Evening star., 1934-08-29
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TR4CEWELL.

! both living up to their names. Cheerio,
| of course, would be in the collection,
and there are any number of Valen-
cias, Biana Villas, an occasional Ia
koma and Dixie Cottage.
This may not strike you as being
very profound. I assure you it is a
very difficult study-difficult to make
ANYTHING out of it except that the
average American still feels that his
house is his own to designate as he
pleases-and how.
Yours for a still newer deal,
L. L. s."
We suspect, from all this. that there
is no rationale in naming house.
The best names are inevitable, then
come those that just grow. After
these all the rest.
There is nothing more natural than
wanting to name a house or a boat.
Each is a protection from the ele-
ments, primarily, although one Is sta
tionary and the other moves.
We notice, in the advance publicity
on the great new ship Of the French
Line. the Normandie, that it is called
"the greatest moving unit in the his
tory of the world"
Every mans house is the greatest
still unit in the history of the world,
and that no matter how small 1t Is.
Something there is about the row
or attached house, however. which
precludes one from attempting TO
name it.
But the smallest detached house,
with a laver of air all around it, can
have its name, even though 1t be
secret one, and never put on sign,
or even on paper.
There was detailed in this column
some weeks ago the wherefore and
why of a cottage in a nearby suburb
called by its owner privately the Lit
tie House Behind the Tree.
There was no reason why he should
not have called it that publicly, but
he never had Somehow it seemed TOO
large a name, too long, for such a
small house.
No doubt that is one Of the necessi-
ties of the case, a short, compact
name, preferably one word, or two
words put together to make one.
There is beautiful small estate IN
nearby Maryland, winding private
road and all, which has its name,
single word, coined on the family
name, but different, placed in bronze
letters on a simple board at the en-
trance way.
This name escapes the usual dlfn-
Guilty run In naming a place, that OF
achieving a word too reminiscent OF
the cottages which dot the beaches
of the world. 1t seems that every
change on name and names has been
rung on the beaches, so that no mat
ter how original one thinks himself,
in naming his place, he is pretty sure
to use the same name plastered on
the sign on the front Of seaside cot
tage.
Well, no matter. After all such
names are private things, although
they are given large publicity. They
mean little except to the owner and
his family and friends, and especially
to those friends when they drop
down" some afternoon.
Look for Holmhurst cottage" says
old Bill, inviting old Henry down for
d SWAl W1lCI I1OAAAy uNCo uP iC
looks at the signs; when he comes to
Holmhurst he turns in. 1t is as sim
pie as that.
Very few house names, or even boat
names, strike the casual observer as
being good He must live with them
before he grows into them. In time
he will come to have a respect for
the simplest Of them, the seemingly
trivial, even silly names, for each one
of them represents some human
beings attempt to escape. If only for
one words worth, from the mathe-
matics of living into its poetry.