House signs

[Flyfisher]

When visiting a friend's house in the depths of rural Maryland, USA, many years ago, I asked him about the 5-digit house number and he explained that it relates to the number of yards from the last junction (or something like that, I forget the precise details) and is intended to help emergency services quickly find a house.

Their interstate highway (motorway) junctions are similarly numbered in terms of miles from the start of the road, which can be a bit disconcerting at first when you join at, say, junction 30 and expect to exit at junction 120, but once the system is understood it works quite well.

As for finding houses, on my first trip to Tokyo, back in the 1980s, it was explained to me that the first house/building on a road is numbered '1', the next one is '2' and so on. All very well until someone builds a house between two existing ones and it's given a non-sequential number. For this reason, many company business cards and hotels address cards have small maps on their rear showing the actual location of the address.

 

[LadyArowana]

As for finding houses, on my first trip to Tokyo, back in the 1980s, it was explained to me that the first house/building on a road is numbered '1', the next one is '2' and so on. All very well until someone builds a house between two existing ones and it's given a non-sequential number. For this reason, many company business cards and hotels address cards have small maps on their rear showing the actual location of the address.

Add to that the fact that most roads do not have actual names, so an address is described using block numbers and districts ( chome and ku ) and it's amazing the post ever gets delivered.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Good grief!

 

[JoceAndChris]

Do country houses have signs? If yours is the only place for miles around, and someone makes the effort to locate you, pass the lodges, progress up the avenue, cross the haha, enter the Cours d"Honneur and pull up under the Porte Cochere isn't it a bit too late for a sign to inform them that they are Chateau Penners when they they wanted to be at Palazzo JoceandChris? A discreet sign four miles away, when they have to turn off the public road onto the estate, might be more appropriate.

:lol: :lol: :lol: A lovely idea, but I think it's just my fantasy that it's a country estate!

I'm afraid I am not with the consensus for a slate nameplate at Joce's gate. On the house, perhaps, but to my eye, that gate is far too rustic for the architectural neatness of the slate sign. I'd suggest a hand-painted wooden name board hanging from the top rail, or perhaps a cast one like this one (which is from the signcast.co.uk site):

Hmm. I take your point but once the topiary is in place I'm going to paint that gate the dark green it was 2 centuries ago - it will all end up looking more landscaped and less rustic as the brick path will be laid there too. I wouldn't be surprised if hardcore is poured down either, I wouldn't do that as I like the grassiness of where we park, but it isn't our land, or our decision really.

Chis has said no more shopping just at present as he's getting an enforced pay cut. So I'm making a temporary sign to iron out the confusion of what the house is and whether or not there are eggs for sale, all at once. Worms will be pleased as it's going to be very rustic looking.

Something like "Beacon Cottage Free Range Eggs. Usually- no eggs- sorry. Have a look in the basket on the gate though, you might be lucky." I'm struggling with the wording a bit.

 

[LadyArowana]

Shouldn't that be "Beak-on Cottage" ?

 

[Keithj]

After the help from the fine folks on here, we now have the house sign we wanted...

The house is, of course, called Buckshorns.

 

[MatthewC]

Something like "Beacon Cottage Free Range Eggs. Usually- no eggs- sorry. Have a look in the basket on the gate though, you might be lucky." I'm struggling with the wording a bit.

How about "Beacon Cottage rare Free Range Eggs - sometimes" ??

 

[Penners]

Something like "Beacon Cottage Free Range Eggs. Usually- no eggs- sorry. Have a look in the basket on the gate though, you might be lucky." I'm struggling with the wording a bit.

How about:

Beacon Cottage Free Range Eggs

The hens apologise that demand often exceeds supply.
Please do check again tomorrow.

 

[Merlin]

How about:
Beacon Cottage Free Range Eggs

The hens apologise that demand often exceeds supply.
Please do check again tomorrow.

What are Range Eggs?

And if they are free, I am not surprised that demand exceeds supply!? :wink:

 

[JoceAndChris]

:lol: :lol: :lol: You gentlemen are funny!

By the way Mr P, your wording for the Spring sign has been enjoyed all summer ("Sorry, sold out, but the hens are hard at work"). People always comment on it, and have a chuckle. I like your new idea, and will use it.

Keith - lovely antlers - I'm not letting Chris see as he will be very jealous.

 

[piper]

Keith - lovely antlers - I'm not letting Chris see as he will be very jealous.

From what I have deduced from your posts of Chris's taste and aspired-to lifestyle, Joce, I think those would be considered poor things indeed. Nothing less than a Royal for him, preferably one he had shot himself. He would much rather have these
http://www.tophattaxidermy.com/taxidermy-royal-stag-antlers-4.htm

or what about this?
http://hnmgifts.info/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=20&products_id=2342
(with apologies for the implied slur on his taste) :wink:

 

[JoceAndChris]

Oooh! I think you may have just sorted out his Christmas present, not the antlers, as we need to have a real discussion about those, but the green woodpecker on that site. Nobody else buy it!

We went to the Natural History Museum at Tring at the weekend, which is just thousands of taxidermies, collected by Lord Rothschild in the Victorian era. He now wants all the shelves of the dining room flooded with taxidermy and zebras in the field below. :roll:

 

[CatherineB]

Hmm, you might need to remind him of the price of zebras nowadays, if there is a moritorium on shopping!

 

[Feltwell]

Hmm, you might need to remind him of the price of zebras nowadays

Ohh, that's easy if you've got an iPhone - you know you can get those apps that compare prices if you scan the item's barcode with your iPhone? Should be easy with a Zebra. In fact you could scan a whole herd and select the cheapest.

I can see a whole new opportunity here for Tesco - ready barcoded meat for you to take out through their self-service tills, no carrier bags or trollies required either.

This kind of genius is very under-appreciated you know.

 

[JoceAndChris]

:lol:

 

[LadyArowana]

In the early days of cloning research I always wondered why they didn't start with zebras. Cloning a sheep was all well and good, but honestly it was always going to be difficult to see if "Dolly" was an exact copy. With a zebra you would just match up the stripes.

 

[Penners]

Nothing less than a Royal for him, preferably one he had shot himself.

:shock: I think you'll find that's treasonable talk.

 

[AMc]

Keith - lovely antlers - I'm not letting Chris see as he will be very jealous.

<insert joke about getting the horn>
I'll get me coat.

 

[Coz]

Contrary to some peoples opinion - our houses's name stone - does not bear any resemblance to a gravestone.

 

[vicky whitworth]

Surely it's a matter of personal preference. Tasteless house signs (and names) are funny to spot, and probably aren't harming a period property. We have opted for the nude look. In our Deeds of 1760 we were referred to as, 'the messuage cottage with orchard situated at the north end of eggmoor, sometimes called Dommetts (Mr Dommett was the owner at that time). All subsequent Deeds including when we bought, use broadly the same language. There is no local knowledge of the cottage being called Dommetts in recent times. There is another Dommetts less than half a mile away. Apparently we have always been known as the cottage down eggmoor. Prior to the introduction of a postal service properties didn't really need names out in the country. Once the postal service was introduced we still didn't need a name as the labourers who lived here wouldn't have had any post (and if they did it would have been handed to their employer who lived in the village). So we have been the cottage for a long time. We don't have a sign up. I think it's funny that people can't find us. We tell friends and tradespeople how to get here. The rest just have to ask at the post office.

The worse house signs are those where the name is badly painted, usually in white gloss, on an old, broken bit of paving slab - ooopps sorry just drifted off thinking about my neighbour. The paving slab is positioned beside the gate which has a Home, Sweet Home sign hanging on it. Every time my husband walks past he turns it round so he can't see it!

Then there's the people who name their house after where they used to live. Petersfield, Peperharrow. If you liked it so much there why did you move?

And then there's the people who change a perfectly good and historic name - The Laurels is now Peperharrow.

But best of all is the cottage being turned into a Barrett Home where they have put a stone block in the wall ready to carve a name - and someone has chalked Sham Cottage.

I love it. It's funny. Name wars.