House Names

Throughout England most older houses have names. The English are totally accustomed to it but most Americans don't understand how you could write: Meldon View, Chagford, Devon, TQ13 8AR on a letter and it would actually arrive at your friend's house! But it works and has worked for ages. We've visited homes called The Hazelton, Tipton, Barnsmuir, and The Lodge. And here are some interesting names from my latest issue of The English Home: The Old Bakehouse, Cosy Cot, Bucks Cottage, Broomhill Cottage, Stoneleigh Hall, Eller House, Eversea House, The Old School House, Field Cottage, Middle Ord Manor House, The Old Vicarage, Horton Hall, Clifton Lawn and Wood Norton Hall. I like the mental images they create for me and just love the concept of naming one's home.

When we decided to build an English style house we knew we'd have to name it so we kicked around lots of ideas. Often an English house name will reflect a natural feature of the land or some previous use of the building. So we discussed the oak trees on our property, our valley location, and the views of the nearby mountains, but we kept coming back to the oak trees. We live under Valley Oaks also known as Quercus lobata, so we tried The Oaks, Twin Oaks, and Heritage Oaks. The Valley Oak is said to be the monarch of the white oaks, so we then tried Oak Manor, but "Manor" seemed a bit too grand for our home so we came up with White Oak Hall. When hubby carved it into the mantelpiece in the Library it became official and now we are known as White Oak Hall, but don't try to post a letter to us using "White Oak Hall" because the postman has no idea where that is! But we know it's a cozy little place nestled here Amongst The Oaks.