Margaret Murray - Lord's View One. St. John's Wood

Just a few minutes walk away is probably St John’s Wood’s best kept secret, the High Street full of appetising meeting places, boutiques, cute pavement cafes and trendy shops. It has a quietly exclusive atmosphere partly because hardly anybody knows about it.

Officially Margaret is head porter of Lord’s View One but her job is really a ‘one woman band’, her responsibilities range from ensuring the communal areas are kept clean and the building is maintained, to helping a resident fix a leaking tap or unblocking the rubbish chute. She is so indispensable that during a recent trip to France she received a phone call from a tenant about a problem only eight hours after arriving.

“The job is a way of life for me. I really can’t imagine doing anything else. Even when I go shopping with my family people contact me if they have a problem but I don’t mind. It really is a 24/7 job.”

Very true, unlike the majority of portered blocks, Lord’s View One does not have a front reception but Margaret is still very hands on in the job. Her day starts at 4am when she gets up to clean the foyers although she has a cleaner once a week she says she prefers to do the work herself. She finds it therapeutic.
“It is the best part of the day for me. I like to have it all done so it is fresh for the morning when everyone gets up. I love it. I put on my mini-disc player and just sweep away to the music. We use to have a reception with two porters because there are two entrances here, but that has changed now it is just me and people can call me whenever they need to.”

The block is home to several nationalities including Americans, Japanese and Indians, with a range of ages and professions. The youngest is 19 and the oldest 100 who has lived there since the apartments were built.

“I can honestly say out of all the residents here there is not one I don’t get on with. There is a real mix of people of all age groups and everyone is really friendly. They treat me with respect and not like a servant.

“At first the people were a bit shocked when I first started working here, being a woman but now they say it is the best thing they have ever done. They are really delighted and say the place has never been so well looked after.”

She adds: “A lot of times being a woman comes in handy, I think the residents like dealing with a woman we’ve all become friends here. There are not many problems that I can’t deal with even though I’m a woman on my own.

“I have very nice residents living here, very nice flats and very nice bosses at Kinleigh, Folkhard and Hayward property managers. You can’t really ask for more. What’s more it is a great part of London, very safe, not noisy and so close to the park.”

Lord’s View One has just had its gardens landscaped and plans are in the pipeline to refurbish the entrances and double glazing. A one bedroom apartment in the building is worth up to £280,000 while a two bedroom property can fetch £480,000.

If you are a porter or would like to recommend a porter to appear in this section, please email editor@newsontheblock.com