@Lavalla - your project sounds fascinating. I'd love to know more and see what you're up to. I did a little more research and found some more links that might interest you when designing your "new" kitchen. This blog found old magazine clippings from kitchens in the early 1900's and compiled them here - fun inspiration: http://1912bungalow.com/2004/03/historical-kitchens/ Check out a few pages from this book, The New Bungalow Kitchen - some really interesting information about the history of the kitchen and great photos of newly renovated kitchens with that same feel. http://books.google.com/books?id=POHmo_Wg62gC&pg=PA29&lpg=PA29&dq=1920s+free+standing+kitchen&source=bl&ots=Eito3zQYBV&sig=vLmfrTG9SkJ10gIT8ev_jyTZWNs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=6rhZUcOWK8TmiwKhwIDAAw&ved=0CC0Q6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=1920s%20free%20standing%20kitchen&f=false

Very , very nicely done , and clever too ! It looks like you have used the existing windows and joinery , added those white gloss pillar 'covers' to modernise the whole look , and the lattice centre piece not only adds interest , but would also add light around the front door too . It also looks like you have added a garage on the right hand side , all in the same style to tie it all in . Like Courtenay , I love the entrance , although just personally , I would have done the gate in a slightly darker stain -- it looks a bit light ( to me ) in comparison with the shingles , and the painted brick -- especially as the gate will fade , the bricks not so much . Really , my only 'picky' bit . Well , apart from the copy writer , who has a heading about a Hamilton makeover , then talks about Tauranga architects and Tauranga's Fraser Street haha -- a small error , but why ?

Thanks so much for your comment Phoebe. It was a simple but elegant solution to a rather dismal backyard.

Hi IdaC, I had the pleasure of living in a California Bungalow many years ago now that had almost exactly the same plan as yours apart from a few modifications that your house has had. The living and master bedroom were switched and the ensuite was just a bathroom from the hallway. The problem with the house plan is the blocking of the rear of the house by the kitchen wall to the hallway and so the circulation goes around through the dining. If you want to alter the layout for a more modern lifestyle with good access to the back yard, I would make the living room another bedroom and put in a new long but narrow bathroom occupying some of the current dining room or possibly part of the existing living if you don't mind a smaller bedroom. The new bathroom can be just 1200mm wide having a 1200 long shower against the outside wall with a high window in it and then the toilet and the vanity near the door. Put the plumbing on the new living wall unless you install full length wardrobes on the wall between it and the new front bedroom. Then I'd delete the back bathroom and make that and the laundry into a walkthrough scullery and laundry and keep the outside door. Put a galley kitchen along the central back wall of the house with an island facing a new dining area where your current kitchen is with double glazed doors to the front hallway. Then make the back bedroom and 3/4 dining room, the living room and open that up to the rear yard. Ideally you'd want the living space on the North side of the house and the plumbing areas on the South, but that might be an expense too far. You could build a really great outdoor entertaining space outside the living room that links with the backyard bungalow if that became an overflow living area/man-woman cave!!!! or just a granny flat or office. If you want to do it in two stages, start by builing the new bathroom and opening up the back bedroom and 3/4 dining into the living room. That way you can start with the three bedrooms where they intend to be. Then you can look at doing the kitchen, scullery, laundry and dining when you are ready and either set up a temporary kitchen in the living space or eat out for a few weeks between when the old kitchen is removed and the new one becomes usable. Good luck, Christine.