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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Is having a house name a crap idea?

137 replies

IsabellaofFrance · 09/02/2015 12:55

We are moving in a few weeks.

I would like to give our house a name, but DF laughed and said 'oooh how snobby'.

Has anyone house got a house name?

OP posts:
newnamefor15 · 09/02/2015 12:59

Unless it's an old house that comes with a name, it always strikes me as a bit pretentious, to be honest. Not really snobby, but a bit pointless. I wonder what point they are trying to make.

It can't become the house's official address, replacing a number unless you can convince the Post Office there's a need for it (one house out in the middle of a moor or somewhere numbers just don't work).

I used to work for a man who was desperate to replace the number of his house with a name, as it's official address. P.O. said no. He was obsessed with it and moaned on nonstop at work. If anyone sent him anything to just the name, it got returned to sender as address unknown. With him, yes, it was a snobby thing.

Glitterspy · 09/02/2015 13:01

Our house has a name, all the houses on our road have names instead of numbers too, our poor postman. It is a bit snobby and is sometimes a bit embarrassing "Oh it's a name not a house number, no we don't have a number" etc etc. It's always been that way as far as I can tell. Ours is the smallest place on the road!

WizardOfToss · 09/02/2015 13:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

icelollycraving · 09/02/2015 13:03

I think it's fine if it's an old house where it's an established name. Bit pointless if your post will get returned. Dunroamin? Bevron?!

Feminine · 09/02/2015 13:04

I think you should have one if you fancy it.
There are no rules...

icelollycraving · 09/02/2015 13:05

My post sounded a bit bitchy,wasn't intended to.

DropYourSword · 09/02/2015 13:05

I don't think it's snobby, I generally find it tacky.

trulybadlydeeply · 09/02/2015 13:06

We have a name, and it's a pain. The house already had a name (and no number) when we bought it, so it wasn't our choice.

Every time someone asks for postcode, then house number, I have to say "No, it's a name" then I have to say it, then say it again, then spell it, because it's fairly unusual.

Don't do it OP!

SaucyMare · 09/02/2015 13:09

truley, you could rename it to something sensible.
but i find a house with a name in the middle of a numbered street tacky, as it is people trying to be snobby, i put it in the same category as unique children name spellings.
conversation postman "hey mate where is dunromin?"
guy on street "oh you mean number 14... over there"

Timeforabiscuit · 09/02/2015 13:09

You can have a house name AND a house number, but the house number is to help fire engines, ambulance and police locate your property quickly.

Depends on the local council, some will some won't - I used to do the admin for street naming and numbering my favourite was a guy who discovered a rare orchid and named his (very new build) house, my least was a tie between "the hovel" and "gryffindor."

Estate agencies like them, and say they do add value to a property, but you won't make friends with your postie if you take down the number.

Immovableobject · 09/02/2015 13:10

Our houses all have names (rural) but the road doesn't - our address has us as Xroad and the next house along is Yroad, totally random Smile Our postie is about to be changed so it could get interesting...

My previous house was an unadopted road and the numbers were all over the place, as the houses had been 'filled in' at different times. The houses with names were easier to find.

MehsMum · 09/02/2015 13:11

Our house once did have a name - 'Ivydene'.

A previous owner went back to using the number - thank God they did. 'Ivydene' was clearly cooked up by someone between 1910 and 1925 who wanted to live in a nice modern house, not the draughty, damp residence they had.

Just stick to the number: much easier all round, and makes life simpler for visitors as well.

AmberLav · 09/02/2015 13:12

The house I grew up in had a name, but all post went to 11 The Street... but we still refer to that house by name, and it is nice to hold onto those memories a bit tighter...

No harm, but I suppose the setting can matter to some people...

NorbertDentressangle · 09/02/2015 13:12

Ours has a name and number, the name is to do with it's history (think along the lines of Gamekeepers Lodge, but it's not that).

When we first moved in we used to give the name and number but soon dropped the name . Too much of a faff!

Every now and again though, for example when I phone the doctors where we registered when we moved here, someone will say "can I just check your address, is it still Gamekeepers Lodge?" and there's always a pause as I think "eh? Oh yes!"

molyholy · 09/02/2015 13:18

'Has anyone house got a house name?'

Yes. I call mine Barbara, but she refuses to answer to it.

UptheChimney · 09/02/2015 13:23

Unless it's an old house which has always had a name, it's v v pretentious. I snigger when I see suburban semis with names taken seriously ...

Although I do remember whole rows of terraces in Bournville which had names, but I think that must have been the Cadburys setting up their model village, and going for rural cutesiness.

JamNan · 09/02/2015 13:26

Where I used to live (rural) all the houses had names and not numbers. Most of the names were historical ie ours was named after the district nurse, other houses were named after quarries, farms, trees, brick kilns, claypits.

Not snobby at all OP.

Sparklingbrook · 09/02/2015 13:28

I think if the house has no number and is ancient and came with a name etc it's understandable.

Anything else is a bit naff. 'Casa Bevron' springs to mind.

OfficerVanHalen · 09/02/2015 13:29

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TrueBlueYorkshire · 09/02/2015 13:29

I've got the opposite, my house is newish in the middle of loads of ancient properties. All of them have names, and then mine has a random number in the middle of them all. Very strange but not worth changing as it just happens the number is my lucky number. Maybe in 100 years time when my house has had some time to age.

OfficerVanHalen · 09/02/2015 13:30

This reply has been deleted

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TheComfortOfStrangers · 09/02/2015 13:30

I live in a large village, where, apart from one new cul de sac (by new I mean 1970's!) the houses all have names and I love our house name. Our road doesn't even have a name. Nightmare for postman.

I think house names are nice, but if you're on a named street with other numbered houses then a name could look a bit pointless.

Sparklingbrook · 09/02/2015 13:30

Grin Officer. I miss Brookie.

OfficerVanHalen · 09/02/2015 13:31

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DrSeuss · 09/02/2015 13:31

We have a number but I still want o call it either Where the Woozle Wasn't or The Infinite Monkey Cage. DH won't let me!