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Ian Fleming's Goldeneye To Become A Resort Location

Big plans for Jamaican seaside villa where many original Bond novels were written

Goldeneye's 'Bond Suites' Previewed At Imperial War Museum

Big plans for Ian Fleming's Jamaican seaside villa...

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol...icle3671829.ece

Goldeneye, the home of Bond, is to become a celebrity village


Ian Fleming liked to say that James Bond would never have existed without Goldeneye, the Jamaican seaside villa where he wrote all the original 007 adventures.

He loved it above all for its simplicity. Goldeneye was beautiful, built on a former donkey racetrack and so humbly furnished that No�l Coward, a friend and neighbour, called it �Goldeneye, Nose and Throat�.

But now, in an indication of how far Bond�s prestige has outgrown the character�s modest origins, Fleming�s island hideaway is to be turned into a $120 million (�60 million) resort for sports stars, rock musicians and businessmen. Work began this week on the project, which will include 85 homes ranging in price from $750,000 to $3 million, two restaurants, a health spa, delicatessen, supermarket and watersports centre.

There are concerns that the scale of the development will overwhelm the intimate appeal of Fleming�s original four-room whitewashed villa, grounds and secluded private beach.

Chris Blackwell, 70, the owner of Goldeneye and the man who made Bob Marley into a global superstar with his label Island Records, believes it can be preserved. He hopes that the project will become an example of how luxury tourism can help society: the new development is expected to create 1,500 jobs on site and in the surrounding area, where unemployment is about 70 per cent.

�The Jamaican people are the root of my success and I want to give something back,� he said. �I will keep Fleming�s house as it is so that people can see the Goldeneye that he wrote in, but the future of this place is as a resort location.�

Goldeneye is a celebrity bolt hole in the Caribbean: a discreet 12bedroom hotel for VIPs, presidents and Hollywood A-listers. It is on the north coast of the island, approached via a potholed road. A wrought-iron gate with no sign leads through tropical trees to Fleming�s villa. In a tradition begun by Anthony Eden when he spent three weeks at Goldeneye after the Suez Crisis, labels at the foot of the trees record which guest planted them. Contributors range from Johnny Depp, the Clintons and Naomi Campbell, to Dawn French and Lenny Henry. Guest accommodation is limited to four lavish wooden cottages, with bedrooms named after Bond girls, and the original house, which is perched on a cliff above a coral beach.

Fleming fell in love with Jamaica during a conference on the U-boat threat to the Caribbean in 1942. He bought the 15-acre plot four years later and built a house, which he named Goldeneye after a wartime operation that was never put into action. He wintered there for the rest of his life.

When he embarked on Casino Royale in 1952 Fleming was a hard-drinking, chain-smoking journalist deep into middle age who was writing to forget about his impending marriage to his long-term mistress Ann Rothermere. He did not appear destined for literary immortality. He had failed at Eton, Sandhurst and in the City before discovering a flair for journalism and then a sense of purpose in the Second World War, which he fought from a desk as a spymaster for the Intelligence Division of the Royal Navy.

At Goldeneye, Fleming developed a strict routine, typing fast for three hours every morning and one hour in the evening, never looking back �except to the foot of the last page to see where I have got to�. When not writing or snorkelling, he drank martinis and whisky and conducted his last love affair, with Mr Blackwell�s mother, Blanche.

His presence in the house remains palpable, although the desk at which he wrote is missing on an overseas assignment of its own: it is one of hundreds of Bond relics to go on show at the Imperial War Museum in London in For Your Eyes Only, a year-long exhibition on Fleming and Bond.

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Ian Fleming's Goldeneye To Become A Resort Location

Big plans for Jamaican seaside villa where many original Bond novels were written

Oh dear, well I suppose it is all to do with 'progress' and if the economy can be improved for the locals, then so be it.

The word that sprung out from this article was 'intimate'. I was lucky enough to visit Jamaica in 1989 when Goldeneye was still just a house, if such a non-accolade canbe attributed to such beginnings. At the time, asking the locals as to its whereabouts added to the mystery and it was some hours later when I came across the little sign on the gatepost suggesting Goldeneye.

I was in effect trespassing as I had to stick to the shrubbery either side of the driveway to have a good look around the house, the beach, the pagoda and gardens. And yes, this was quite the most idyllic place to do anything.

Quite how the hidden aspects of the house will be retained as the 'buses start coming' will be unclear to this forum contributor. I am happy to have seen it before all this happens though.

Of course, I also had a look at his neighbours house, Firefly, that of Noel Coward. But this was open for business and available for inspection without fear of trespassing. This also, is a wonderful house. A little higher up the hill affording a more horizon type view as opposed to Fleming's little cliff and beach.

Bloody shame. It really is.

"I am happy to have seen it before all this happens though."

Wish I could have seen it even before they put in the cinema etc. Still haven't seen it.

This post has been edited by Jack Spang: 6 April 2008 - 16:21

As long as they don't touch the house and a nice chunk of the surrounding grounds.

Hopefully all the trees will keep it separate and private atleast. I won't go so far as to say secluded anymore though.

Guess I'll have to move to the blue mountains instead. Atleast it's cooler up there but a bit far from the beach. I have never been to the Carribean but when I do I want to go to Jamaica and visit all the secluded places off the beaten track like where Bond went to in the books. Surely such places still exist on the island! I hate the thought of all these Hollywood celebrities around.

This post has been edited by Jack Spang: 6 April 2008 - 17:26

When I was there, I was asking around for the 3 1/2 Love Lane address ref Golden Gun.

The street existed but at the time, I think it was given over to working girls.

Shame they turned down our offer, eh Qwerty.

It should be CBn's headquarters.

Damn. Just damn.

I remember reading about this a long time ago and was hoping that the project would fall through, but alas, it didn't.


I'm sorry to put it in these words, but friends, this just sucks. It's a shame that such an important location like this is being bastardized.

They're doing the same thing with Marlon Brando's private island.

Definitely wouldn't mind that.

I strongly agree. It's getting harder and harder to visit any destination these days without running into the tourist hordes.

To get off the beaten track i think, one has to build up a rapor with local people. Admittedly this is very difficult when visiting a place for a few days but by showing genuine interest in the people that live there, it enriches the travel experience and who knows maybe locals may point out a thing or 2 most tourists may miss.

Fleming's Jamaica reinventing its property market

The island that inspired 007 author Ian Fleming is looking to encourage more foreign investors onto its shores. According to the Daily Mail, as the centenary of Fleming's birth draws closer, Jamaica's property market appears to be recovering following a problematic past.

Reportedly described by Fleming as "a refreshment for all the senses," the paper opines that the author's Jamaican holiday home, Goldeneye, was key in the creation of James Bond . However, as the paper explains, after a period in which it became a glamorous refuge for the likes of Noel Coward and the Kennedys, the island fell out of favour with investors due to economic and political problems. Nevertheless, new Prime Minister Bruce Golding is keen to re-establish Jamaica's reputation and is encouraging high-end developments.

The government's drive to kick-start investment has been met with enthusiasm by Chris Blackwell, the resort owner responsible for transforming Fleming's former home into a Bond-themed retreat: "I think we're going to see a big upturn in Jamaica. I'm positive about the new government's approach because the best way to address the poverty and the bad reputation of Jamaica is to create business and opportunities." Furthermore, the paper states, Blackwell is expanding the Goldeneye resort, selling 85 properties on a 100-acre site.

According to the paper, prices in Jamaica are 50 per cent lower than those of comparable properties in Barbados, something which is all set to change, says Richard Whitfield of luxury resort Half Moon in the Rose Hall area of Montego Bay. Whitfield is now reportedly selling villas for private ownership in The Colony development, all of which will boast sea views and will be built in traditional Caribbean pavilion style. These high-end properties are on the market for over �1 million each, the paper states.

Other investment opportunities are available in The Palmrya resort. Resort president Dennis Constanzo described what is happening on the island: "We're at the beginning of a ten to 15-year upsurge in property here; it's like being in Miami 15 years ago." Constanzo also assured that the downturn in the US economy was not having much impact on American buyers. The paper claims that alongside Prime Minister Golding, Constanzo is also about to announce a �900 million mixed-use project, which "will reposition Jamaica as a five-star island" according to the developer.

Work is also being done on the island's transport infrastructure, particularly in the area east of Montego Bay, known as the Gold Coast. To this end, a new highway is being constructed and Montego Bay's Sangster Airport has also been revamped, now welcoming 30 international flights per week, including two Virgin direct services from Gatwick.

http://commanderbond.net/components/quickn...&item=46949 - Holiday Lettings