Hello and French house names

[katiebythesea]

Well nearly a year has gone by and I am finally about to advertise our first property to let in the pyrenees - nicely timed to coincide with the recession!!
The first one that will be ready for guests is an old village house which is looking good after a slow and steady restoration and renovation. We need to give it a name and thought I would check out here in case what we are considering is somehow offensive/inapprpriate. I do speak quite good french but its the colloquiallisms that are tricky.
The ideas we have are - Maison rouge d'épine, which means Red Thorn House, or alternatively Maison rouge d'aubépine, which is Red Hawthorn House. These both relate to the names and uk business interests of the 2 owners. So would one of these be okay?
I want to say a big thank you for the general info I have picked up from this forum, there is so much useful stuff here. I will be trying the property management software out that Richard has set up as I will be managing 4 properties so I can at least try to be organised about it!
Katie

[Normandy Cow]

Hello Katie.

It's a bit of a mouthful, just my humble opinion.
Just to be sure, is it the house that's red? (i.e. its the "red house with the thorn", not the "house of the red thorn").

And I may be wrong - but maybe it should be "Maison Rouge d'Epines" (as presumably there's more than one thorn?) But then again I'm not sure, as you are maybe meaning a single thorn bush?

My grandmother (who was Swiss) lived for many years in the "Chemin des Aubépines" in Lausanne, so your post has tugged at my heart strings and brightened up my day by bringing me some nice memories - so thank you!

How about "Maison des Aubépines" as your house name? (presuming you have some hawthorne bushes!).

Why don't you ask this question in the Forum section of www.Wordreference.com. I'm sure you will get some native French speakers who will be able to give you more definitive advice (usually within a few minutes - it's a great forum).

Good Luck!

(PS - My daughter is called Katie!!! )

[Giddy Goat]

Welcome Katie and good luck with your rentals! I agree with NC that your choices are too long - prefer NC's suggestion. It's nice to choose a name that has personal significance but on balance, when renting I think you need something reasonably easy to remember.

[Windy]

Or even maybe just "Les Aubépines" ?

[e-richard]

Since I'm in a similar situation trying to name our Apartment in Portugal, I also wonder if its an issue to make it suitable for the target market - in our case the Brits.

Should the name be pronounceable/memorable/usable by non-locals ?

Nothing I can do about the town we rent in (Carvoeiro), but would making the house name easier be an issue ?

[la vache!]

Or even maybe just "Les Aubépines" ?

I agree - KISS! You wouldn't believe the problems people have with the names of my gites, and they are Les something. Best to leave it as easy as possible - but I entirely agree it is nice if they are relevant.
Lez Obepynes is plenty complicated for UK guests enough without adding mayson.

[Windy]

Lez Obepynes is plenty complicated for UK guests enough without adding mayson.

LOL

It's got to be "Hawthorn Cottage" then, obviously

[katiebythesea]

Thanks for all the suggestions - I agree something easy to remember/pronounce would be good but as there are no actual hawthorns at the place that I know of I need to have a rethink!
It's address is Carrer D'amont, which means upstream square so I am now thinking something water linked, maybe
Les Jets - I like this one
Maison Amont
or something else altogether

Katie