The GoldenEye estate is the most iconic location in Bond lore. It is, after all, the key location where Ian Fleming famously settled and penned 14 Bond books.
The location of Ian Fleming’s famous pad GoldenEye is now a resort, with Fleming’s original house restored to mint condition, and fit out as sparsely as Bond would have done it himself. The Gentlemen’s Journal recently shared some dream location pics from what was once Ian Fleming’s famous abode in Jamacia. And it can be yours for the night if you happen to have a spare 6,207 dollars.
In a huge nod to Fleming, in the latest Bond flick, No Time to Die, we get to see Daniel Craig aka James Bond spend a lot of time on the stunning property, resting and recuperating and walking the streets of Oracabessa Bay after a hard night of 007 action. With a population of only 4000, Oracabessa Bay is one of the most low-key, beautiful, and unassuming havens around.
It was while serving in World War II that Fleming first ventured to Jamaica. Instantly falling in love with the remote Island, and when a 15-acre estate came up for sale in 1946, he jumped at the chance to acquire it.
Fleming quite interestingly was the opposite of Bond in terms of five-star glitz and glamour. When it came to the design of the property, Fleming drew up an architectural plan that was a simple and modest, three-bedroom abode. Keeping very much in line with the simplicity of the Island. Upon completion, he settled into the beautiful wooden terrace and wrote 14 Bond novels.
12 years after Flemming’s death in 1964, the property was bought by the founder of Island Records, Chris Blackwell, the humble raconteur and legendary mentor to Bob Marley. Blackwell has since gone on to extensively refurbish the property, adding huts and lagoon cottages, with the estate now taking up 52 acres, which offers up luxurious accommodation for tourists, but also offers a contentious double-edged sword for the locals, who have fewer public beaches to fish or even just hang out on.
Oracabessa Bay and the Goldeneye Estate is a magnet for celebrities. Sting wrote his hit song, Every Breath You Take and Bono wrote the theme song to the GoldenEye film while staying there.
Our other lovable rogue Anthony Bourdain filmed an episode of Parts Unknown, in 2015 and is well worth a watch. Bourdain asks, among other things, who “owns” paradise. Do the locals or big business?
Love or hate the idea of it. It’s nice to see the legend’s original home intact and restored. Would Fleming have liked the way it’s been expanded on? I’ll leave that up to you to decide.
