Fortunately, I don’t come across too ‘academic’ – although before I started I think most of the agents expected a gentleman of more advanced years with a beard who perhaps had an attachment to cardigans and tweed jackets.

Yes, they definitely see the value in my researching a house. All the feedback I’ve received is that it is of genuine interest to the vendor or landlord, as well as potential buyers or tenants. It is difficult to give quantitative results, but the agents have told me that it can (and has) directly impacted the sale of a house and/or raised the profile to bring in more viewings.

The agents have all said they find the histories interesting – even if they admit to not normally being ‘a fan’ of history. To be honest, it is working so well that I am often inundated with requests and it can be very difficult to get through them all – especially now that I research houses across the country!

Describe a typical day.

If I’m researching a house I will set off to the local archives for the relevant borough or county (each one holds records specific to their area). I often spend many days in the archives looking through records for one house. When I’m not researching in archives and libraries then I will be in the office writing up my research. I also squeeze in a bit of twittering, blogging and speaking with journalists about stories.

What are the tools of your trade?

I will look a few key documents that help build up a picture of the history of a house. These documents will be maps, census records, parish rate books, land tax records, electoral registers, trade directories, local history books, old newspapers, and if I’m really lucky I might find deeds or leases, as well as additional records in the National Archives.

These are the key sources, but every house can be different, so you can never be sure what you may have to seek out until you start researching – it genuinely can be like being a detective hunting out clues. Another house historian once described it as like doing a jigsaw puzzle without the box cover to show you what the end result should be.

Do you have any favourite properties or discoveries you could talk about?

One of my favourites, which I still find fascinating, is Orchard Court in Portman Square. It's not particularly old, built in 1930, and it is a mansion block rather than an individual house, but it has the most amazing history. During World War II a number of flats within Orchard Court were used by the French section of the organisation set up by Winston Churchill, the Special Operations Executive (SOE). It was the location for meetings with potential recruits, as well as the location for briefings (after they’d completed their espionage training) before agents were flown across into Nazi occupied France.

One of the leading characters within the French Section was Vera Atkins, assistant to Section Head, who worked from Orchard Court. Ms Atkins was said to be the inspiration for Ian Fleming’s Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond stories!

There have been many other great discoveries, including, finding Somerset Maugham living in a Westminster mansion block before he became a famous writer.

So, eventually… a book?

Yes, I’d love to write a book. With so many stories behind every house across the country, it’s just a matter of time, oh, and whether someone would actually publish it! Seriously though, I have been thinking of it for a while, I just need to make the time to put my ideas down on paper…

Many thanks for your time Melanie… it’s appreciated. For more info about what Melanie does, go here.