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House and home

Giving your house a name.

(126 Posts)
Daddima Sun 17-Feb-19 05:48:32

Listening to the Archers I notice how many of them refer to their houses by name, like Willow Cottage, Glebe, the Dah Hahs etc. I have one friend whose house has a name, but she never refers to it as such. It’s many years since I heard of someone giving a house a name ( Our old neighbours called their bungalow ‘Naemairstairs’ , after living in a flat for many years!)

MissAdventure Sun 17-Feb-19 22:39:52

'Ye Olde
Council Flatte'?

Jalima1108 Sun 17-Feb-19 22:50:39

grin

I like Flat Holm
I may re-name ours Steep Holm

gillyjp Sun 17-Feb-19 22:54:39

When referring to our house I always call it PHG which is the first letter of each word which makes up the road name (a total of three words). For example: 'please come round to PHG tomorrow for a cuppa'.

I always fancied calling my home 'Debbian' which is an amalgamation of the names of my children. However it is a terraced property in a London Street which already had a number so it never happened. It might have happened if I'd ever bought a detached house, but somewhat pretentious for a terraced house in a London.

GabriellaG54 Sun 17-Feb-19 23:47:16

Peak Hill Gardens?
It's not a good idea to give too much info.

gillyjp Mon 18-Feb-19 00:05:07

Good job it isn't that then GabriellaG54

tiredoldwoman Mon 18-Feb-19 04:33:25

My kids used to call my house The Hovel as I like old stuff and they don't . My daughter got a house sign made for me last Christmas - I was delighted !
I would love to live in Lover's Lane or Pond Street , some names are great !

absent Mon 18-Feb-19 05:05:54

When absent husband and I moved to Darlington from London for three years before emigrating, the house I bought was number 18. When I looked at the old deeds, it emerged that it was originally number 8. At the time it was built in the late 19th century there were eight houses along only one side of the street, but when, later, houses were built on the opposite side, everyone was renumbered.

I have always felt a warmth towards Dorothy Parker for many reasons, but I particularly like the fact that she named her house "The Rising Gorge".

BradfordLass72 Mon 18-Feb-19 05:11:07

I just don't understand the reasoning behind:

a) that because a house has a number it cannot have a name. AND

b) that naming a house is pretentious.

I know people who give their cars a name and we name dogs and children and much more - so why not the home we love?

tiredoldwoman Mon 18-Feb-19 06:06:34

In the Icelandic Thriller , Trapped, the policewoman's house is called The Yellow House . Delightfully simple .
I know a White House and a Red House near to me .

hereshoping Mon 18-Feb-19 08:10:45

I used to live in a Melbourne Rd, a row of very ordinary 1930's semis.
One of the semi's up the road had been given the name Melbourne House.

pensionpat Mon 18-Feb-19 08:34:11

The end house in my road- modern houses - had pretend stone cladding on the front, and named their house Stony End. We were very tempted to call ours Stony Broke.

jocork Mon 18-Feb-19 10:21:41

A friend of mine had a house called cobwebs. Apparently it stood for 'Currently Owned By Woolwich Equitable Building Society.' I Liked that but if I called mine Cobwebs it would be for a more obvious reason!

Tabbycat Mon 18-Feb-19 10:39:40

Before we moved here all our houses/flats just had numbers. My parents moved into a small cottage in Yorkshire when they retired and as my mother's maiden name was Lamb, it was named Lamb's Tale - which my children thought was wonderful.
So when we bought this Victorian house, they wanted it to have a name and as we had two tabby cats it was named Tabbycat Cottage.
Around here the town planners thought of a name and then used it over and over again - Park Lane, Park Street, Park Drive, Park Road, Park Way, Park Rise etc. The problem was we kept getting mail/deliveries for the Drive, Road and Street versions instead of our own, so we started using the name and put up a plaque - now everyone, including the postman, calls our house by its name.

NanaandGrampy Mon 18-Feb-19 10:44:17

We have moved to the White House ( already named) and it’s obvious why it was named that , but we have added the WestWing ( my crafting cabin in the garden ) and Grampy is thinking of naming the potting shed - TheOval Office !???

Daisyboots Mon 18-Feb-19 11:14:26

Four out of the last five houses I lived in in England had names. The last house we had built and as it took 5 years from planning permission to completion we decided The Trundle was rather apt.

daffers Mon 18-Feb-19 14:32:38

My friend called her house "Plus 5 bob" because it had a thatched roof and therefore insurance was an extra 5 shillings.

curlilox Mon 18-Feb-19 16:09:06

When we paid off our mortgage and got the deeds to our house I discovered it is actually called "The Laurels". I have thought of getting a name plate, but I think I would have to then plant at least one laurel bush in the front garden. Frankly, it's not a name I would have chosen, so I don't think I'll bother.
Someone I knew called their house "Witsend". grin

chrissyh Mon 18-Feb-19 16:28:11

When we moved into our bungalow, which was built in the early 30s, it just had a house number but, on the deeds, it only had a name and was called Waverly. I keep thinking we must get a nameplate as it is part of its history.

Witzend Tue 19-Feb-19 09:23:55

When we moved in, our house had a name we considered very boring and was also unnecessary, since the houses are all numbered.

So we took the sign off and have never used the name.
I have a feeling the previous owners used the name since the house number is considered by some to be unlucky - no prizes for guessing!

However we are so un-superstitious that the number question never even occurred to us when we bought it, and it's been a happy house for over 30 years.

narrowboatnan Tue 19-Feb-19 11:34:39

The house that we lived in before we retired had a number. The boat that we moved onto has a name.

jura2 Sat 23-Feb-19 20:45:08

Our last UK house was called 'Threeways' - friends used to laugh and say we were not very imaginative ;) - we bought it with the name and felt it would be wrong to change.

Our current house is called 'l'Ancienne Cure' (Ye Olde Vicarage) - and again, it was a Vicarage from 1587 to 2008 when we bought it- so it has to remain its name.

MawBroon Sat 23-Feb-19 22:35:27

I was amused to see that our old house a divided 1700’s farmhouse, overlooking the village green, actual address 2 The * * * * * has been rechristened by the people who bought it from us as * * * * * Farmhouse. Pretentious or what!
My old home in the Borders , a 19th century stone cottage, had a name though -always had had one, and although the PO insisted we also had a “Rd” number, we ignored that.

merlotgran Sat 23-Feb-19 22:47:31

Our house is named ……..Farm because it was once a ten acre small holding - now reduced to two which we bought in 1990.

The first part of the name is after an ancient well which is said to be somewhere in our garden so if you don't hear from me for some time...…..shock

baileyshaw437 Mon 25-Feb-19 11:40:22

That is certainly the most exciting and rewarding part of your life. Because after working so hard it is a privilege to receive your dream house. I also remember my time that after living for 5 years on rent i finally purchased my condo and named it after my wife.

Nandalot Mon 25-Feb-19 12:09:58

Like others ours was a new build and houses only went up as they were bought. The road took two years to complete and it was months after that the council gave us numbers so we had a name which we based in the features around us,