Ian Fleming's Goldeneye To Become A Resort Location

Goldeneye.

Besides the film of the same name, James Bond fans know it best as the stunning Jamaican seaside villa where Ian Fleming wrote the original 007 novels.

As Fleming described in the 1960 article How to Write a Thriller, he had a relatively strict routine of balancing his work on each new Bond adventure along with the numerous pleasures the island location had to offer.

‘Write 2,000 words a day, go snorkeling, have a few martinis, have some beautiful women over for dinner’ summed up author Sebastian Faulks, who followed Fleming’s formula for his own forthcoming 007 novel, Devil May Care.

Now, according to a report from The Times, those luxurious benefits that Goldeneye has to offer are going to be available to the public… for a price.

The report states that Fleming’s island hideaway is going to be turned into a $120 million (£60 million) resort for sports stars, rock musicians and businessmen.

Work on the project began this past week, which will include 85 homes ranging in price from $750,000 to $3 million, two restaurants, a health spa, delicatessen, supermarket and watersports centre.

While there are obvious concerns that this massive development could sour the intimate appeal of Fleming’s original four-room whitewashed villa, grounds and secluded private beach,’ current owner Chris Blackwell believes the essence of Goldeneye can be preserved.

Hoping the project will help the local society by creating 1,500 jobs on site and in the surrounding area, where unemployment is about 70%, he said: ‘The Jamaican people are the root of my success and I want to give something back. 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 will be a star player in the upcoming ‘For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming and James Bond’ centenary exhibition to be held at the Imperial War Museum in London this April. Of particular interest will be a recreation of Fleming’s study where he originally wrote the Bond novels.

Lucy Fleming, the author’s niece, emphasized the important connection between the island location and the world of 007 by quoting Fleming himself: ‘Would these books have been born if I hadn’t been living in the gorgeous vacuum of a Jamaican holiday? I doubt it.’

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