Synopsis

This research story is written from the point of view of the villa manager; the person providing a concierge service to resident owners, and a property management service to the developer. The story opens with an exploration of the villa manager’s job description and provides the reader with a general background on this group of workers. The story proper takes the form of a ‘day in the life’ of a villa manager, Lindsey, providing a fictional account (based on real events) of the social world she helps to support and sustain. While there is a narrative plotline – the lead-up to a summer garden party – this is also a collection of micro stories, everyday occurrences and interactions in the work life of a villa manager.

The story reflects upon the villa manager’s shifting position, necessitated by engagement with an array of stakeholders, ranging from employers to customers and visiting others, including cleaners, maintenance workers and emergency services personnel. The story highlights the concerns of the villa manager, including grey areas between customer expectations and customer care. It also portrays something of the challenges presented by an ageing cohort of resident owners with collective ambitions to reshape the villa environment. The author’s intention is to give voice to the villa manager, as an expert in the field, providing critical feedback on the design and utility of the villa. The story also shines a light on how villa managers contributed towards research methods.

Methods

Several villa managers were met in the field; some for a matter of minutes, while touring a recently completed development, and others for longer periods of time. Initially managers were considered facilitators or gatekeepers in the research, helping the researcher to access resident owners – individually and within social groups – and organising overnight accommodation for research residences. But the researcher also became a participant observer of villa managers and their interactions with resident owners and others. Indeed there is scope for further research to adopt a more structured ‘shadowing’ method, explicitly observing and recording events experienced and shaped by managers, noting particular ‘touchpoints’ with the developer’s product and customers.