In one of my childhood homes there was a collection of Dr. Pepper cans stacked in an alcove above a doorway, from the previous occupant of my room.
I can't read that without thinking "You use this word? Alcove?".
Well, I don't think it was technically an alcove, but I'm not sure what the proper name for the architectural feature in question is.
Queenslander buildings (that's a type of house that's more-or-less native to my home state) often have this... rectangular space above the doorway, where the wall is thinner than the door frame itself. I feel like I might have known an actual name for it once, but now I have no idea.
Fakeedit: okay, I asked my mother and apparently there isn't a name for that exact thing, since that space above the door would normally be occupied by a carving of some kind, or a leadlight or simple glass window, to allow air and light in. These are known as 'fanlights', though there might be some other name for them too.
This one (and I think the one on the bedroom next to it) had just been filled in to match the walls instead, which is apparently a common occurrence since the fanlights themselves can be pretty fragile (and I guess we had a whole bunch of them in the house already, plus the house had a couple of skylights which mostly took care of the 'light' side of things). That space instead formed a little rectangular crevice over the door.
Huh. The more you know. Classic architecture is awesome.
I do love the sight of a classic Queenslander.