Dream House | Film set-turned-residence stands as quiet reminder

This property was once the home where humans and the largest and most feared reptiles on Earth co-existed, sharing the very same natural mangrove habitat.

The story begins with the arrival to Jamaica in 1969 of 24-year-old former marine and game hunter, Ross Kananga, of Florida in the United States.

He would establish and open the year after, a crocodile breeding farm called Jamaica Swamp Safari on 350 acres in Falmouth, Trelawny. With a revolver in his waist, he would also maintain over 1,000 of these reptiles in captivity, including lions, leopards, and a python snake.

People from all over came to witness first-hand as he romped with the animals and grappled with the crocs, imitating their mating calls.

Sadly, his father, who also wrestled crocodiles in Florida, met an untimely, horrific death – eaten by one of them while performing.

Here in Jamaica, the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) is critical to the ecosystem, and their numbers are sorrily threatened by mankind. They are not as aggressive as others among the species, leaving you alone if left alone.

This homestead would bring man and beast to live and work together in an appropriately built environment. Here, one would learn more about these intelligent, amphibious predators, thus reducing the fears and myths associated with them.

SPECIALLY BUILT FOR FILM

A weathered, metal-roofed house has helped set the tone for the blockbuster, 1973, James Bond flick, Live and Let Die, starring Roger Moore. In fact, it was all built as a film set by the movie-production company directly over a former crocodile pool.

Stuntman Ross Kananga (doubling as Moore), in a desperate escape bid in one action scene, ran across the backs of man-eating, gaping-mouth crocs in the water, culminating in a total of five takes, 193 stitches to the body, and a US$60,000 payday for his effort. Daniel Craig, starring in the latest James Bond film, No Time To Die, has listed that hazardous stunt croc scene as one of his top silver-screen moments of all time.

Bond would go on to set the building afire, and it would ultimately be rehabilitated as the new residence for Kananga. Prior to this, he lived in an apartment in Montego Bay.

He died from a heart attack in Florida in 1978 at the age of 32 years old.

It is a double-storey, complete-timber building (except for the downstairs bathroom floor, which is in concrete). The sole bedroom occupies the upper level, while the lower shows off living, dining and kitchen spaces. A verandah at the front adds to the amenities.

No one resides within its walls now. At one time, it functioned as a gift shop. Today, the house quietly stands as a reminder of the starring role it played in this wildlife sanctuary.

- Barry Rattray is a dream house designer and builder. Email feedback to barry-rattray@hotmail.com and lifestyle@gleanerjm.com.