THE ISLANDER: MY LIFE IN MUSIC AND BEYOND
Located 20 minutes east of Ocho Rios and less than a 10-minute drive from Ian Fleming International Airport, Fleming Villa now sleeps up to 10 people and boasts its own private beach, swimming pool, tropical gardens and a dedicated staff of butler, housekeeper and cook. But when, in 1946, Fleming designed and built the villa on a low cliff overlooking Oracabessa Bay it was intended simply as a secluded writer’s retreat. He called it Goldeneye after a naval operation he was involved in while working for Britain’s Naval Intelligence Division during the Second World War. Sitting at a plain wooden desk, he created what is today one of the world’s most recognisable characters: 007 agent James Bond. For his iconic hero, Fleming lifted the name of an English ornithologist from the cover of the Field Guide of Birds of the West Indies.