No offense, but it seems like a useless and weird thing to do to me.

But as far as negative ramifications, it makes it harder to find your house if it's a road that nobody has ever heard of.

Nobody will be able to google your address for directions for a while.

Is your official current address a street number of the road that your driveway enters?

A local pizza entrepreneur in the St. Louis area who lived off Topping Road in Topping Estates named his driveway "Pizza Topping Way". That was before Google, but everyone knew where it was.

I see no motivation for the county to do this. I guess nothing would stop you from putting up a "street sign" at the entrance to your drive but, like an earlier poster mentions, it's not going to show up on Google for a long time.

I would add the info of the house being set back in the property description, maybe even prominently, like "Privacy and convenience"

I would simply market the home properly. The sign on the street should have a "secluded & quiet" or "private acreage" (something like that) rider on it. If it's busy enough that people driving on the road didn't even realize there was a home back there, they won't dismiss it. And then s/he can have a brokers' open house (caravan) so that all the local brokerages become aware of this great house with a slightly off-putting address. The write-up and pictures can be quite convincing - even put an overhead-type shot (Google Earth) with the property outlined and the house highlighted off the road.

As someone who hopes to buy a home in a particular area and checks out all the offerings, I think something in the description about the private nature and an aerial view with the distance marked would be just fine. People who want to move to the area will be able to see that isn't not directly off a busy road. No need to create your own street over something like this ;-)

I grew up in a very rural area, and a lot of longer driveways have name posts, but the only driveways I've ever seen posted "private road" are at least a quarter mile long. 200' is about the length of the driveway we had growing up and it was just the average length for the area, so I have a hard time even picturing calling it a road. One of my friends' has a driveway that I constantly miss because of the trees obscuring the view. I do wish she'd put a sign at the end of the driveway, so maybe at least making a sign would be a good idea (and naming it can be fun!)

Yes, I know it does sound weird to change a driveway to a single home into a road with a name sign and all. I don't even know if it would be possible until I speak with the Transportation Department. Of course the realtor would include the information in the description of the home, but her contention was that many will pass it over and never even read the description when they see the name of the street. She also believes many realtors probably would hesitate to bring their clients to a home on this street (even though there are a number of very nice and expensive homes---including one on either side of ours). I think the idea of a brokers' open house is a good one. She also mentioned the possibility of offering a 1% incentive to other realtors to show the house. Depending on what happens after it's listed, we may consider that. Of course, we're trying to save every penny for downsizing and eventual retirement.

Our official current address is a number on the street where the driveway ends. I would not just randomly put a sign out with a name that hasn't been approved by the county. That would really make it confusing for everyone and would be pointless. If they would authorize it (and it wasn't too expensive), our mail box would remain where it is, but the address would change. In the interim, mail addressed to our current address would be forwarded to the new address in the same mailbox. So far, assuming that the cost of being allowed "name our driveway) (and, yes, I know it sounds silly) isn't prohibitive, I think the biggest problem would be having to change our address on everything.

I think the county will probably think this is a strange idea and shoot it down right away, but I'm willing to make the phone call and ask the question. Our realtor has a great reputation (we worked with her when selling our former home and building this one), and she is quite knowledgeable and respected in this area, so I'm willing to make what may be an embarrassing phone call on her recommendation. Then will go from there. Thank you everyone for your ideas.

By the way, ironically, we do have people come down our driveway from time to time, thinking it is a street. I suppose we could put a sign out identifying it as a private road (obviously no name or change of address that could be used for the listing). When I was googling to see if I could find information about establishing a driveway to a single residence as a private road, I did find some quite attractive signs that don't look unfriendly---just informational--that could be placed at the end of our drive. Not sure I'm interested in bothering, though.

Like I said, I grew up in rural area where a lot of people name their driveways, so I don't find it odd at all. I can see trying to contact someone about making a private road official (to be included on maps and such), but if unless there are strict ordinances, I don't see why you should need permission for an unofficial name sign at the end of your driveway. Also, you may want to call your local post office and try to speak with the post master about it. They may or may not allow you the address change without moving the mailbox.

From what I understand, moving the mailbox would be highly unlikely. Just putting a name sign up wouldn't result in the change my realtor is suggesting. If I listed it as an address on some made-up street name, no one would find it. Plus, can you imagine the confusion if we tried to sell a house that the seller knew as an address on a different street and then at closing all the paperwork listed our legal address, using the name of the original street? I realize the legal description on the title and other paperwork is what really identifies the home, but I would never sign papers on a home with that discrepancy.

I can see the practical reason for putting up names on driveways in rural areas, but we are in the suburbs and it just sounds strange to me. Only if the county recognized it as a legally established private road (which I would guess is unlikely) would we put up a sign with a name.

Even if you could legally make your driveway a new street, how are potential buyers going to find it? It'll take a while to pop up in GPS maps, mapquest, etc.

Also, what are the legal ramifications in the future of making a driveway a private road, regarding maintenance, access, taxes, etc.? It may open a whole new can of worms, depending on county, state, city laws.

Give your home a wonderful name that speaks of tranquility and quiet, and post a sign calling the house that name near your mailbox with an arrow to the house. Many "estates" and vacation homes have names like that. Have the "house name" prominently listed in the ad.

I agree that moving a mailbox could be problematic. I don't think our local post office would allow it. (Well, actually, I don't think they can prevent us from moving the mailbox, but they can refuse to use it.)

We have a sign on our driveway entrance that simply says Private Road, No Turnaround. The mail box is next to the driveway entrance and has been replaced / upgraded / etc more than once. Mailboxes can be moved, replaced, even removed and the USPS can't refuse to use it unless it does not meet the specs which are necessary for the carrier to be able to drop your mail in your box without effort. Those specs are available on line or you could ask your carrier.

However if your address is 123 Main Street and you choose to unilaterally change it to 456 Private Drive good luck on getting your mail sorted and delivered.

Nosoccermom, Yes, those possibilities are the reason I was asking if anyone had done this and could provide the pros and cons. As I've already said, I really doubt the county will want to proceed with this, but I would certainly ask a lot of questions about future ramifications if they would say it could happen and if it sounded feasible to do.

And, no, I am not moving a mailbox. My initial comment about the mailbox stated that it would not be moved and that it lessened my concern about mail going missing. And there will be no unilaterally changing the name of the street or my address, either. Just investigating the feasibility of getting approval from the county for a street name (and address), as suggested by the realtor. I'm pretty sure it won't be possible, so then the idea will be disposed of; but, IF it was possible and we wanted to proceed, it would all be done through the Roads Department of our County, in conjunction with the post office.

I live in the suburbs in a division with a gravel alley to someone's garage. It is not even clear whether it is a driveway or "road" at this point. However, it has a street and a stop sign. It's a huge pain because depending on who you talk to (county, town, state, owner, subdivision), you get different answers as to who is responsible for road maintenance, access rights, right of way, snow plowing, tree permits, etc. On some maps it's a road, on others it's a private driveway. And even if it is private property, the fact that it is a road means that the county and state have a say over certain aspects, such as tree permits and right of way, not to mention that this can change over time. (E.g. the required tree permits are new now.)

How about naming your house and putting a formal sign beside the entrance to your driveway? You can order wrought iron signs online or at your hardware store. ("The Breakers" is already taken, and I'm reserving rights to "Toad Hall". haha)

Outside Louisville, KY a homeowner posted a sign for his home "The Pointe". A neighbor later christened their home "Beside the Pointe" and later, another, "What's the Pointe". Be careful. ;-)

I'm really not interested in naming my home--especially a home I'm going to be selling and leaving! Maybe I would name a vacation house, but I doubt it.

I am only exploring the private road idea because of a suggestion from my realtor. I figure I'm willing to make a phone call and get laughed at by the county employees when they tell me no.

Or, if they surprise me and say yes, then my main concern will be what, if any, restrictions and requirements having our driveway designated as a private road would entail. If any of the terms (or price) are too onerous, then I'm done with the whole idea.

Enjoy reading others' observations, though.

I'd say make the phone call. It cant hurt. If it is doable, then I would include directions in the listing and that it's a private drive. I found this link in google mapmaker to add a street. I am not sure how easy it is to do. Maybe the realtor can help, since he/she suggested it. I actually think it's a clever idea.

http://www.google.com/mapmaker

re contacting Google mapmaker... it's not a street because you want it to be. And for sure don't tell them it's a toll road. lol

Where I live there are green road signs...public roads. White road signs deem private drives. I live on a very rural public road...our road is five farms. I have a relative who has a white sign private drive....means the plows won't plow it...but they would not anyway as it is a long driveway and they have a name. I would see if you can get an appealing name...it is different in peoples heads. (Where I live it is where people know it is only farms or old farm houses.)

I highly doubt that turning your private driveway into a county road is going to help sell your home. The problem is its location, not the fact that the driveway is private or a public road. In fact, I would think that giving up ownership of part of your land and giving the freedom to do what one would want, to a municipality, would be a huge turn off for most buyers.

I would suggest just marketing it as secluded and private, yet close to everything.

Where I live in rural Northern California, there are lots of private roads. You do not give up ownership of any land to have a private road. You also do not receive any county/city services for your road. Most people here prefer a named private road over a long, un-named dirt driveway when trying to locate a parcel that many times cannot be seen from the "main road". It is a lot easier to find a sign for, say Larkin Lane, than the numbers on a mailbox at night or in the rain. I just checked, and my county has no fee to name a private road, and a $140 fee to change the name of a public road, so cost may not be very great. However, there must be at least four parcels served by a private road, and all four (or more) owners must agree to the name petition.

In my area, private roads off of main ones will have a cluster of mailboxes at the junction with the main road. It's easy to see that "200 Main Road" is down that private road. There will be a For Sale sign at that juncture with an arrow pointing down the private road and another in front of the house itself.

Now, this doesn't help with a buyer who sees "200 Main Road" and looks no further, because he thinks the house is *on* a busy road.

Even if you did name your now-private road it's not going to show on any maps for a while. People can find "200 Main Road" on a local map and on Google Maps.

List it with secluded (or whatever) in the description. People WILL google it and see that it's set far back from the road. If you make it so that your listed address isn't on google, nobody is going to look at it! You might lose a few non-googler lookers by listing a house on Busy Road, but not as many as you'd lose from not being googleable at all.

Have your agent focus on pricing it correctly, exposing it well and making it show ready. Naming or not naming the driveway will not affect buyer's thoughts after viewing the property.

Just want to say thank you for the last batch of comments---very useful and thought provoking. I think I will go ahead and make the call just to satisfy my curiosity and so I can tell the realtor that I tried. Since I'm pretty confident they will shoot down the idea since the driveway only leads to our home, that will be the end of it. If they actually said it could be done, then DH and I would have some thinking to do.

Any update?

Just noticed that this thread popped up again, so thought I should update. Decided to go with another realtor, so didn't make the call to the county. It just seemed like such a hassle for little, if any, gain. We did sell our house after being on the market for almost a month. I think we had good traffic through the house, with multiple showings on some days, and even had requests to see the house after it was listed as sale pending (we declined). So the street we lived on didn't seem to have much impact on selling. We also made sure the listing described the house as sitting off the road in a private location. Interestingly, one feature that appealed to our buyers was the seclusion and privacy, especially in the backyard. They had no worries about the road or location.

Congratulations on your sale!

In England it is common to name a house, such as Sunflower Cottage or Smith Croft or Denbury House. You could do something like that?

We are in a similar situation, being that our 1000 foot driveway goes up a fairly steep hill. Our choices were to a mailbox at the start of the driveway, at the top of the driveway, or get a PO box in town (which is what we decided to do). If we had wanted to, we could have officially named our driveway as Jones Way and the town would have put up a sign saying Jones Way (Private Road) but we decided not to (there are a lot of such private ways in our neighborhood). It does not show up on Google Maps and we have to tell guests specifically where it is, even though the house number is prominently displayed with an official sign.

I know this is an old thread, but for anybody reading later. Google has a feature where you can add a new address or correct the location of an existing one. We had to do this for our current home 14 years ago and also for our new property, so people using Google maps have no issues finding us. People who use non-Google maps do still have issues as they still are not up to date on our current home and bring people to the wrong address. This is a neighborhood of over 20 homes and the non-updated apps takes people to someone's personal driveway and their last name is the same as our street.

lyfia, how do you do that? I have two gmail accounts, each of which has the Google apps attached. On both of them, one shown here, the house is grossly mislocated.

The house is actually at the red X, and #86 is at the orange X. Since that's the beginning of my driveway (the faint N-S line), the Town assigned 86 as my house number. That road going to where Google puts my house is actually an old logging road. The Google app on the other gmail account puts the house on Fox Run, but way north of the orange X. Some maps on people's phones puts it closest, right at the "B" of Back Road (which is an obsolete name!).

In the google map app choose contribute and edit map then select correct error or add a place. It is the easiest way to do it. On our new place it showed the location in the middle of our property and not at the entrances so we changed it to show the entrance as people were trying to get to it from the main road which would have required driving through other people's properties.

In google maps from your browser click the three horizontal bars and then select edit the map. https://www.google.com/maps

Thank you; I'll see what happens!