What style house do you have?

I know you are looking for a post-mounted box...but here is another idea. I have no pictures of it right now because I'm in the process of repainting it, but I have an old milkbox that we spray painted to match our light fixtures (bronze). I am about the write "MAIL" on it with some silver paint (since we have brushed nickel door handles and door bell). It sits on our covered porch. I have painted this many different colors, and stenciled and wrote many different things on it, even our name and house number at one point.

fivefootzero, are you saying you've been using an old milkbox as a mailbox? I didn't know that was possible since there are regulations about what is and isn't acceptable for mailboxes.

Here is a link that might be useful: USPS Residential Mailbox Standards

Ours makes it easy to give directions...

interesting, no, stylish/classy yes, secure (it locks) large, can go away a few days NP, cast alum. no rusting, pricey a little $140.00 perfect for our home absolutely!
sorry about the xmas decor...

Yes, I used an old milkbox. It has a lid. It sits on my porch. The mailman knows what it's for. It has been moved a few times before it's present location near my front door. Nobody has every commented or told me that I couldn't use it. In our neighborhood, some people have wall mounted boxes, some the rural post-mount type, and I prefer to use my milkbox. We don't live in a rural community, suburbs is more like it. During our porch construction, our post-mounted mailbox leaned against the garage for 8 months...without so much as an issue. So while there may be regulations (of which I had no clue), they most certainly aren't enforced in my area of central NJ.

Justgot, had no idea there were mailbox regulations.

There's always been a box on the house, but it's rarely used because it's a hassle to open. Years ago I hung a basket below it and that's the mail lady's choice 9 times out of 10. I did have to hang a note and ask her to use the box while a Carolina wren was nesting in the basket last year.

I recently saw a good option. It was a custom built stone pillar about 24" square and about 4' or 5' tall. The front had a square metal mail slot embedded and the back had a locking metal door embedded. I'm not sure how the inside was finished off, but I'm sure they made it weather-resistant. I think it could hold several months of mail.

justgotabeme - The regulations apply to mailboxes that are out on the road, such as rural situations. Regulations do not apply to those mailboxes which are hung next to your door or wherever on your home.

Sounds to me like fivefeetzero's mailbox isn't on a rural route where the mailbox is on the road. Rural route boxes are to be easily accessable to the postal carrier driving a truck and delivering mail from said vehicle.

Littledog, I was actually thinking of the ease of giving directions as one of the benefits to having an interesting mailbox. ("It's the house with the red mailbox").

My house is a pretty ordinary-looking red brick suburban house built in the 70s. Most of the houses in my neighborhood have either brick/stone pillars (usually the brick/stone matches the house) with a door for mail, like what forhgtv describes OR a wood post with a typical rounded-top box on it. They're all fine but just not that interesting to me.

The problem is that the interesting ones don't really fit in to the other houses in my neighborhood. I'm hoping to find something that's just a little unique but not too out there.

Lots of neighborhoods have roadside mailboxes-not just rural areas. Our mailmen in PA used to drive- home lots were large, but definitely suburban. We always had a little garden around our mailbox in the suburbs outside Philadelphia. It looked lovely and was different from all the others.

work in progress 08 (great name by the way),
Though it seems that most of the regulations listed are for curb delivery boxes it does include all residential delivery boxes according to this:
"If you have door delivery authorized, youÂll need to provide either an approved house-mounted box that provides adequate protection and security for the mail or a door slot. A mailbox with a lock must have a slot that is large enough to accommodate your daily mail volume. The Postal Service neither opens a locked box nor accepts a key for this purpose."
You also may notice the title of the linked item. "Residential Mailbox Standards USPS Standards for Residential Mailboxes "
We've built three homes in three different states in the US and all made sure we knew the rules for installing and what kind of mailboxes were acceptable. Once it's installed and used for your mail delivery it's federal property. They have the right to regulate it. My guess is it depends on your post master how strict they are in any certain area. Twice we've had to move mail boxes for not being "quite right".

Twice we've had to move mail boxes for not being "quite right".

Mounted on a house?

The link below has some interesting mailboxes.
For my previous home I had a copper/brass mailbox. I can't remember the model but it was similar to the Nottingham Rustic. It looked great with our ranch style home and split-rail fence.
BTW, photos do not do the copper boxes justice!

Here is a link that might be useful: mailboxes

Does it count if we don't have it yet, but it's on our wishlist? :)

Keeping in mind my taste is modern, so my idea of interesting mailboxes are probably those you've already seen and rejected...

my dream mailbox is the Neutrabox,linked below.

The only other interesting mailboxes I've seen are the wingall...

http://www.mahvelousmailboxes.com/curbside_mailboxes/quality_steel_mailboxes/wingall_mailbox.htm

and the spira stainless steel...

http://www.mailboxworks.com/spira-postmount-mailboxes.html

Here is a link that might be useful: neutrabox

I'm the one with the milkbox mailbox. Our mailman drives to deliver mail on our street. But he parks, and walks from house to house. He doesn't deliver from house to house from his vehicle. And again, I have never had a problem with any of our mail carriers and their preference for a mailbox, or anyone pointing me to the rules and regulations (for which I didn't know existed until this thread). This even after our old post-mounted box leaned against the garage for 8 months during construction of our porch. And when construction was finished, I have since moved the milkbox around to various locations until I found a spot where it works for us. I also consulted with the mailman to see if it worked for him. FWIW, I'm in Cranford, NJ.

Love the Neutra mailbox, bluemoon! I want the Neutra house numbers, too!

One of the houses near me in Freehold, Nj has one of these. It's based on a regulation box - I love it - wish I had a chocolate one!

Helene

Here is a link that might be useful: labrador mailbox

Not sure if you'll like it, but it is unusual...

nicole, I'll bet tradespeople and new visitors to your home love that mailbox! I can think of several people I've visited over the years who I wish had that mailbox too. It can be a nighmare trying to find some people's houses. If you've ever tried to find a house in a neighborhood where the only house numbers seem to be on the mailbox about 1/4" tall, or where the house numbers inexplicably skip from 218 to 242 to 250, then you know what I mean. I'm sure you don't have that problem. :)

bluemoon28....actually...that was the idea.....but...people have asked Q:"what is that". A: "the house numbers"........so DH carved the flagstone plaque....that solved it. There's a huge street lamp sitting right next to the mail box. We even painted the house numbers on the curb at one time.:0) The problem stems from the fact that the house across the street is "504".... :0)

Well I'm surprised that some of you have delivery to the door! I've not seen this anywhere near us, nor have I noticed house mounted boxes. I'm assuming this type delivery is done where houses are close together? (City blocks?)

We've never had a mailbox at this house (built almost 12 years ago. Our previous house ended up selling quickly and we had to rent while this house was being finished. To save on confusion, we got a p.o. box. It was so much easier, so much less junk mail, etc. that we kept it.

tina

Tina, around here all of the older neighborhoods have door delivery. In mine the typical lot is 75x150, but some are an acre or more. My mom lived in a development with locked curbside boxes, but when it became difficult for her to walk to the box the Postal Service allowed her to install a box on the house.

At my Mom's house, not only does the mailman deliver to the porch but he actually drops the mail through the mail slot in the door & onto her front hall floor.

In my current neighborhood with curbside boxes, there is a large manatee holding the box (yes, it is as bizarre as that sounds especially since we're in PA, maybe that look makes more sense in Florida?), an airplane propeller as the post, and a large chain link post formed into an "S".

My current mailbox is hand-painted flowers (by a friend) but I was just thinking about getting rid of it since it's starting to show it's age. I'll probably just go back to basic black.

Nicole, I really like it! Can you share who made it?

for my mailbox for my home in San Diego, after I redid the front yard (removed all the grass and walkways and put in pavers, a picket type fence and made it into an english garden) I used an old vintage bird house/nesting box, it was hand painted, square shaped with a roof that lifted up on hinges, I mounted it to the house just at the edge very close to the driveway.

Never had any issues with the postmaster delivery guy and it was very cute (if I do say so myself).

If I were you, I'd try to speak to whoever brings the mail and ask them what they think. If it's the same person every time, they would be the only one who would complain and report you (if there are regs in your area) so then at least you'll know what's ok and what's not.

I wish I had pics of mine, but they are on the hard drive of my last computer.