I think it is load bearing as the beams are not big enough to span the full width of the house. You will need advice from a structural engineer to specify an appropriate steel beam to take the load. It won't be an easy or cheap job. You will also need to think about the floor finishes and how they transition between rooms - what happens in the gap between the tiles where the wall was? I would suggest that you live in your new home for 12 months before knocking down walls as you may find the separation between living areas valuable in reducing noise, or controlling heat/cold. Best of luck with your new home, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls and Dr Retro Virtual Visits

Hi Ellen We had exactly the same problem with our renovation. An old kitchen was behind a wall. The wall was not structural so it could either be removed entirely for an island bench or as we did, cut down to 1.2m high which provided both a servery shelf plus a visual block to the messy kitchen from the dining area. The existing wall allowed us to include electrics for existing light switches, powerpoint and ceiling fans on the end. We left the sink where it was to save on plumbing but got rid of the cooktop bench at the end which always results in unusable corners. The whole kitchen cabinetry and appliances are from IKEA. To keep the look completely open we put the fridge against the wall opposite and included a new IKEA shelf unit with drawers and baskets for our pantry - miles of extra storage.

i thought about a laundry chute but it's much too big and with the enlargement of the garage the laundry chute now doesn't line up as before and your washing would fall into the garage.....and, if you plan to use the guest bathroom from the pool, i think you need a wider distance between the pool and the fence as i understand that you can have only one gate into the pool area and i expect that will need to be on the alfresco side and you'll need an extra pool fence parallel to the boundary??...but how do you feel about mu suggestions for changes to the pantry and kitchen (nb enlarging the garage makes it too narrow for the previous laundry and pantry arrangement and you either lose the extra counter from the pantry or the wall of storage in the laundry but can't keep both without taking more space off the kitchen, dining or living areas... can you add dimensions for all the rooms and distances from house to the boundaries

I'm just trying to work everything out , and what happened when basically . The front seems quite nice , but I'm trying to work out the original floorplan -- I'm wondering if it was originally a 2 bedroom cottage , with the left side of the house ( looking from the front ) as a lounge and maybe kitchen/dining behind , then an outhouse ? Looking at the pictures and the floorplan , where the kitchen is now is in part of the fibre cement 'addition 1' ? It doesn't look old enough to have had a lower kitchen on a concrete slab -- that slab was generally a step down , and often on one side or the other , but I guess it could have been at the rear , but then it would have been likely to have been in brick too . You say the kitchen is 'falling to bits' ( well , not quite ) -- basicaly , I did wonder about 'just' recladding the rear , maybe demolish the rear lounge and laundry and rebuild that , maybe a bit bigger/deeper , and maybe even step it down , so then you could have sliding doors and a larger terrace , even if it is 150mm lower again ( I'm not a fan because of trip hazards , but some designs are better than others ) . BUT to throw a spanner in the works , how about demo the rear , rebuild kitchen/dining/lounge/terrace 30 or 40cm lower , maybe even on a concrete slab , BUT do a couple of bedrooms and family room/office/master and ensuite / whatever upstairs ? Or maybe 2 more bedrooms , ensuite , bathroom , powder room , study , laundry , whatever you want downstairs , and then kitchen / dining / lounge / family upstairs to get the views ? Basically , a character front and modern rear , maybe match some design elements -- I know you've said a forever home , but value wise in your area you'd probably get your $$$$ back and more -- only problem is it won't be cheap . Its like saying that $1 million painting is sure to appreciate -- thats good in theory , but if you can't afford to buy it , it doesn't overly matter haha .