Help me name a new guesthouse with an arts & letters connection.
December 4, 2014 2:29 AM Subscribe
Dearest Metafilter - You named my dog, and you almost named my first business, so I thought maybe you could help me name one more thing! We've recently purchased a small property that we are going to turn into a guesthouse / creative retreat, and it needs a name to match!
It's a small place that will ideally be a (pet-friendly) weekend getaway for a single person / couple, around an hour out from the CBD in a very dense forest-like environment, backing onto a stream.
In addition to the business element of this endeavour, we are also hoping to run an informal artists residency, whereby the space will be donated on occasion or during off-peak times to allow fellow creative folk to do said creative things, or simply recharge.
I'd love to pick a name for this property that tips its hat to some sort of actual dwelling or 'place' in Art, Literature, or Pop Culture, rather than reference the environment where it is situated. I know that's pretty wide-ranging, but I've spent hours trawling through sites like this, but nothing is getting the juices flowing.
For example - 'A Clean, Well-Lighted Place' is something that I always liked. It's not like your traditional house name, but it still could work in terms of being able to 'brand' the property (website, stationery, etc). 'Rushmore' was another idea, but maybe it's a bit too twee or obvious?
You tell me though! What name would entice you to stay with us?
It's a small place that will ideally be a (pet-friendly) weekend getaway for a single person / couple, around an hour out from the CBD in a very dense forest-like environment, backing onto a stream.
In addition to the business element of this endeavour, we are also hoping to run an informal artists residency, whereby the space will be donated on occasion or during off-peak times to allow fellow creative folk to do said creative things, or simply recharge.
I'd love to pick a name for this property that tips its hat to some sort of actual dwelling or 'place' in Art, Literature, or Pop Culture, rather than reference the environment where it is situated. I know that's pretty wide-ranging, but I've spent hours trawling through sites like this, but nothing is getting the juices flowing.
For example - 'A Clean, Well-Lighted Place' is something that I always liked. It's not like your traditional house name, but it still could work in terms of being able to 'brand' the property (website, stationery, etc). 'Rushmore' was another idea, but maybe it's a bit too twee or obvious?
You tell me though! What name would entice you to stay with us?
Best answer: A Room of One's Own.
posted by Otter_Handler at 3:50 AM on December 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by Otter_Handler at 3:50 AM on December 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
The Lighthouse.
posted by HandfulOfDust at 3:51 AM on December 4, 2014
posted by HandfulOfDust at 3:51 AM on December 4, 2014
Arts and Lettuce
posted by flabdablet at 3:53 AM on December 4, 2014
posted by flabdablet at 3:53 AM on December 4, 2014
For some reason, your description made me think of William Morris, so Morris House.
posted by adamrice at 7:41 AM on December 4, 2014
posted by adamrice at 7:41 AM on December 4, 2014
The Atelier / L'Atelier.
[The] Workshop.
Museum (as in, home of the muses/place for muse worship). House of Muses.
[Mount] Helicon. Or Aganippe Hippocrene. (as you can see, I got stuck on the Muse thing a little bit).
posted by AwkwardPause at 8:00 AM on December 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
[The] Workshop.
Museum (as in, home of the muses/place for muse worship). House of Muses.
[Mount] Helicon. Or Aganippe Hippocrene. (as you can see, I got stuck on the Muse thing a little bit).
posted by AwkwardPause at 8:00 AM on December 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
Spare Oom
posted by Daily Alice at 8:00 AM on December 4, 2014
posted by Daily Alice at 8:00 AM on December 4, 2014
Aganippe or Hippocrene, sorry.
posted by AwkwardPause at 8:06 AM on December 4, 2014
posted by AwkwardPause at 8:06 AM on December 4, 2014
Narnia (I love Spare Oom, it's much clever-er, but maybe plain old Narnia is more "brandable")
posted by pseudostrabismus at 8:32 AM on December 4, 2014
posted by pseudostrabismus at 8:32 AM on December 4, 2014
Best answer: Pretty much 100% of artists' residencies I've seen don't have cutesy names, they're just called whatever they're called. I've never applied to a residency myself, so I'm not entirely sure what logic goes into it, but I feel like if I were making the residency rounds, I'd be much more likely to pick The [LongDrive] Foundation or [LongDrive] Farm or something over, like, Narnia.
Be aware, too, that there are a lot of other things like this out there, so unless you are running the only one within a thousand miles or in the entire country you live in or something, a name like L'Atelier or Hermitage isn't going to work. Since there will presumably be a lot of other arts organizations with names like that in your area, and you wouldn't want applicants to confuse your Atelier with the Atelier that is an art gallery two towns over. (I was once part of an arts organization that has a similar name to a famous art movement centered in the same city. It was tedious to constantly be explaining, no, we're not those guys.)
I would avoid puns like the plague.
If you are really desperate to make some literary or artistic allusion in the name, I'd go with local color. Is there a local, or even semi-local figure you could make reference to? For example if your residency is in Missouri, Twain Farm would be cool. If it's in rural New York, you couldn't go wrong with a Washington Irving reference. I'd avoid using names of specific individuals who are still alive, though (for example you probably want to stay away from The Hockney Foundation or the like).
So here's what I'd do. Make a list of institution or place words, like "farm", "house", "institute", "center", "factory", "barn", "studio", etc. That's Column B. Make a list of literary/artistic references you find interesting. That's Column A. Play around with joining Column A with Column B until you find something awesome.
And don't discount one or both of your last names plus something in Column B, or the name of your town, region, neighborhood, etc. plus something in Column B. Extra points if you can make a literary or artistic riff on your name(s) or a local place name. Like, if you were in England, Albion Factory could be cool. Or if your last name is Rhodes, yeah, man, The Lighthouse, obviously.
posted by Sara C. at 9:25 AM on December 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
Be aware, too, that there are a lot of other things like this out there, so unless you are running the only one within a thousand miles or in the entire country you live in or something, a name like L'Atelier or Hermitage isn't going to work. Since there will presumably be a lot of other arts organizations with names like that in your area, and you wouldn't want applicants to confuse your Atelier with the Atelier that is an art gallery two towns over. (I was once part of an arts organization that has a similar name to a famous art movement centered in the same city. It was tedious to constantly be explaining, no, we're not those guys.)
I would avoid puns like the plague.
If you are really desperate to make some literary or artistic allusion in the name, I'd go with local color. Is there a local, or even semi-local figure you could make reference to? For example if your residency is in Missouri, Twain Farm would be cool. If it's in rural New York, you couldn't go wrong with a Washington Irving reference. I'd avoid using names of specific individuals who are still alive, though (for example you probably want to stay away from The Hockney Foundation or the like).
So here's what I'd do. Make a list of institution or place words, like "farm", "house", "institute", "center", "factory", "barn", "studio", etc. That's Column B. Make a list of literary/artistic references you find interesting. That's Column A. Play around with joining Column A with Column B until you find something awesome.
And don't discount one or both of your last names plus something in Column B, or the name of your town, region, neighborhood, etc. plus something in Column B. Extra points if you can make a literary or artistic riff on your name(s) or a local place name. Like, if you were in England, Albion Factory could be cool. Or if your last name is Rhodes, yeah, man, The Lighthouse, obviously.
posted by Sara C. at 9:25 AM on December 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
Pick one from LongDrive, Arts & Letters, Scribbler's
or if there's a particular geographic or botanical feature
Sunrise, Hilltop, Hibiscus, Briar
and one from Cottage, Bungalow, House, Cabin
ex., Scribbler's Cabin, Briar Cottage, etc.
posted by theora55 at 11:34 AM on December 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
or if there's a particular geographic or botanical feature
Sunrise, Hilltop, Hibiscus, Briar
and one from Cottage, Bungalow, House, Cabin
ex., Scribbler's Cabin, Briar Cottage, etc.
posted by theora55 at 11:34 AM on December 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
Deja View (sorry it just popped into my head)
posted by a humble nudibranch at 12:05 PM on December 4, 2014
posted by a humble nudibranch at 12:05 PM on December 4, 2014
I would avoid puns like the plague.
Cliches also.
posted by flabdablet at 10:11 AM on December 5, 2014
Cliches also.
posted by flabdablet at 10:11 AM on December 5, 2014
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posted by Jakey at 2:43 AM on December 4, 2014 [1 favorite]