Being a Bond villain has a distinct advantage: the job usually comes with a magnificent property, tucked away in a remote corner of the world and equipped with the latest technology.
Some dens of iniquity, however, are more opulent than others, according to property portal OpenBrix, which has ranked nine of them by price.
Topping the charts is Monsoon Palace, the Rajasthan home of Octopussy’s backgammon-obsessed Kamal Khan. Vast, perched on top of a hill and bordered by water on one side, it would cost about £33.6 million.
It’s a massive £11 million more than the runner up, the Drax Estate, the grandiose, château-like Californian property of billionaire Hugo Drax in Moonraker, which would be worth £22.5 million.
By comparison, Ernst Stavro Blofeld’s Moroccan lair is a steal at £3.4 million.
Nor does Goldfinger live up to his name: his Kentucky stud farm is the second cheapest property on the list at £2.5 million, barely ahead of Elektra King’s £2.2 million Azerbaijan manor in The World is Not Enough.
£33.6 million — Kamal Khan’s Monsoon Palace in India, Octopussy
Just make sure you arrive by crocodile submarine.
£22.5 million — Hugo Drax’s estate in California, Moonraker
If it looks suspiciously French, that's because Drax had it moved brick-by-brick across the Atlantic.
£19 million — Francisco Scaramanga’s private island in Thailand, The Man with the Golden Gun
The island isn't actually for sale, of course; real name Khao Phing Kan, it's part of a National Park in Thailand.
£13.7 million — Emilio Largo’s Palmyra estate in the Bahamas, Thunderball
You'll probably get it at a big discount off that theoretical price — a visitor earlier in 2020 found the place in a sorry state.
£9.6 million — Dr Julius No’s Crab Key in Jamaica, Dr No
Not included in the price is the harpoon gun hidden beneath the inordinately long dining table.
£7.6 million — Raoul Silva’s abandoned island lair in Japan, Skyfall (requires renovation)
It's a bit of a fixer-upper.
https://youtu.be/PSgQemXBBMw?t=57
£3.4 million — Ernst Stavro Blofeld’s desert lair in Morocco, Spectre
This one seems like something of a bargain — and it's even eco-friendly with solar panels.
https://youtu.be/bJhf97Xje20?t=138
£2.5 million — Auric Goldfinger’s stud farm in Kentucky, USA, Goldfinger
The horses would bump up the price, of course....
Credit: Alamy
Gloriously evil: The Top 10 British villains in Hollywood history
Everyone knows Brits make the best on-screen super-villains. Jonathan Self picks out his favourites.
The hotels that found fame on the silver screen — with a little help from James Bond, Marilyn Monroe and more
Credit: John Millar / Country Life
'I was 8–1 to be the next Bond just before Daniel Craig got it': Nathaniel Parker on life, acting, and his big near-miss
Nathaniel Parker catches up with Jack Watkins about David Cameron's epic gaffe, and the time he nearly became James Bond.
-
Baby, it’s cold outside (even if you have a natural fur coat): How our animals brave the winter chillWhen the temperature drops, how do Britain’s birds, beasts and plants keep the cold at bay? John Lewis-Stempel reveals Nature’s own thermals.
-
Dorfold Hall: The 'most neat and beautiful house of brick' that owes its existence to a desperate effort to secure successionDorfold Hall in Cheshire is an outstanding Jacobean house, but was an unexpected product of dynastic disappointment. John Goodall examines the remarkable circumstances of its construction; photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
-
The London house where Rolls-Royce's co-founder Charles Rolls tinkered with his very first car is for sale at £17 millionCharles Rolls, the engineer and co-founder of Rolls-Royce, got his hands dirty when using the stables of this fine London home as a makeshift garage. Annabel Dixon reports.
-
A vineyard for sale on the slopes above 'the best beach in Britain' is for sale at just £650,000In the beautifully unspoilt Devon village of Bantham, an award-winning vineyard is for sale. Toby Keel takes a look.
-
This spectacular 14th-century castle has had its price cut by £7.5 million. Here's whyThe art and science of being an estate agent is never trickier than when dealing with homes that are being sold for the first time in centuries — and Ripley Castle in Yorkshire provides the perfect example. Lucy Denton explains more.
-
A simply perfect thatched cottage in Devon, with charm, walled gardens and all the space you need for family lifeThatched cottages are often pretty, but pretty small — but Julie Harding finds one brings which blends cottage charm with the space of a country manor.
-
'A rare gem' of a country house, in 163 acres of the idyllic Colne Valley, just 50 minutes from the CityThe Regency-style Over Hall in Colne Engaine is a country house whose previous owner has spent 40 years getting everything just right. Penny Churchill takes a look.
-
Five home offices so good that every work day will feel like a holiday (well, probably)Five years on from the Pandemic, millions of us are still working from home much of the time — and thus the appeal of a home office is as strong as ever. They don't much nicer than these.
-
A grand country house and 329-acre estate for sale at £1.89 million — and it's on the market for the first time in a quarter of a millenniumArabella Youens takes a look at the beautiful Monreith House and Estate on the south-west coast of Scotland.
-
A beautiful home on the outskirts of one of Scotland's prettiest market towns, and an easy commute to EdinburghArabella Youens looks at Kirklands House, a wonderful old home set in five acres of charming gardens near Melrose.
