Reading the Regency

Property - House Names

"In ascending, they passed the lodge gates of Sanditon House and saw the top of the house itself among its groves. It was the last building of former days in that line of the parish. A little higher up, the modern began; and in crossing the down, a Prospect House, a Bellevue Cottage and a Denham Place were to be looked at by Charlotte with the calmness of amused curiosity, and by Mr. Parker with the eager eye which hoped to see scarcely any empty houses."
[Sanditon, by Jane Austen]

Long before house numbers and postcodes were common, a house's name identified it and separated it from other houses nearby. Some houses kept the same name throughout hundreds of years. Other properties had their name changed by different owners, either to sound more impressive or perhaps to memorialise their surname.

It wasn't universal to name your house during the Regency period. In hamlets and villages, everyone knew everybody else, and properties were identified by their occupant, even if it didn't have a fancy name.

In larger towns and cities, houses began to be numbered in the 18th century, although the numbering of houses wasn't organised or standardised until the mid-19th century.

Townhouses

"The Countess of Jersey's Assembly. Jersey House, in Berkeley Square, was opened on Monday night to the fashionable world."
[Morning Post, 1st July 1816]

By the Regency period, London townhouses owned by wealthy peers and gentlemen all had house numbers. In 1797, "The Royal Kalendar, Court and City Register", published a list of peers with their London residence.

In that list, the Duke of Devonshire's address wasn't given as Devonshire House, but 2 Piccadilly. Likewise, the Earl of Jersey was listed as living at 6 Grosvenor Square, which was the location of Jersey House. Most houses in London, even those belonging to peers, were generally referred to by their street name alone, like in this example:

"Lady Sheffield gave a splendid rout yesterday evening, at her house in Portland Place."
[Morning Post, 19th May 1812]

It seems that only a small number of peers and a few very wealthy commoners had houses with names. Camelford House, designed and built by Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford, and Derby House, owned by the Earls of Derby, were large townhouses. Named houses in London during the Regency period were mostly detached town mansions like Bath House, belonging to the Earl of Bath, Chesterfield House, home of the Earl of Chesterfield, and Landsdowne House, built for the Marquess of Landsdowne.

A rare exception of a named house not belonging to a peer was Montagu House in Portman Square, built for Mrs Elizabeth Montagu, the wealthy widow of Edward Montagu.

Country Houses

"With all the chances against her of house, hall, place, park, court, and cottage, Northanger turned up an abbey, and she was to be its inhabitant."
[Chapter 17, Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen]

Homeowners in earlier times were no less prone to boasting or inflating the status of their property than some people today. A residence called a "Castle" might never have been a medieval stronghold. By the Regency period, people were free to call their house whatever they liked, and they would choose a name that reflected their importance. A House could become a Hall, or even a Park at the whim of its owner.

But in earlier years, there was often a reason why a house bore a particular name.

Abbey - houses with Abbey in their name usually refer to their previous life as a monastic building before King Henry VIII's reformation of the monasteries. Woburn Abbey became the seat of the Dukes of Bedford, while Laycock Abbey was bought from King Henry by Sir William Sharrington.