I think these are a unique architecture feature if: 1. You have the cash to pay someone to come in weekly to maintain it, or 2. You want to develop it as a special interest/hobby for yourself. If you don't fit either of these 2 groups- don't do it. Expensive dead nemo's aren't fun.

Katherine, I am just curious about the look of the rest of your house? For example, what look is the kitchen and external look of house. I love your bathroom, but not sure if it would match the era of my house. I am beginning to think that in bathrooms, they really only look unique and have an extra "something" when the floors aren't the typical grey, charcoal, beige........not sure what to do yet with mine...

Lovely fireplace, but back to the two main questions. Will removing the render make a mess? Yes, there is no easy, clean way to remove render, and there is no guarantee that the material underneath the render will be in a condition that you would want to live with, without additional finishing. The fine dust will be the worst as it gets everywhere. Is there sandstone under the render? Based on the age of the house and being of cheaper weatherboard construction I would have thought it unusual to have an expensive, labour intensive sandstone fireplace, unless it was a sandstone veneer on top of structural brickwork, which was commmon in the late 1950's and 1960's. However you did mention that there are sandstone stumps which are pretty rare, as hardwood, brick or concrete stumps were commonly used. Why would anybody craft sandstone stumps? Your close-up photo does look like it may be sandstone, although it could be where the decorative, textured, top render coat has chipped away from the coarser, base render coat. I am curious to know why anybody would render a sandstone fireplace, and the sandstone plinth below the weatherboard? I think that the first thing you need to do is to confirm that the stumps and plinth are actually sandstone, as they would be very unusual for a 1950's weatherboard house. I am not sure how structurally safe sandstone stumps would be unless they were broad and shallow, not thin and tall like most stumps. The curved, upper part of the fireplace is most likely bricks laid as a soldier course, with render over the top, as curved sandstone slab is hard to carve cost-effectively. If the height of this curved part is about 230mm-240mm then it is most likely brickwork. You can also check the recess between the rectangular base and curved top to see if it matches standard brick dimensions. I would be very cautious about removing the current render as I think that it is less likely there is sandstone underneath, and even if there is sandstone it won't be in great condition being a porous stone which has had render over the top. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls

Re karen3812's comment about the direction of the flooring, it would be good to know what was behind the decision to do it as they did