007 Book location: Playboy Mansion / Midsummer Night’s Doom (1999)

007 Book location: Playboy Mansion / Midsummer Night’s Doom (1999)

June 28, 2024 0 By 007 Travelers

Bond book: Midsummer Night’s Doom (1999)
Place and location in the book: Playboy Mansion, 10236 Charing Cross Road, Los Angeles, California, USA
What happens here in the book: Bond is assigned to attend a party at Playboy founder Hugh Hefner‘s Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills California where Ministry of Defence secrets are expected to be sold to a representative of the Russian Mafia.
Visited by 007 Travelers: July 2023

Bond has also other connections to Playboy. In “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” (1969) Bond (George Lazenby) reads Playboy magazine in Bern, Switzerland while waiting the copymachine finishing copying.

In “Diamonds Are Forever” (1971) we learn that Bond (Sean Connery) is a member of a The Playboy Club and Playboy Casino. Bond’s club number is UK 40401

Entrance to Playboy Mansion.
There was a renovation work going on when we were there, so we couldn’t go inside 🙂

“Hugh Hefner’s magnificent Playboy Mansion West is located in the exclusive Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles, adjacent to Bel Air, Beverly Hills, U.C.L.A. and the Los Angeles Country Club. Bond drove his Jaguar XK8 coupe to the imposing wrought iron gate at the bottom of a tree-lined drive off of Sunset Boulevard, and was greeted by a voice in a large rock on the driver’s side. Bond provided his credentials, and the gate opened slowly. He drove through and was treated to a spectacular view of a marble frieze, a replica of a painting by Guido Reni displayed in the Rospigiosi Palace in Rome. The car made its way up the steep, curving drive that was lined with redwood trees and juniper hedges, ending at a circular drive with an ornate, flower-ringed marble fountain in the centre. Busy valets signaled for Bond to stop. Even though he had arrived unfashionably early, there was already a queue of cars waiting to be parked.

Bond entrusted the Jaguar to the boy and took a moment to gaze at the mansion’s front, a marvelous stone edifice in a 16th Century Perpendicular Gothic Style. Bond thought there might be some Scottish influence as well…

… She led him to into the Great Hall, a splendid foyer with a Botticini marble floor and hand carved oak paneling. A beautiful antique chandelier hung over the room, and two sets of curved stairs guarded by hand-carved, eighteenth century greeting monkeys led to the second floor and balcony overlooking the hall. Bond noticed Dali and Matisse originals out of the corner of his eye and asked, “How old is the mansion?”

It was completed in 1927. Hef is the third owner, not counting a brief period when it was a place when it was a place where heads of state came to stay – people like the King and the Queen of Siam, the King of Sweden and loads of others. I’ve been a visitor here several times, so I learned all kinds of stuff about it.”

She took him into a living room, where clusters of people stood with hors d’oeuvres and drinks. The men were dressed in silk pyjamas and robes, and the women were draped in lacy lingerie and other forms of transparent sleeping attire. The room was furnished with 17th century antiques, a Steinway grand piano and more handcarved oak paneling.

Bond (George Lazenby) reads a Playboy magazine in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” (1969)
Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq, LLC

“What did Mr. Hefner add to the existing property?” Bond asked.

“It was re-designed to his specifications. The tennis courts and pool were put in then, as well as the sauna, bathhouse and the one-of-a-kind “grotto” and jacuzzi. You’ve got to see it to believe it.”

“Will you show it to me?”, Bond asked.

“Later. perhaps,” she said, blushing.

She took him through the rest of the ground floor, including the exquisite dining room where De Kooning’s Woman hung over a marble fireplace and three 15th Century French tapestries of lions hung above the sideboard. Bond was impressed and enchanted by the manor. It was a palace fit for any king, and there was a warm, friendly atmosphere that pervaded every room.

As they came back into the Great Hall, Bond noticed Hugh Hefner himself, talking with guests and holding a glass of Jack Daniels on the rocks. He was wearing purple, tailor-made silk pyjamas and a smoking jacket. Two gorgeous women, a blonde and a brunette, were on either side of him. They were wearing next to nothing…”

“…Especially that grotto,” Bond said. Lisa wagged her finger at him, as Hefner and Bond withdrew. They went into the library, where they were alone. The library boasted a Leroy Neiman original and a backgammon table designed and built especially for Hefner. An elegant bookcase was built into the wall next to the fireplace. It held leather bound volumes of all the Playboy magazines dating back to 1953…”

Bond’s The Playboy Club and Playboy Casino card can be seen in “Diamonds Are Forever” (1971)



…”Bond surveyed the grounds, which were decorated with an Arabian Nights theme and entirely covered by connecting tents extending to the swimming pool, the grotto, and beyond. Bright coloured flowers and fairy lights covered the hillside, bushes and trees, and by nightfall the effect was magical. There were bars at the pool and in the main tent area. Staff circulated with plates of Rumaki, skewered Nile River shrimps, cold mussels stuffed with pine nuts and rice, Egyptian meatballs, grape leaves stuffed with lamb, and Phyllo dough puffs with spinach and feta cheese…”

“… He ran past the squirrel monkey cage, causing an outburst of chattering, and into a grove of redwood trees. Then he saw them. Anton Redenius and his henchman, Estragon, were standing over the body of Martin Tuttle. Estragon was holding a wire garrote extended from his wristwatch. He looked up and saw Bond, then released the wire, which snapped back into his watch…”

…”The fight continued in the pool, where Bond was in his element. An expert swimmer and one of the three Double-O agents who had taken a first in SIS’s Underwater Combat Course, Bond quickly gained an advantage by using Estragon’s weight and size against him. Bond got the man’s neck in the crook of his arm and squeezed, pulling him down below the surface. Able to hold his breath for an extraordinary amount of time, Bond had no problem keeping his opponent submerged until he began to panic. Bond had saved an ounce of strength for this very moment. He applied more pressure, locking Estragon’s neck in a vice-like grip, forcing him to swallow water. The struggling continued for another minute, and then the bodyguard went limp.”

Raymond Benson: “Midsummer Night’s Doom” (1999)

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