Hyla's post about his new house made me realize that I have the perfect opportunity here to get help in finding a name for my house. I've been trying to think of a good one for several years now - and I'm waaaay overdue in getting stationery printed.

The house is a very traditional Tudor; offwhite stucco and brown half-timbering and reddish-brown brick exterior, in an asymmetrical layout. The house sits on a country lot of about 4.5 acres, mostly left to wild meadow and woods.

The only name I've come up with so far is Olde Farm Field. I know you all can do better. So, c'mon, let's hear it!

Spartacres?

Spartacres! Max, you are an eternal delight!

Dearest Sparteye, I am not much of an original thinker, as you will observe, but I offer: Manor House, Manor Estate,
Meadow View, The Meadows, Greenfields--ooh! a sort-of-original one: Aeolian Acres (thanks to Max's mentioning acres). Is it windy there? Um--The Hideaway, The Close,
(your last name)'s Hideaway.

Crooked Hollow (could sound like "crookt")

Have you considered something euphonious and apposite from whichever Native American language is indigenous to your part of Michigan? "Olde Farm fields" could be quite catchy in Huron, or Ojibwa, or whatever.

You might like one of these, Sparteye.
Got this as a pass-around. Hyla, take notes.

> > What should be the official name for Bill & Hillary Clinton's New York abode?

> > There were lots of possibilities, according to the creative audience of The Jayne Carroll Show, a political talk radio program which airs daily in
the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area. Carroll asked her audience to come up with an official name for the Clinton
$1.7 million house in Chappaqua, New York. Carroll's call-in contest required the names to be in relative good
taste, original, and should capture the essence of one or both of the Clintons. The response was overwhelming! Some names nominated for the Clinton's new home included:

> > Perjurers' Palace
> > HillBilly Villa
> > The House of Bill's Repute
> > Drawers Downs
> > Cheatem Estates
> > Sin Simeon
> > The Knee Pad
> > The White Trash House
> > The Blight House
> > The Panderosa Liars' Lair
> > Bill & Hill's Bribe & Breakfast
> > The Clinton Compost
> > Dogpatch on the Hudson
> > The Hen House
> > The Out House
> > The Love Shack
> > The House of Seven Felonies
> > But the clear, hands-down winner was...
> > DISGRACELAND

"Blackacre"* seems a logical, old-fashioned choice,one well-weathered with use, although it may not afford enough "consideration" for your spouse.

* In view of the size of the estate, perhaps "BlackacreS" would be more appropriate.

<<In view of the size of the estate>>

"Lost Prairie," then?

This is Binky, wishing you a pleasant from the rings of Saturn, signing off.

There is a lot of history connecting England and Hawaii... and so though it may be tenuous here are some suggestions in Hawaiian ... not so difficult in pronunciation as to throw off the unwary but mysterious enough to be conversation openers :
Makana - gift, present, reward, prize
Nene Hiwa - prized, precious (Nay-Nay Hee-vah)
Nohonani - sitting pretty
Palanehe -noiseless, quiet, also dainty
Halaulani - high born chief's large house
Hale Ola - house of life
Kaulana - place of rest and quiet
Uluwehi - Lush and beautiful, a place where plants thrive.

Or if you want to stay in AmerEnglish : Halcyon House
wow

Thank you all for the suggestions. You have given me many good ideas to ponder.

[wandering off to find a Chippewa dictionary emoticon]

Peperridge farms bakery (and cookie company) was named for companys founder farm house in CT--It had a large pepperridge tree -- the common american name for a a Black Tupulo tree. Do you have a great tree? or a something special in your meadow-- lupine meadows? naked lady meadows? (american amerylis's common name is the naked lady lily-- for the plants habit of putting up a flower with out any foliage)

Or maybe even simons meadows (or lucy meadows) are your meadow wet enough for frogs? Hyla meadows-- or maybe something with your wife name too--

Or plant an Arbor with roses (or some other flower--) Rosegate--

Good luck to you Chris!