Can we create an Object Style for a Text Frame with a rule only along specific sides of the Frame?

Sure as Dave wrote use paragraph borders and shading seems to be so simplistic to play (even if different para styles):

(^/)  The Jedi

Yeah, I kind of want to avoid effects. I'll have maybe a hundred of these.

@turner111

You could play with a shadow - make it hard... 

Thanks all - this may help; essentially, what I need are text frames so that I can use any/all "standard stuff" I'd normally use when working with them, including various styles within. The frames will contain a long continuous document which needs to flow normally as well, including into and through frames with multiple columns.

I don't think any of the current suggestions would allow me to lay this out seamlessly.

Obviously, it would be great if we could designate this like we can with a table cell... 🙂

You could fake the look with paragraph borders and shading. The Object style could set the (minimum) size of the text frame.

Hi @turner111:

How about a 2-cell table with a table style? That would give you 1-click formatting, and then you could adjust the top cell height either manually or by adding content. I'm curious what a table is "missing most of the controls needed" means though. 

~Barb

@turner111 

If you create Table - cells can't be split between TextFrames / pages. 

What exactly is your end goal? 

Will those TextFrames be always in the same place and have the same size? 

One frame cannot have only one side of the rectangle defined with a stroke. A stroke would apply to four sides. Have you considered using a table? Have you considered using nested frames? Or simply grouping?