View to a Thrill: High society and MI5 links to period home in Cobh
4 Norwood Villas
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Cobh, Co Cork |
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€490,000 |
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Size |
200 sq m (2153 sq ft) on 0.3 acres |
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Bedrooms |
5/6 |
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Bathrooms |
2 |
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BER |
Exempt |
THE genteel surrounds of England's poshest private members club was the fitting backdrop for the telling of a yarn that ultimately made its way to the doorsteps of Cobh, stopping along the way to take in spies and MI5 and a doomed cruise liner.
Details of this intriguing story emerged in the super plush Hurlingham Club in Fulham, where Prince George and Princess Charlotte play tennis, and where wannabe-members wait decades for admission.
The tale unfurled at the 100th birthday celebrations of Dorothy "Bobby" Walsh, a London-based trail-blazing female lawyer, whose family had gathered to mark the occasion. Among Bobby's relatives were Mr and Mrs Stocks, who at the time, had a bid in on a house in Cobh.
Mrs Stocks found herself sitting next to her great-aunt and told her over lunch that she and her husband had put in an offer on a house at 4 Norwood Villas in Cobh.
To Mrs Stocks’ great surprise, great-aunt Bobby replied that she knew Cobh well, having travelled there from London to collect rent on behalf of her in-laws, who owned properties around the seaport town.
Bobby had married Johnny Kell — whose father Vernon Kell is credited with setting up the original MI5 — and his mother was Constance Scott, whose father, James William Scott, was the Cobh agent for the British shipping company, the White Star Line, operators of the doomed Titanic.
The Scotts lived at Westlands House (now headquarters of the Doyle Shipping Group) and they asked their formidable daughter-in-law if she would collect rent from their Cobh tenants. It appears one of those properties may well have been the very house her great-niece had placed a bid on.
“I had no idea of this connection until Bobby’s birthday in 2017,” Mrs Stocks says. Moreover she was fascinated to learn that Vernon Kell — who was stationed on Spike Island while serving with the British Army — was known as ‘K’ during his time at MI5, establishing the practice of giving agents one-letter code names, ('M' and 'Q') familiar to us from watching James Bond.
Having unexpectedly established a personal connection with 4 Norwood Villas, the Stocks, who “met on the job in Dublin”, were delighted when their bid was accepted in December 2017. The Property Price Register records the sale at €455,000.
“We couldn’t afford to buy in Dublin and when this house came across our radar and it was possible for both of us to get jobs in Cork, it was an easy decision to make,” Mrs Stocks says.
“When we bought it, we had a 10 year plan, but then Covid-19 intervened.” The Stocks are from overseas and with one small child and another on the way, and no family support locally — exacerbated by the travel ban — they have made the decision to relocate to the UK.
“It’s pretty bittersweet,” Mrs Stocks says.
It’s bittersweet because they’ve put a lot into their 200 sq m home at No 4, installing a new boiler and electric underfloor heating in the kitchen, back hall, utility/pantry and WC, as well as the main bathroom upstairs, and replacing oil central heating with gas.
“My husband’s a bit of a techie and when we replaced the radiators, he made them smart rads, so when we are close to home, they come on automatically, which I thought was a daft idea originally, but I have come around, it’s lovely to come in and the house is warm,” Mrs Stocks says.
They put in a stunning new kitchen, painted a gorgeous ‘Afternoon Nap” hue (a lot of painting was undertaken at No 4) and they also did terrific landscaping of the garden.
Mrs Stocks says the window seat in the kitchen — which they put in — is her favourite spot in the house.
“It faces east, so the sun is pouring in all morning while you have your coffee,” she says.
Lawrence Sweeney of Savills is handling the sale and he anticipates “massive demand” having recently reached “Sale Agreed” on No 2 Norwood Villas, for a sum north of €500,000, well above the asking price of €465,000. Mr Sweeney is guiding No 4 at €490,000.
“We will definitely see interest locally, but also from Cork city and further afield, because people can see massive value for money in Cobh. Someone returning for London with change from the sale of a small flat will be able to buy a period house in Cobh,” Mr Sweeney says.
Even before a 'For Sale' sign went up, inquiries were coming in, he adds.
No 4, a 5 / 6 bed on 0.3 of an acre, is one of just four Victorian homes in Norwood Villas cul-de-sac, all of which are semi-ds, built in a prime spot above Rushbrooke in the 1880s, all with private gardens and superb harbour views.
Rushbrooke commuter rail station is a two-minute walk away and Cobh Town is a 20-minute walk.
Mr Sweeney says the proximity of Norwood Villas to the rail station is a major bonus for people who travel to work in the city but who want to leave their car at home.
There’s also great scope to work from home — plenty of bedrooms to choose from for an office conversion — or downstairs, two big, bright reception rooms, one with French style doors to the south-facing garden.
Stunning period home with licence to thrill.
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