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Hi

Does anyone know how I name my house which is in the middle of nowhere at present.  I see those house arrows everywhere which I assume are made by one company.  Do I approach the mairie locally or perhaps prefecture.  All contributions very welcome.

I will be living 9 kilometres north of prayssas between agen and villeneuve sur lot.

thanks

blossom

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I have never seen a French house with a name, except for those bought by the English perhaps I should add.

Surely your house will have a number?

I remember my last French girlfriend being very amused to see English houses with names habit of naming houses that also had a perfectly usable number, especially the HLM's!

I dont know what you mean by arrows but the blue enamelled house numbers are ordered from the Mairie, there are still one or two small companies that make them.

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[quote user="J.R gone native"]

I have never seen a French house with a name, except for those bought by the English perhaps I should add.

Surely your house will have a number?

[/quote]

My house doesn't have a number, just a name. Never been English owned before either.

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I am sure it has been covered before: the so-called house names actually refer to the area - often called in French 'hameau' (hamlet) or 'lieu-dit' or even 'village'. This area can comprise several houses or other buildings, or only one (or even none at all - there is a named site just up the road from us, where the last building was removed several years ago, but the sign is still there).

The name appears on local maps, reflects what the area has been known as for many years, and frequently has no meaning as such, it's just a name. The spelling can be highly variable (ours is). The mairie is responsible for signing, and the actual signs can be any of a wide range of designs and colours; they are usually (but not necessarily) standardised throughout the commune.

In many built-up areas, and some rural areas, houses can be given numbers, which again follow all sorts of different systems. Some are individual numbers, others signify something obscure like the distance in metres along the road. But many smaller rural areas are just known as 'le bourg' - the address is your name, followed by 'le bourg', then the postcode and commune. I always chuckle a bit at British who have house signs made saying 'le bourg'.

There is nothing to stop you naming your house if you wish, but if you try to use it as part of the address all you will do is confuse La Poste. Your real address should be obvious from the paperwork that goes with the house sale, if you are not sure then ask at the mairie.

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[quote user="powerdesal"][quote user="J.R gone native"]

I have never seen a French house with a name, except for those bought by the English perhaps I should add.

[/quote]

My house doesn't have a number, just a name. Never been English owned before either.
[/quote]

You have proved my point! [:D] Yours is not the house that I see with a twee "chez nous" sign is it? [6]

I like the fact that ones name means something to the facteur/factrice, I once received a postcard addressed to me, there was only one (mispelt) word of the address "brei" followed by a question mark (she was German), it did have my correct post code which is shared with over 100,000 people in over 50 communes.

It arrived without fuss and on time. In the UK my postcode is only shared with 10 neighbours, the postmen are incapable of delivering the letters to the correct house number, and as for a name? Well that would mean thinking which would in turn need a modicum of intelligence and will to do the job well. I am also constantly surprised by the volume of correctly addressed and postcoded letters that arrive that have nothing at all in common with my address, neither name, road, town, county or postcode.

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To answer the OP's question, you should ask at the Mairie, they are responsible for providing the place names that you see in the countryside. 

Someone on this thread needs to read his own posts before making out he was right all along, rural France is really not like Crawlry!!

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[quote user="J.Rs gone native"][quote user="powerdesal"][quote user="J.R gone native"]

I have never seen a French house with a name, except for those bought by the English perhaps I should add.

[/quote]

My house doesn't have a number, just a name. Never been English owned before either.

[/quote]

You have proved my point! [:D] [/quote]

No he hasn't. You just (mis)interpreted what he wrote to fit with your theory. A "house name" is often the lieu-dit and there may only be one house in the lieu-dit so that is the "house name". And has been for decades, nationality of owner irrelevant.

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Calm down people, I did use smilies.

I think I am correct that Steve is English and therefore his home is now English owned, it seemed amusing so I posted, with a smilie.

I am not an opinionated forum bully deperate to prove his theory just having a little fun. I had never seen a French house with a name, now I now that they do exist.

I am sure that Steves house already had a name before he purchased it, maybe thats what sold it to them [:)] (note smilie).

I do cookery classes at a lovely lakeside house at a "lieu dit" before going I asked if that was the name of the house and was told no, its the name of the place but there are only a few houses and you cant miss ours, if you have any doubt check the boite à lettres so I tend to agree with Wills explanation.

Ron, I am as ever confused and bemused by your references to Crawley [8-)]

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We live in a small lieu-dit called 'La Roseraie' on the outskirts of our commune.  It consists of one house - our's - and the lieu-dit name sign is right outside our front gate. 

Whilst we do tend to think of the house by this name, we know that if they were to build a lotissement in the field next door (they won't because it's in a historic monument protection zone) then we'd have twenty other houses all with La Roseraie as their address.  Then again, I'm not precious, so who cares.....[;-)]

Whenever we've ordered goods from a store, they always ask for either the house number or the lieu-dit, which suggests that individual house names are not the norm in France.

 

 

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Many of the houses here are named after the person who originally had it built. eg ours is called Senac after a Monsieur Senac who was the first to live in it back in 1900. There's a very old one called Lartigue which is the name of the Maire's family who have lived here for centuries.

But for modern or newbuilt houses I suppose you can be more creative.

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No you werent at all agressive Frenchie, thanks for letting me know.

Actually my property (an ex hotel) did have ts name emblazoned across the front in 18" high letters until I redid the facade last year, however all the locals refer to it affectionately as "Chez Zsa-Zsa after the madame that ran the working girls here in the 60's and 70's and whose monthly cous-cous fest is still talked about in revered tones.

Madame Zsa-Zsa is now in her nineties and still very feisty I am hoping to visit her and hear her stories of the glory days.

I wonder whether I can convince the Mairie to call my area "lieu dit chez Zsa-Zsa"? or perhaps one day "Chez J.R." ?

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In Southern Brittany in the early 90's I noticed a lot of local lieu dit began with the letters Ker. On asking I was told that it means "house of" in the old Breton.

So when a name is, for examle, Kerdavid it means David's house was the first one there although the local area then becomes Kerdavid.

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I live in France Ron, I last lived in Crawley over 23 years ago.

Why do you keep referring to Crawley, asking me what the weather is like there etc?

Is it perhaps some kind of put down? - You can take the boy out of Crawley but not Crawley out of the boy perhaps? If so I can assure you that my nearest town here makes Crawley seem like Shangri-La.

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JRwho has gone native said  "I live in France Ron, I last lived in Crawley over 23 years ago".

Do you?  You sure?  Are there two of you???  A JR who claims to have gone native and never speak English ever, ever, ever[blink] just wrote this on this thread [:-))][8-)]

 "In the UK my postcode is only shared with 10 neighbours, the postmen are incapable of delivering the letters to the correct house number, and as for a name?" 

 

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