House Meet Villa. Villa Meet House.

There's something strange about addresses in Monaco.

More often than not, if you ask someone in Monaco where they live, they will tell you the name of their building, never the address or the street name.  For some quirky reason, everyone knows the names of the buildings and where the buildings are but never the address!

"I live at The Mirador," they may say or, "I have taken up residence for the season at the Columbia."

Auntie Puddy would always say, "you can find me in Paradis,"  which is French for paradise, which is where Auntie Puddy lived before she moved.

It's a quaint tradition but it does take some getting used to. Especially if you don't know where the buildings are.

 

Miss Scarlett and Tara

Before Auntie moved to Europe, I knew only a few houses by name.  In the movie, Gone  With the Wind, Miss Scarlett's beloved estate, Tara was one.  The visionary yet impractical, "Fallingwater" by famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright being another.

It's a well known tradition to name one's yacht or boat but who would have guessed that it's a big tradition for the French and Italians to name their houses too. 

Sometimes it's a simple name like "Le Home" for a modest little shack or the beautiful and magestic, "Villa Riberi"  in Monaco where poultry of all kinds were once sold in Monaco in the olden days.  If I were a hen, I'd have been proud to have my eggs sold there!

I think I'd name my French house "Villa Chouchouter" or "Villa Pamper" which is what I'd do to my nieces, nephews, and friends when they visited.

If you were to name your house, what would it be?