Also known as "charm"

I suppose a house built way back in 1916 is bound to have developed some unusual features by the time it's nine decades old. Ours has several notable peculiarities. Have a look:

THREE DOORS

It is kind of hard to see in the photo, but I'll try to explain. So, to get to our bathroom, you walk through this little hallway. Only it's not so much a hall as it is, well, a square. It's a squareway! First you walk through one doorway, and then right in front of you is the bathroom door, and to your left is a door to the second bedroom. So it's a square room, with no windows and no real place to put anything, but it has three doors. It's, like, our very own Winchester Mystery House room!

TWO LIONS

Leading out to the backyard is a little patio area, and guarding the steps down into the grass are these great lion statues. They are among my very favorite things about this house, which might be weird since they both grimace rather grotesquely. They also raise a paw like they are about to claw out one of your eyeballs. I would like to give names to these big kitties, but I can't think of anything that isn't stupid. If you have a clever idea, I'll send you an appropriate prize!

ONE SNAIL

This one really puzzles me. It's a small piece of wood attached to the wall above the utility sink in the laundry room. There's a little space between the front part of the panel and the back piece, like maybe it is supposed to hold something, but I can't figure out what or how. There's also a picture of a snail on the front. I e-mailed the previous owner to see if she knew what it was, and she replied: "that little wooden snail hanging on the wall? it came with the house. i have no idea what it is. it might be covering something up... perhaps you could give him a name. if it is, and i am not saying it IS, some sort of snail god/totem/protector used to ward off snails, it works like a charm. i have never seen a snail in the house. of course, my dogs could have eaten them and never told me. ew." But seriously, what is this cottonpickin' thing for? If you know, another prize, even more valuable than the first, will be yours!