Help me name my apartment
October 14, 2019 9:10 PM

I just moved and my new apartment hasn't quite told me its name yet. It's definitely something to do with sanctuary, hideaway, garden, forest, oasis, peace... It's also very small, and oddly-shaped, which could contribute to the name but doesn't have to. I've been trying to think of literary/fictional place names, but any ideas along the themes above would be welcome! Note that The Secret Garden has been rejected for I-am-12 reasons.
posted by rhiannonstone to Home & Garden (39 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
Shangri-La?
posted by acidnova at 9:11 PM on October 14, 2019


We visited an in-law unit similar to what you‘re describing and it was called ‚The Treehouse‘.
posted by The Toad at 9:13 PM on October 14, 2019


I went to the UK last week, and I noticed (particularly in Scotland) how very narrow "streets" (really, tinier than alleys) to other streets or little courtyards are called closes. Maybe some take on [RhiannonStone] Close?

"Close" has such a cozy connotation to me, snuggly and private. Enjoy your new home!
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 9:13 PM on October 14, 2019


Finch Nest or Dove Nest or The Snug.
posted by a humble nudibranch at 9:39 PM on October 14, 2019


The Aerie?

The Owlery?
posted by bananacabana at 9:40 PM on October 14, 2019


The Bower
posted by theory at 9:51 PM on October 14, 2019


Heathcote
Hobbiton
posted by Jubey at 10:07 PM on October 14, 2019


The Cozy.
posted by stray thoughts at 10:08 PM on October 14, 2019


burrow
bothy - a Scottish\North UK hut, often a bit rambling.
the ramble
the barrow - archaeological feature, often quite warren-like inside
broch or the broch - Scottish fortress tower
posted by unearthed at 10:11 PM on October 14, 2019


Hidey Hole
posted by aubilenon at 10:52 PM on October 14, 2019


The Burrow
posted by Grandysaur at 10:57 PM on October 14, 2019


Dell
Nook
Retreat
Shack
posted by Thella at 10:59 PM on October 14, 2019


Innisfree. (See the poem by W.B.Yeats :))
posted by Salamander at 11:23 PM on October 14, 2019


Lacuna
posted by benzenedream at 11:32 PM on October 14, 2019


I call my tiny and charmingly dilapidated flat amidst Hong Kong’s never-lets-up urban landscape The Microhovel. How about The Micronook? The Microknoll? The Microcopse?
posted by mdonley at 12:01 AM on October 15, 2019


raku
楽 [らく] /(adj-na,n,n-suf) (1) comfort/ease/(n) (2) (abbr) raku pottery/(P)/

rakuen
楽園 [らくえん] /(n) pleasure garden/paradise/(P)/

gokuraku
極楽 [ごくらく] /(n) (1) (Buddh) Sukhavati (Amitabha's Pure Land)/(2) paradise/(P)/

rakudo
楽土 [らくど] /(n) paradise/

rakuchi
楽地 [らくち] /(n) carefree land/paradise/

kiitegokurakumitejigoku
聞いて極楽見て地獄 [きいてごくらくみてじごく] /(exp) (id) A paradise on hearsay, a hell at sight/

I should mention that Perl 6 just changed it's name to Raku and the current compiler is named Rakudo. Larry Wall has approved renaming Perl 6 to Raku | Hacker News has more definitions of 'raku' from other languages should you so desire to investigate.
posted by zengargoyle at 12:03 AM on October 15, 2019


Sanguine Cranny
posted by amtho at 12:17 AM on October 15, 2019


Small and oddly shaped, you say?
- [New/Little] Maryland [House/Club]
- [New/Little] Kaliningrad [House] (the Baltic oblast)
- The Tardis (Dr Who)
- Twiki Towers (Buck Rogers)
- [Larry 'Bud'] Melman Mansion (Letterman)
- Crowded House (band)
More generically
- [Room/Apt] Of Requirement
- The Treasure House (old Capt. Kangaroo)
- Second And A Half Life (after the online places)
- The Holodeck/Holosuite
and finally, everybody's favorite default
- Fred
posted by zaixfeep at 1:28 AM on October 15, 2019


Forgot one more - Montiviolin (smaller than Monticello)
posted by zaixfeep at 1:35 AM on October 15, 2019


Surprised nobody mentioned Xanadu. Or Xanax-adu for that matter.
posted by zaixfeep at 1:50 AM on October 15, 2019


Very small, you say?

Crundells
posted by flabdablet at 3:07 AM on October 15, 2019


Ladygarden would be funny if you are a woman. Or if you are not.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 3:14 AM on October 15, 2019


Snug as a bugina rug.
posted by flabdablet at 3:20 AM on October 15, 2019


I just binged 2 seasons of Dark on Netflix, so my mind is kind of in German mode, but: Kleinewald

(or something close to that - "little forest")
posted by LionIndex at 3:50 AM on October 15, 2019


The Lily Pad
The Fairy Fort
The Beaver Lodge
The Hutch
posted by carmicha at 4:27 AM on October 15, 2019


Terabithia
posted by jenny76 at 5:25 AM on October 15, 2019


The Grove
posted by Liesl at 6:34 AM on October 15, 2019


Arcadia
posted by Young Kullervo at 6:37 AM on October 15, 2019


Rhiannon's Tuck

Stone's Throw
posted by Short Attention Sp at 7:00 AM on October 15, 2019


Ingleside
posted by like_neon at 7:13 AM on October 15, 2019


Watership Down.
posted by Capt. Renault at 7:30 AM on October 15, 2019


Sikkim
posted by argonauta at 8:00 AM on October 15, 2019


Marking a few that have resonated most so far as Best Answers, but please keep them coming!

I'd prefer to avoid living human languages I don't speak (which is most of them besides English).

Serene Empress Dork, that is precisely why I rejected The Secret Garden. :) Totally my sort of humor, but not the right fit for what I want to name my dwelling.
posted by rhiannonstone at 8:07 AM on October 15, 2019


the quarterdeck
posted by stinkfoot at 8:31 AM on October 15, 2019


Glade or Clearing, meaning an open space in a woods. Combine with a local plant or tree, aspenglade or pineglade.

Sanctuary, Refuge

Abode with a modifier, sky abode, forest abode

Labyrinth because of its shape

A grange is a country home, dacha in Russia is a country cottage, -polis, like Rhiannonopolis.

Manderly (du Maurier), Pemberley, Barton Cottage(Austen), Brideshead(Waugh), Blandings(Wodehouse),Wuthering Heights, Thrushcross Grange(Brontë), Thornfield(Brontë), Gardencourt(James), Misselthwaite Manor(Burnett),Brandy Hall(Tolkien), Howard's End(Forster)

I had fun looking up listicles. This one is comprehensive, another, another, and this site had a lot of articles.

I hope you come back to tell us the name you choose.
posted by theora55 at 9:02 AM on October 15, 2019


The Haven
The Cloister
posted by argonauta at 10:11 AM on October 15, 2019


The Shire
Something from Invisible Cities?
posted by eyeball at 6:51 PM on October 15, 2019


Green Knowe?
posted by metasarah at 11:19 AM on October 18, 2019


I settled on The Burrow for my cozy little gardenside hideaway down a twisty hall. Thanks unearthed and Grandysaur!

Bag End (inspired by Jubey's recommendation for Hobbiton) was a very close second.
posted by rhiannonstone at 8:54 PM on October 22, 2019


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