To Knockdown Rebuild or Renovate?
Hi all…looking for some insights/inspiration/general advice…we are looking at either an extensive renovation to the existing house or clean knockdown rebuild.
Our goals is to build a family home for the next 10-15 years…we have 2 young kids and want to utilise the space as efficiently as possible.
The property is 710m2 and has front and rear access, with the rear back yard north facing. We are very happy with the orientation of the block and want to maintain as much rear garden as possible + capture the light into the house.
The existing house is a ~1950 built brick veneer house of approx. 150m2. Structurally in good condition and we love the red brick (which we want to either retain or recycle)…However, if we are to retain the property the internal configuration needs redesigning and fully updating + plus an extension (upstairs) for additional space.
If we are to knock-down and rebuild we would look to achieve the following outcomes:
We are, thinking 4 bedrooms, 2 down and 2 up. The idea of 2 levels is to have the house on minimal footprint to give us max outdoor space, mostly to the rear.
Downstairs:
- Master bedroom (WIR) and spare room / 2nd living. Both located at the front (south end of the block).
- Study; a small study…half room size
- Bathroom x 1. We don’t need an ensuite, perhaps a door way from the MB but just a master bathroom is fine.
- Laundry + mudroom. Mudroom as an alternate entry point to main doorway.
- Living to the north facing out to the rear garden. Large windows/high ceilings etc. Semi open plan living; dining+sitting adjacent, but thinking kitchen located perhaps off to the side. We don’t want a super large room with all in, want some sort of segregation between these spaces (retain the current L shape design of the house).
- 1.5x car carport to the south / east of the block, access via existing driveway. There is a garage at the rear which we will keep.
Upstairs: kids domain
- 2 x bedrooms
- Bathroom
- Living area
- If we can, we want to capture views to the south as we are elevated.
Outdoors:
- Rear garden to the north we would like to have level from a deck off the living area. I note the slope of the block will make this tricky, so keen to look at solutions.
- Retain space along the north/eastern boundary for a pool (in the future/pipedream!). But have this area accessible and as a feature.
Overall, we do not want a super large home…we want a well-designed house where we actively utilise all space across our daily lives. So, thinking in total 250-300m2.
The questions I am looking to answer are:
- Is the house worth keeping and renovating. Is the structure sufficient to be the foundation of an extensive renovation.
- What are the likely costs of a full renovation to achieve our goals Vs a knockdown rebuild.
- Looking for anyone who has an eye for design to give us some guidance of how they would renovate this property. Design + layout ideas etc.
- Anything else that would be useful for us in the decision making process…we are green!
Thank you all
Richard
Comments (6)
User
3 months agoRelated Discussions
Need help for exterior fixes for log house with an identity crisis :-)
Comments (19)Hi pjfee2...thanks for your ideas. Have to admit I have not given the reno in MT much thought this summer, here!! Actually been finishing our beach house re-build down here and a bit 'reno'd out' to be honest. BUT we head back in just over a month so it’s time I did give it some serious thought, so your comments very much appreciated. Already got builders organized so that’s a start LOL I love the idea of adding stone on the outside to the turret part – but guessing that is as far as the budget would stretch. The siding is in good shape so need to stain it to work. Love the idea of pulling a color from the turret stone to do this. Will get a stone that has some of the log house gingery color in it and then stain the newer part of house a tone of this?? So far I’m sure we will · Rebuild the deck to run across the front of the house and form the roof over the front door entryway · Make the entry way wider and mud room inside bigger · Replace the small window to the bathroom with a door off the deck, matching the French doors. · Replace the tiny window in the turret with a longer one. · Cover turret with schist or stone cladding Not sure about replacing the windows under the deck. Added a picture of them from the inside. This living space is the hardest to figure out how to furnish in this house. It has quite a lot of light from a large window on the left wall - out of this shot - and across the back of the room through a wide door way to the room at the back. Thinking of opening up this wall? And from the inside they seem pretty well balance? Big problem in that room is that there is not a lot of places that we can use to create a sitting area. Need to get a couple of sofas in there and push them around to see what will work. It has 4 doors leading off and as you can see large log posts dotted about!! ANDd a stairwell going down to lower level and garages. Not a lot of space to play with. OK time for another coffee...its 7.30am down here!!...See MoreBathroom
Comments (4)Have lived in places with a tiled window -- tile the sides and top as well as the ledge, so that you go right up to the caulk/frame/glass. Works to let out some steam and store shampoo too!...See MoreAn old beach house badly needing a paint job!
Comments (41)The setting is quite tropical, so a darker scheme with white trims has such a tropical holiday feel. You may consider using a concrete face brick for the lower section. This will be modern, and eliminate the need for painting, while still creating contrast with the upper level. Try a colour for the main house like Resene Evolution, or Quarter Evolution, both would be perfect for your style of home. The colour scheme that we recommend for you is our Rainforest Board which includes everything you need to bring the look together! https://www.bodoboards.com.au/collections/paint-concept/products/rainforest-paint-concept We would love to see updates as you go.. its going to be great!...See MoreFloor Plan Ideas
Comments (7)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....See Morebigreader
3 months agodreamer
3 months agoI agree, the home has too much character to demolish. This is a rough sketch of what you could do with the existing home. Then add a new extension for kitchen, dining, and laundry overlooking the back yard. Existing Laundry becomes bathroom.
dreamer
3 months agoAnother similar alternative is to demolish the existing laundry and toilet, and square off that area for a completely new extension. Existing Kitchen and dining becomes master bedroom with BIR, then a ensuite in new extension walking through to laundry, through to outside. This will give a mud room/laundry access from outside, with access to bathroom for pool uses. Old kitchen becomes the walkthrough to new extension, adding storage on right hand wall. You could have your high ceilings and windows open to the north overlooking your garden and proposed pool.
PROKitchen and Home Sketch Designs
2 months ago
Kate