Rustic furniture for Odessa homes with tall rooms

The White-Pool House

Four tall rooms and a carved stair

Charles White and his two adult sons built the two-story red brick house in 1887 near the Texas and Pacific line, and it was listed in the National Register in 1980. Its nomination, written in 1979, calls it by many years the oldest existing structure in Ector County, an elegantly simple late Victorian house that reflected its builder's Quaker faith. Downstairs were a family living room, a formal parlor, a dining room and a kitchen, all with 10-foot ceilings, and a stair with carved newel posts led to three large bedrooms.

Ceilings like those can carry a bookcase, a hall tree or a tall cabinet that would crowd a lower room. In a plain Victorian house, solid shapes with one good detail look more at home than heavy ornament everywhere.

• Measure the ceiling, the stair and every turn before choosing anything tall.
• Entry or stair hall: a hall tree gives a seat, a mirror and storage in one piece.
• Dining room: one strong table in the middle, with the tall pieces kept to the walls.
• Bedroom: a tallboy uses the wall height that a low dresser leaves empty.