My neighborhood was built in the mid-80s…typical small (1000sf) ranch houses. Some of them have siding all around, some have a brick facade that covers the bottom 1/2 to 2/3 of the front of the house.
Of these, most of them have a projection of the brick on one corner of the house, so that there is sort of a narrow wall (maybe 2 ft wide) extending from the front. When you look at the house, it’s as if they didn’t build the house to the same specs as the brick facade–the brick is longer.
Any ideas why this might have been a good idea? Is it for looks? It occurred to me that perhaps it was intended to anchor a gate/fence, but it wouldn’t be any easier to achor to than the brick on the opposite corner of the house, which is flush with the wall.
Just a curious feature; I wonder about it every time I walk the dog.
It was considered an architectual feature. A stupid one, but still an architectual feature.
Yep, just for looks. Stupid looks at that. And even stupider when they start to separate and go their own way from the rest of the house.
Perhaps it’s to hide your trash can behind?
It’s just about big enough to hide a trash can behind. 
I figured it was one of those features that developers add to small tract houses to make them seem less…small and tracty. It reminds me of something my dad would do, maybe right before he tiled the kitchen with a truckload of orange and purple tile he got at really cheap at auction.
My house has this feature. It’s a brick house, built in the 30s and nothing at all like a tract house. The projection is on the side of the house along my neighbor’s driveway, and every few years someone hits it. It’s a pain in the ass and doesn’t serve any purpose.