A country estate fit for James Bond

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This thrilling country estate, Black Hole Hollow Farm, isn’t quite as scary as the two James Bond thrillers, that novelist Ian Fleming wrote here.

A New York country estate, Black Hole Hollow Farm, where former British intelligence officer-turned-author, Ian Fleming, wrote parts of his James Bond thrillers, Diamonds Are Forever (1956) and Goldfinger (1959) is for sale. At the time that Fleming stayed there, it was the home of his dear friend, John Felix Charles Ivar Bryce, also a former British intelligence officer, whose wife was an Atlantic & Pacific heiress, Josephine Huntington Hartford. Fleming, joined by other illustrious guests, such as Princess Margaret and Jackie Kennedy, but he was a long-term houseguest on numerous occasions. The farm has recently listed for sale at $2.95 million.

Nestled within 440 lush acres of woods, pasture and flower gardens, the 1770’s-era house of 8,143 square feet includes eight bedrooms, seven baths, multiple fireplaces, formal and family rooms, as well as an office, and a large kitchen and dining room for large dinner parties.

The home is spacious enough to get lost in, but the farm’s crowning glory – and likely where Fleming spent much of his time – is the spectacular greenhouse that opens to a spacious, roofed garden room. With winding paths through the greenery and soothing sounds of the koi pond, it’s tranquil like a cultivated jungle.

Fleming often stayed in guest quarters known as the Yellow Room. He’d take long treks into the woods surrounding the estate. In an old guest register, Fleming once wrote, “Lived here like a king — an uninvited one — in fragrant and luxurious solitude.”

On the property, there is also the lodge and the cottage – each with three bedrooms. The Federal House includes two bedrooms, and the former milk house is now a one-bedroom home. Other amenities include a maple syrup-production facility, an outdoor swimming pool and three stocked ponds.

Few fictional characters have been as accessible to both men and women as Bond – James Bond. Men want to be him and women…? With 12 novels, 24 movies (soon to be 25) and two Academy-Award-Winning songs (Skyfall by Adele and Writing’s on the Wall by Sam Smith), the James Bond franchise has been one of the world’s most profitable, with more than $17 billion in sales. Fleming introduced Bond in 1953, and legend has it that it may have been while he was staying at Black Hole Hollow Farm.

The Bond films continue to be popular, even though Fleming passed away in 1964. Now, for the first time in five years, a new James Bond film, No Time To Die, will hit the theatres in April. The most recent Bond actor, Daniel Craig, will be playing the role for his last time.

Black Hole Hollow Farm, located near Cambridge, New York, is only 30 miles to Saratoga. Priced at $2.95 million, the listing agent is Story Jenks of LandVest – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate, Woodstock, Vermont.

Photo Credit: LandVest | www.landvest.com