House has mystery name....can I use it officially?
Discussion
Can you have a house name rather than a house number?
I know you can call your house whatever you want, but is it possible to officially get it named, so instead of bieng 23, Acacia Avenue etc, it become, The House Name, Acacia Avenue.
The reason why I ask is that I have found a hidden secret in my house.
Bit of background.
It was built in 1901 - and my family is only the second family to own it. We acquired it 30 years ago, and now it has been passed to me.
As a Kid, I met the old lady whose dad had it built. She told us all about its history. I know the names of everyone who lived there, even down to the breed of pet dogs they kept. I know it was damaged by a German land mine - losing I thought all of its windows. It has a scar on the stonework, cut in by a steel hawser from a barrage balloon that broke free from the nearby golf course and crashed on our roof and in a tree that stood out the front.
On Friday, we were just going out. My wife was locking up, but called me back from the car. There, in the glass above the door, faint but readable was a name.
It fits as it is a local name. The land the house was built on was owned by the local duke. It is a Victorian/Edwardian estate of houses and I have noticed one or two have local names above the doors. With the German land mine doing its worst I guess most of the houses in the area lost their windows - and when replaced no-one re-instated the old names.
It seems our window survived and the lettering – which I suppose was in gold leaf, peeled and was eventually taken off.
What neither of us can work out is how we missed this for so many years. My Dad loved the house, and knew every detail about it – but he failed to spot this. It was probably a trick of the light – it was dusk with a light behind that revealed the name. I looked the next day, and could not see it.
We are very fond of the house and feel we are just custodians rather than owners. We have spent a lot of money restoring it to its former glory, and putting its original name back would be a fitting end to the project.
So, can I get the house officially named, so I can use it in the address?
I may be wrong, but I always thought house names had numbers as well.
My cousins address is
Mr xxxxx
"Mallards"
5 Winchester Way. Etc etc.
It's only called Mallards because it's opposite a duck pond (Ducks - Mallards).
I could be totally wrong though, but your idea does sound sort of posh, good luck.
My cousins address is
Mr xxxxx
"Mallards"
5 Winchester Way. Etc etc.
It's only called Mallards because it's opposite a duck pond (Ducks - Mallards).
I could be totally wrong though, but your idea does sound sort of posh, good luck.
I think you can - but you might have to pay for it's own postcode if you don't use the number as well.
It is difficult for people who don't know the area to find just a given house name on a road - especially if numbers start for example from 1 to 147, it could be anyone of those and the person might just admit they can't find it and give up as it would take too much time to find it.
It is difficult for people who don't know the area to find just a given house name on a road - especially if numbers start for example from 1 to 147, it could be anyone of those and the person might just admit they can't find it and give up as it would take too much time to find it.
It's a lovely story and nice to be reminded of the past.
I always like those houses that have a name carved into the gateposts etc.
If it was me I would try and get the lettering replaced and I would name it on my letterheads.
I would also be a little careful when digging the garden in case I found some UXB !
Really lovely post good luck to you.
We should do more to preserve our past.
I always like those houses that have a name carved into the gateposts etc.
If it was me I would try and get the lettering replaced and I would name it on my letterheads.
I would also be a little careful when digging the garden in case I found some UXB !
Really lovely post good luck to you.
We should do more to preserve our past.
If a house has always had a name then I think it's fair enough to use it. What I don't get is when people invent their own name for a property. Where I used to live, an old couple moved in to a new build and called it Primrose Cottage. How a three storey end terrace townhouse can be called a cottage is beyond me.
My sister-in-law did something similar, swapping the very sensible number 4 for "Princes House". The fact that she didn't use an apostrophe annoyed me even more.
My sister-in-law did something similar, swapping the very sensible number 4 for "Princes House". The fact that she didn't use an apostrophe annoyed me even more.
It is certainly possible as one of my business partners lives on a road called "xxxxxx Drive" and his house is called "xxxxxx" and then the remaining houses on the road are traditionally numbered. It is one of those dead end unadopted private drive type roads however which many many moons ago was the driveway leading up to the house. It is just over the last 40 years or so the previous owners of the house sold of various plots for other houses etc.
I may be wrong, but I always thought house names had numbers as well.
My cousins address is
Mr xxxxx
"Mallards"
5 Winchester Way. Etc etc.
It's only called Mallards because it's opposite a duck pond (Ducks - Mallards).
I could be totally wrong though, but your idea does sound sort of posh, good luck.
My cousins address is
Mr xxxxx
"Mallards"
5 Winchester Way. Etc etc.
It's only called Mallards because it's opposite a duck pond (Ducks - Mallards).
I could be totally wrong though, but your idea does sound sort of posh, good luck.
condor said:
I think you can - but you might have to pay for it's own postcode if you don't use the number as well.
It is difficult for people who don't know the area to find just a given house name on a road - especially if numbers start for example from 1 to 147, it could be anyone of those and the person might just admit they can't find it and give up as it would take too much time to find it.
Post codes are for roads' not the houses in them, so not sure what you mean.It is difficult for people who don't know the area to find just a given house name on a road - especially if numbers start for example from 1 to 147, it could be anyone of those and the person might just admit they can't find it and give up as it would take too much time to find it.
I live in a 1960's estate, all the houses have numbers, no names...
Yet some pillock decided that the tiny little 60's terrace deserved a name, and call it "beavers lodge"...
I have no idea how they managed it but it appears on a lot of the postcode database(s) when you do stuff online...
There's an email address at the Royal Mail you can send details of a company move (so the right company name appears on the same databases)... perhaps it's as simple as emailing the same people about a house name change?
Yet some pillock decided that the tiny little 60's terrace deserved a name, and call it "beavers lodge"...
I have no idea how they managed it but it appears on a lot of the postcode database(s) when you do stuff online...
There's an email address at the Royal Mail you can send details of a company move (so the right company name appears on the same databases)... perhaps it's as simple as emailing the same people about a house name change?
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