"Leon" wrote in message
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Houston metro area.

In the 80's I did a bit of business in Houston and liked the suburbs. What
I "think" I recall was a lot of Tuscan style homes, but my memory is getting
old. Like the homes in Austin, I recall a bit more detail and curb appeal
from exterior detailing than in many other areas, also.





FWIW, a pot shelf, as they're called here, is a decorative "step" about
30" or so from a dinette, dining room or living room wall, presumably to
set greenery, decorative plates or pots, or vases on. It's near the
ceiling and usually reached by a step ladder.

Ohh! yes those are pretty common place, not unusual to see several in a
home. My wife refers to them as dust collectors that will be hard to get
to to vacuum. From what I have seen in most homes that I have done some
work in, her observations are correct. In fact many I have seen require
more than a common 6' step ladder to reach. They are often 3-4' deep and
at least 10' from the floor in 2 story homes. The are best viewed from a
stair way or cat walk.

Here, they seem to run about 2' deep and are quite common in living rooms,
dining rooms and kitchens.

Something else I've noticed here is that walls have a lot of "building out."
By that, I mean a wall, either a shear wall or curtain wall, might have a
second wall built beside it, such as the old plumbing wall or wall for
ductwork. They're done as much for detail as for function. That's where
some of the pot shelves come from: a second wall built beside the real wall
to give detail to a room. Despite the cost of these walls and the small
amounts of wasted space inside them (between the walls), they seem to be
pretty popular. An example might be a master suite that has one corner
rounded, rather than square. The wall between the master suite and an
adjoining room might be straight and square, but on the bedroom side, a
second curved wall is installed, with the enclosed area either ignored or
made to hold a small alcove with shelf for a vase or statue.

Nonny