This should keep bedroom window in place in ensuite and plenty of wardrobe space

Do you have original floor plans of both levels

Thanks Kate - that works so much better. It has managed to have quite a bit of wardrobe storage, which is great

@Siriuskey this is the current downstairs plan. I haven't been able to tackle this yet as it's quite tricky. Currently the ceiling height is under legal height (quite low in some areas) and the space is not properly finished so needs to be redone - we expect this to be a big job. The block slopes up in the direction of the arrow, so can't do an easy build under. The house already sits high on the block on a corner, so preference was to excavate, rather than raise. The initial idea is to gain ceiling height and allow storage rooms etc at the rear where the ground level is more shallow, with bedrooms and bathroom at the front. Need to add stairs somewhere that also fits with the upstairs plan?? Thinking of keeping the upstairs stairwell into a butlers pantry. It currently has no internal access (only the rear multipurpose room, which is blocked off from the rest of the ground floor areas)

Best to sort stairs before you start any reno's, What is the aspect and what is the house built with, any google pictures of the house and block thanks

You’ve got a great canvas to work. Make sure you plan out al your structural changes for both levels before starting any work. Even if you need to stage the world having a plan upfront will save you stress and money in the long term.

Lovely old house.

Is the plan to jack it up and restump and excavate under and perhaps raise?

Can you pot the support columns on the basement plan. Do all the walls exist? A photo outside the alcove area may help

Yes that’s the plan. It’s not apparent where the support columns are located as most of the walls downstairs are besser block, with one exterior wall side in gyprock (undercover in alcove). It’s been DIY’d over the years to become a contained area but it’s not entirely sealed in areas as you can see to the floors upstairs and the laundry area is open to the outside. This will all be replaced, however unsure with what

So most walls will go with Reno downstairs. Are there any freestanding columns in multipurpose room,?

No freestanding columns in the multipurpose room

There are posts apparent in the other areas

You need to plot the columns you know. A pattern will emerge. Can you also add the missing dimensions from the front room downstairs I can work out how it matches upstairs so and overlay of the two would be good

Having just finished being involved with a House lift and the complexities that are involved with extending underneath, ie Load Bearing Walls and Piers that hold the roof up. They had their local experts in this field overseeing the final floorplan which is recommended, I suggested some different ideas with 2 & 3D images for them to consider and visualize.

If you choose to Excavate this could cause additional costs due to foundations being exposed. A good builder/Engineer/designer will be able to help you decide which would be the best way forward for your Lovely old Girl..

I know I have already asked but do you have any floorplans of the original building.

Can you confirm the depth of the Multipurpose room, my walls are all drawn 100, thanks

Unfortunately I don’t have the original plans. I’ll take a look at the posts and walls and mark it up on the plans. Will also dig around for any original plans that may have come through upon the title searches on sale

Council should have copies of the original house

I will look into finding the original house plans. I have so far only found the original estate land adverts when looking back into it's history

I marked the approximate posts. They look to be of a smooth concrete material - some boxed by gyprock. The internal walls are between 16-24cm thick (I am unable to measure Multipurpose 1 wall thickness as have no access, only Multipurpose 2). The dividing wall between rooms and the garage is besser block, as is used throughout the Utility/Undercroft/Store and Bedroom on one side.

There appears to be a void between the Bathroom and Multipurpose 2

Will be looking to engage a building designer

The idea is the existing staircase area could be converted into a butlers pantry for the second level.

Stairs could be then positioned within the front enclosed porch. I would like to avoid positioning the stairs in the bottom-left area, keeping this instead as access to the front sliding window which allows for the breeze to flow throughout the house.

I could not see another way of positioning the stairs that worked. Keeping in mind the block slopes up toward the back NW so hoping to minimise excavation work by keeping the habitable rooms at front - utility and store at rear (which could have lower ceiling heights)

exactly where is the current kitchen and what is the ceiling height below the verandah

Kitchen is next to the deck. It has been recently renovated so would avoid relocating unless it provides a significant improvement on the overall project

Height under deck is 70cm at its shallowest point. 2m at the highest

@siriuskey I've updated the plan above with kitchen marked

You mentioned the Kitchen has recently been done so I would suggest the stairs remain at the end of the dining and then opening into multipurpose room 1.

Without extending I thought you could move the Master to the front room with the Bay window, East is a lovely bedroom aspect, still using the middle bedroom for the WIR and Ensuite. The enclosed verandah becoming the 3rd bedroom/study. The rear bedroom 3 could be great a Guest bedroom for parents etc while maintaining the very small ensuite. Just something else to consider until you know which are the load bearing walls.

Or you could access the new room from the rear bedroom and extend the wardrobe into the old ensuite.

@siriuskey thanks, there are some interesting ideas here and I like how you’ve managed to optimise the space

@kate really like that idea

Thanks both, much appreciated. Lots of ideas to think about

There are many choices, it will all come down to Budget, ie Excavating and possible Under Pinning, Lifting the house or adding a second floor Master Suite etc.

This time I suggest new stairs that would work for both basement and new floor access, if you were to have the stairs down to the basement from here it would shorten the length of the actual garage parking space. Good luck

I had played with the stairs in this position as I think it overall works better, particularly for the downstairs layout. I wonder if I could fit both a staircase and ensuite within bedroom 2, and shift the internal walls to accomodate (using either bedroom as master). Would have loved a vertical window in the staircase to flow natural light into the centre of downstairs

Second option closes off the main bathroom as the master ensuite, then creating a powder room with shower for second bedroom and guests. If I can squeeze it. The master bath/bed construct needs refinement but you get the idea

This making bed 1 a bit smaller to get better width stairs and more storage

That works much better

Except, even though I added steps to your design, I still don’t think you have enough to get under the bedroom floor even for a 2400 ceiling height.

It may be that bedroom 1 door stays on the original side, near front door. I need to look closely at stair requirements

With the need to extend the stairs another consideration is the depth of the garage to unable 1 car to fit

Another suggestion for staircase to lower floor, working with 2400 ceilings. you would step off towards the rear keeping the garage depth to approx 4.8.

The master having the ensuite enter from within the Master which still allows for plenty of robe space.

This is a very interesting idea. A carport will be built so this allows for the existing garage area to also be utilised. I like the viewpoint to the stairs from the entry. It does manage to make it all work, and without the need to extend. This could work quite well

What software are you using to create the floorplans and 3D?

Now that you are adding a carport and not using the garage as such that will open up more space for the stairs to turn right instead of the suggested left., will be a better choice for the lower floorplan. A big window on the Northern wall opening to the staircase will add a lot of extra light to both floors. My Program is from 1997 and is no longer produced, you could look at learning to use "Sketchup"

I’ve wanted to add a vertical window there, to bring light into the downstairs middle area

That's a big part of the reason I suggested the side by side stairs so that would allow the Northern light and ventilation into both floors. The following idea for the bathrooms would work with the secondary bedrooms downstairs having their own full bathroom, the smaller upstairs bathroom would become the powder room to service the kitchen family and deck. Not knowing family numbers the front bedroom may not be used as often and could serve as a study.

Or similarly

I was going to suggest that you don't include a shower so that you could retain the second robe that is still shown in the drawing which made the Powder approx 1800 x 1800 once you make sure that there's enough width allowed for the door into the ensuite.

I'am not sure if It is a great idea to have the door opening directly from the kitchen into the Powder room though?

That’s a good point

Can you flip the bathroom so entry is opp master entry

Yes good solution

If you flip the entrance into your sugggested Powder room you will need to reduce part of the width of that space to allow for a door into the passage. The Master bedroom would then have a close up view straight into the bathroom at the vanity (bathroom doors are usually open when not in use and especially when they are without an external window) The shower rose in the ensuite would be on the external wall and not as shown in the 3d

It would be better to remove the shower from the Powder room and retain the Master robe, keeping the small entrance passageway for accessing these rooms at either or both ends

Thanks both. Lots of possibilities to think about here