Shhh ... Notting Hill's secret agent

With an encyclopaedic knowledge of every house in Notting Hill and Holland Park, Niall McMahon remembers the many people who bought each house, sold it, re-arranged it and then sold it again. It is this skill that made Niall one of the "go to home finders in the area" during the 1970's/80's/90's through until he semi-retired in 2008. As Niall admits he is still "tinkering around the edges "of the local property scene and keeps in touch with a selection of his Agency friends.

During the first Lockdown (March to October 2020) Niall has written a light- hearted memoir of the 55 years he has spent living and selling houses in Notting Hill which included the advice that Estate Agents should abide by the three A's of Affability, Availability, and Ability.

Niall started working in Notting Hill in 1965 and has lived in the area ever since. When he was a boy his Irish doctor father who was working in a South Wales hospital in Newport died aged 43 and his Welsh born mother went on to marry two more Irish men whom she outlived. Niall spent much of his youth in a Sussex boarding school, followed by a period of Army life with the Irish Guards and

found himself based at Chelsea Barracks and soon wearing the famous Alaskan bearskin and Trooping the Colour and guarding various royal London landmarks.

After leaving the Army in 1964 Niall worked for a short time with his stepfather selling retail businesses. This was followed by his introduction to Marsh & Parsons as a tea boy and filing clerk. The same year he met his wife Candy who had been away at a boarding school in Brighton, at a

fancy-dress party in Reigate and they were surprised to find out that they both lived three doors apart in their respective family homes in East Sheen overlooking Richmond Park.

Having started in such a junior position at Marsh & Parsons, ex rugby playing, and easy-going Niall rose quickly up the ranks, via junior negotiator, various managerial roles and subsequent partner and stayed with the firm for 24 years before starting his own business, McMahon & Co, from his front room home office with the help of his PA wife Candy. He has helped people buy and sell many of the big, beautiful wedding cake houses on the communal gardens and crescents in his relaxed and friendly way.

When Niall arrived in the area in the 60's he started off in an Arundel Gardens flat, then once married the couple moved to a Dawson Place flat, followed by two major back breaking renovations in Chepstow Villas one of which involved moving into an un-finished refurbishment during the 1976 heatwave.

From there Niall, Candy and their two young children Barney and Emily moved to Lansdowne Road. Barney is their artist son who painted the famous mural on the Oxfam wall in the alleyway next to the former Marks & Spencer and Emily having spent some 20 years working in the Criminal Justice system, followed this by training as a dog hydrotherapist with a special love for Labradors. Niall's membership of the various local Conservation groups started with The Pembridge Association and as he moved then the Ladbroke Association and currently Norland.

Described as "the big cat in London's most fashionable district "by The Evening Standard in 2002 Niall prefers to have done most of his business Off market rather than on the traditional open market basis. His whole business ethos was based on secrecy and privacy and he is modestly proud to say that no one has ever fallen out with him over any property transaction. This is all about people he reminds us.

Happily, Niall doesn't think he will ever retire completely or move away from the area... I am a "Notting Hill Billy" through and through.