I have always wondered about folks who named their houses. How on earth did they come up with their names? When you look at the names–because inevitably, if you name your house, you put it up on a plaque over the door or out on a post by the road–most of them seem very appropriate.
There is one that befuddles me. There’s a large stately house with “Margate” out front. The only thing I can think is that it’s a family name. I can’t imagine what “Margate” has to do with an giant white colonial style home otherwise.
But other than that, names seem to fit homes. I’ve never been into that much until this year when my garden finally got away from me and I am completely over-run with goldenrod. It’s just everywhere. Mind you, I am delighted about it–I could be over-run with some noxious weed!
So as I was walking back to the house with the dog the other day, I said to her (and yes, I chatter to her a blue streak the entire time we’re walking), “Amie, we have to call this house Goldenrod Acres. No, let’s make it Solidago Acres.”
And thus, I have become one of those people who names a house. But no, you will not see me putting a plaque up on it–or around it–anytime soon.
How did all this goldenrod–the solidago–get here? I have no idea. I suspect this first patch was brought in–as all my plants, wanted and unwanted are–by birds. I have a very robust bird population.
Why it suddenly exploded this year beyond this patch to almost every other garden I have–including some that are literally almost an acre away (yes, I garden on almost an acre of property–but not acres!) I have no idea. Did birds, bees or butterflies spread it? Something must have. Or did other birds drop in new populations? That could be the more plausible scenario for the “rogue” clump that is literally almost as far from this original patch as you can get.
So far as I am concerned, like my “hibiscus hedge,” it can take over a lot of this property. it’s good for wildlife and it’s pretty. And it doesn’t spark allergies. So, as I always say, what’s not to like?
Gardendaze 
There are no addresses in Carmel(-by-the-Sea). Houses have names. It is totally lame for anyone making a delivery. (I delivered rhododendrons to new landscapes there.) Where I work part time, most of the cabins have names, but they have numbers too. There are not so many of them anyway.
Oh my! I can’t imagine actually trying to function in a place without house numbers. We don’t do that here too much. We have a few islands off our coast that have just a few homes on them. I think those houses are named, not numbered. But there wouldn’t be too much of a mystery if you were going to a place where there were on 4 or 6 houses.
Interestingly enough, where I live now there is a small lake. While all our homes are numbered, most of us refer to our homes by family name (in other words, when someone new moves in, we say, oh you bought the X’s home). Some old-timers finally have the house named after them. We might–when we move out. Currently it’s a Weeks house–one of several, which makes it confusing.
Karla