. Sounds a great house and location. Lots of options. You didn’t say where master should be. It could be in either front room. Here I have put it in lounge turning hall bath into ensuite. But no wir.

Sorry image posted multiple times poor internet in Italy

Kate, what are you doing using HOUZZ from Italy??

Hi Kate, thank you for your idea. To answer your questions, Bed 2 is technically the master bedroom although i use it more as a guest room given that it is next to the main road. I use Bed 3, which gets some nice afternoon light.

I have previously considered how feasible the existing lounge would be as a master bedroom. My main concern about this is privacy though given that it's adjacent to the porch and patio. However I do like how you have factored in the existing bathroom and added a toilet. I was concerned about whether i might need to move the stairs to the basement but your design has highlighted that i might not necessarily need to do that.

we haven't asked how you will use the house but the external entry door at the south east corner suggests a private entry to two beds & bath room with off street parking for a private B&B for family beach holidays? ..original living and bath for a master suite with wiw (and secret storage above the cellar stairs) and i would enclose a private walled northern courtyard with a double garage and family entry to a new kitchen family dining area with old bed 5 for the new bathroom and old study for the new laundry... the big rooms can be multi purpose with up to 5 bedrooms, 2-3 living areas and three bathrooms...unable to read exact dimensions to be precise but suggest the extension at a lower level with L shaped hip roof but i have to say that my suggestions will probably cost more than 20% of purchase price

Lovely block. Have you confirmed your set backs with Council? Being in a corner will have some restrictions particularly if you knock down existing. You can’t assume that you can rebuild in the same footprint. And an asbestos report would be a good place to start before you decide on what you’re demolishing and adjusting.

That's a very cool design oklouise! It's interesting that both you and Kate have suggested having the existing lounge as the master bedroom. Maybe i need to move my bed in there to experience it first hand?! I was going to say that perhaps this would be at the upper end of my renovation budget but i like your train of thought and i appreciate you sharing :-) With that, i'm wary of over capitalising? Conscious that given my location i'm not looking for a budget renovation but i don't want to go overboard at the same time. Obviously costs differ according to location, but if you had to put a $ amount on your design, what you would you estimate?

As for future usage, that's a good question. I live by myself (with my 8 year old kelpie, who loves the back yard!). I have thought of potentially renting a room (or rooms) out to international students.

bigreader, thanks for your comment and you make some really valid points. I have not approached council yet. This is about getting some inspiration. I do know of a couple of sheets of asbestos in the main lean to that will need to be removed. The house is heritage contributory.

i hesitate to guess a budget but a similar sized reno we did a few years ago exceeded $400,000 but are all the old extensions beyond repair and what new rooms are essential? ...there are probably many alternate options that would be cheaper but could you enlarge the plans to make dimensions easier to read so we can look at other options

I wouldn’t worry about over capitalisation, seeing that Adelaide has overtaken Melbourne in housing market rise. With the your position, five bedrooms and on the corner is be worthwhile having a talk to a realtor who specialise in executive housing and getting a professional appraisal of where you could be aiming

Ok, i've added what i hope will be a better image of the floorplan, although it contains the layout of the basement as well! I was thinking that my budget was going to be up to $250k, which i guess means $220k plus safety net.

And to answer your question. Yes the extension that is there is pretty shoddy!

Renovations are so expensive. I’ve posted summaries before: the plans/permits/paperwork will be about $30k, demolition without asbestos will be about $30-40k, new extension construction will be about $3500/sqm, alterations to the existing house will be about $5k/sqm. A base fitout of a new kitchen is a minimum $23k, base bathroom $15k, base laundry $3k. Plus paint, flooring replacement or repair, window coverings, light fittings. Old houses always have a hidden problem so $30-40k for that. If you start a spreadsheet you can start doing a list of likely costs. Archicentre also have a summary but it’s a bit understated for current costs.

Off topic, but I have serious house envy, Richard. Fell in love with South Australian stone homes when we lived there. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. My tiny advice input is to consult a couple of builders, even before you speak to your architect/draftsperson. The (relatively) minor cost for an hour or two of their time is invaluable imo. They will have a working/ballpark knowledge of what’s permissible, how far your budget will stretch, what’s worked for similar projects etc. AND all the local goss. It’s also a good way to trial how your working relationship might gel.

Being a former South Australian Jan I understand your love of the local stone buildings they are special. We once owned a house in ADL that had a tunnel going across to the neighboring house, both were originally owned by the same family.

Richard that's a big house for you and your dog any plans for a pool ? and Is the side street one way

Some more ideas for you to consider, maintaining to lean to buildings or replacing them. And there has been room for a Wine Cellar using the stairs, what height is the ceiling, you might need to excavate a bit, we did that for a Wine Cellar under our Federation house 1912.

Thank you all! And yes, it is a big house for me! There is a story behind how i ended up buying it, but it's an awesome house!

Jan Dobson, thank you for your advice. I think that i will do some door knocking on houses that are currently having some renovations done to get an understanding of how they have gone about planning them. Hopefully will get some good links.

siriuskey, thank you for your design. Yes, i do already store my wine in the cellar! :-) The previous owner dug much of it out. It's about 1.9-2m high but i believe that it has to be 2.1m plus having good ventilation to be considered as habitable. As for outside, it is a big block. I don't want to do too much permanent work outside. Whilst friends of mine have told me about how good it would be to subdivide, this is not something that i wish to do. However, it does represent a good insurance policy of sorts.

Would any of you consider knocking through from the dining room to the lounge and having one open plan space that way?

i would always aim to keep the original bigger vintage decorated rooms and knocking together dining and living means losing two walls, bathroom and basement stairs.. think about combining the beds 4, 5 and the study but then you need to find somewhere else for main bathroom ...renovating is often more expensive than a simple extension so you need to cost all ideas but i would be thinking about how you plan to use the house long term ...is it an investment or a home for yourself or both

That's great advice! Thank you. I guess that I was coming from the perspective of losing a kitchen if I got rid of the lean to

You can reclad and re roof the "Lean to sections you want to keep to update their appearance, keeping in mind to keep some of the current foot print , ie' work shop bathroom on boundary.

And always best to keep any decorative ceilings etc intact and yes 2100 is allowed for some rooms, laundry kitchen utility rooms, wine cellars.

We would all love to hear your story

Hi Richard,

Following this as we bought a very similar home in Perth 2 years ago - the original floorplan is remarkably similar, 1906 construction I believe.

We’re still considering what to do with her when we do our big renovation (including removing a 70s extension). In the meantime, we’ve made the “living room” equivalent our master bedroom, and the ”bed 1” is our formal lounge. Felt like the natural choices for us- although our orientation is with the north at the back, and our primary street is to the south with secondary street to the west (so our now-master bedroom faces east and isn’t street facing).

Our now-master has such generous proportions and lovely character features and feels really luxurious. I love and admire it every single day. If yours is the same you won’t regret it!

Love to see what you do with it!