Hubby and I have stayed in Venice twice, once with our young children. We took a vaporetto to Murano to visit the glassworks. Fascinating to watch the men work. The kids each were given a beautiful clear glass horse figurine, which all these years later they still treasure and display. On our last trip, we visited a small shop run by siblings. We purchased the last of a collection of seven pendant light globes their father had blown for the shop. They were all the same shape but different colours of glass. We purchased them for the new modern house we planned to build the following year or so. We are pleased and grateful to have such unique, handmade and time-honoured beauty embellish the spaces in our home, and the lights always interest guests and we then have a story to tell.

Restore the facade. Don't render as you'll loose the fabulous brickwork. Just re-point it. Do maintenance on the roof as needed. I'd pressure clean then see what it comes up like. If it's still a bit ordinary then paint it. I would do a bit of investigating on other original colour schemes before choosing charcoal, even though I admit the charcoal does look really good! By the way we render as we don't want to pay brickies to really use their craft so we buy cheap bricks and render. Render does look fine when used as a feature rather than a whole facade. Don't compete with neighbours make your house more desirable by keeping its character. I would however consider spending some good money on the landscaping. There are some superb gardens on these wonderful homes around the inner suburbs of Melbourne for example and would work great with yours.

before i draw your latest sketch here's another version "already prepared earlier" that might be worth considering (btw i strongly advise that you consult local council before we assume that re-building on the boundary is legal as building on the boundary creates major problem for any roof and proper drainage)... you will notice i've added extra separation between the kitchen and toilets and there's space for a tall narrow window into the courtyard from the bathroom (although any window in the pantry would be best as a narrow splash back with external shutters for a view to the courtyard without hot western sun) and your kitchen servery window photo is idealand this is the closest photo i could find for the north window and here is a suggestion for the new roof that would echo the roof of the main house and include the north facing clerestory window and raked ceiling..the 3d "view" is a very rough approximation of the north facing window over the kitchen but angles of the new roof, ceiling height and number of steps down to the extension will be subject to careful on site measurement

Louise, sorry but u are messing with a good design - have a read of the design notes at yourhome.gov.au. The design is a 7star design including reverse brick veneer (fancy term for bricks on the inside..thermal storage), the roof line is changed - have a look at the high up windows which provide light and warmth, the bedrooms are now at the back of the building (cold and darker). the whole design is now changed, airflow is affected as is the wonderful views that the building would have from each room (except the media room - and who cares with that anyway?) Also I am proposing a double garage/carport with a nice breezeway to connect the house. Also the study is now gone! As I suggested above, the trees on the east may have to make way for the home, but in the long run they can be restablished, and the garden modified to suit the contours of the land, and the look of the new building.