenny Tower quest, and kills all the residents of Tenpenny Tower, then goes through the outside entrance to the Metro access and Generator in Tenpenny Tower, the player can talk to Roy Phillips through the wall. However, it is not possible to enter through that area. If the player tells Roy Phillips that all the residents have been killed and leaves the Metro access and Generator, you find him standing at the doors to Tenpenny Tower. The player can talk to him, however Roy Phillips will not give the player the ghoul mask as promised in the deal. If the player tries to go inside Tenpenny Tower again, he will be attacked by a feral ghoul near the entrance. This makes all the ghouls attack you, including Roy Phillips. Also, Roy Phillips will not have the mask on his body if killed.
 * Although rare, Roy Phillips may become hostile to the The Lone Wanderer at any time during the Tenpenny Tower quest for no apparent reason.
 * Sometimes a wastelander will spawn inside the Tenpenny Tower walls. He will remain near the security quarters walking around and speaking to the guards as if he was supposed to be in there.