Having spent most of my life in the Cleveland area, I'm really amazed by photos and Google street views of Cincinnati - it is a *radically* different urban area than Cleveland.  The 3 & 4 story historic brick buildings that are *everywhere* in Cincinnati, are extremely rare in Cleveland.

 

So, my actual question - I see that many many historic Cincinnati buildings have a very tiny top row of windows  (See posted photo for example)  Can any one tell me how these windows are configured in the building - is there a floor that only has these windows? Does top floor of the building have extra windows for a vaulted ceiling?  Any history on why these are so prevalent in Cincinnati?

 

This feature is extremely rare in the Cleveland area and it is really cool to see it all over the place in Cincinnati...

I think it's sometimes an extra floor and sometimes not. Not really sure what's more typical. I like them, too; especially round ones.

 

Here's a look inside a room on the top floor of one of the buildings:

http://www.blogotr.com/otr/a-peek-inside-the-color-building/

Alot of times it's a less finished top floor, it would still be living space but from most places I've seen in an original state they were never finished to the same level as the rest of the house ie less ornate trim, doors, etc.  I had a bedroom in one of these rooms and really liked the low ceiling, I think it went down to 3.5 feet at the low end.

In the residential buildings, the top floor was typically a laundry room with stationary tubs with wash boards and hooks along the wall for drying lines.  The small windows at the front and back can be opened for cross ventilation (they are side-hinged) and usually there is at least one double-hung window on the side gable facing a court, sometimes just facing a narrow walkway of just 3 feet wide. The rear windows usually face an alley.

They were originally used as ventilation for unfinished attic space. Later on as attics were finished (often for servants) they were the only source of fresh air. In my neighborhood which has free standing homes there are side windows and those windows allow for some cross ventilation for finishsed attic space

In most cases there is a floor and they are basically attic space or are used for studio apartments.  In some newer remodels the floor (or a portion of it) is removed to make a very high vaulted ceiling.  I lived in an apartment on Walnut Street that had a portion of the attic floor taken out which gave the space 16’ – 20’ ceilings.  It was a really great, bright space. It was listed for double the rent I had been paying when I moved out…

My condo is on the top floor of a building similar to the one pictured above. Although you wouldn't believe it from the street, the ceiling is about 6" 6' in the front, and then slopes upward as the unit goes back.

This motif has even been copied by new buildings built at the top of Sycamore street, numbers 1821 thru 1831 roughly. They went ahead and did the modern thing, which is to use this space as a roof deck, but they retained the cornice style that hints at those little windows.

 

http://goo.gl/maps/qCxh2

 

http://goo.gl/maps/W8wdY

^ Yuck.

^ I'd rather see that than the brick just dying into 2 inches of metal coping, basically the way the side walls of those buildings just stop.  Keep in mind that a cornice isn't just an architectural embellishment.  Yes it punctuates the vertical "ending" of the building, strongly delineating the termination of the structure against the emptiness of the sky, but it also protects the (historically much more detailed and expensive) facade from rain. 

^Yes.  And those beat the hell out of most of new construction in the Cincinnati area.  I won't bother polluting this thread with photos of McMansions, though.

And from a facade point of view, those do a really nice job of hiding the roof decks from the street level.  (Not a fan of the siding on the sides, but as to the front, I don't have much in the way of complaints.)