the dimensions are too small to read ..could you enlarge dimensions for the original floor plans and is there any garage or outdoor entertaining area?.. a site plan showing approx distance to all boundaries and other buildings would be helpful

Hopefully these are a little better. These are the plans from when we purchased the house in 2006.

I suspect to give a really indepth answer , we'd need a lot more info , such as load bearing walls , which ones can and which can't be easily moved or removed , ceiling heights , whether the verandas drop down floor height wise , whether they can be 'windowed' in ( I suspect they may be arches from that era ? , even things like getting under the house to move plumbing and other services .

At a quick look , Option 1 looks better , but some things I wonder about -- the study looks large ? I assume the stairs are existing -- how is the headroom at the halfway 'turn' ? Downstairs shows double width stairs , upstairs single , which is fine unless there isn't sufficient headroom at the 'turn' .

IF you decided to do only 1 bathroom downstairs , I'd be inclined to look at not having that cupboard in the hall outside the Master bedroom , make it a door so Bed 2 can use it as the bath entrance ( with a lock that is normally locked to stop accidents ) .

I also wonder about going from double side doors into the dining room ( which you said are used by almost everyone -- I assume there is a driveway or path along that side of the house ? ) to a single door into the kitchen ? Practical , but may be annoying / offputting with time .

It seems you are trying to move minimum walls , but it looks like a reasonable amount of compromises -- hard to judge or suggest without more info though

Need dimensions

It is actually quite a complex problem without enough information supplied. My suggestions is NOT to take design and building advice from a real estate agent. Two storey houses in a heritage area need a sensitive and professional design hand, especially if trying to work with a tight budget within the constraints of the existing building envelope. While lots of possibilities can be put forward it is unlikely that they any be the perfect and cost-effective solution. Good design doesn't work like that.

I would suggest that you engage a local design professional who has experience with heritage homes and who can work to a budget. Or sell your house now and buy the house that fits the family before embarking on an expensive renovation that may not see a financial return within five years.

Best of luck with your research,

Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls and Dr Retro Virtual Visits

acknowledging everything said by others my suggestions based on very little information would be to make no changes to external doors and windows, keep the original laundry and location of the kitchen (any changes don't add appreciable extra living area) and, subject to relocating entry to master bedroom, make better use of the hallway for the new ens shower, add extra storage to the master bedroom, move the linen cupboard and make a full width pantry and appliance space with or without doors for a new kitchen.. the new ens is too cramped for a bathtub but has a double shower and vanity, keeps the original location for the toilet and adds extra space to the wiw and the old study makes a much better guest bathroom with a bathtub and a new doorway from the entry hall making more wall space in the dining room and separation from living areas and kitchen...upstairs has two similar sized bedrooms, a study and renewed bathroom...outside consider a covered porch/mudroom to the dining entry and maybe some new landscaping might make better use of the formal entry porch for guests

Some more ideas for you to consider, I have added an extra WC in the laundry as you mentioned a pool and Tennis Court? without knowing if you already have this covered.

The new kitchen still gives everyone easy access to coming and going plus great for a new BBQ space. I felt that the internal access to the kitchen family was squeezed into a corner so I have added a larger better placed opening. There's still a smaller linen and wonder if the space under the stairs could also become linen storage. The down stairs bathroom becomes a combined Powder room and bathroom .

Thanks everyone. We will certainly be engaging professionals. I have just been going through the process myself to try and figure out what is more important to us as there will need to be compromises.

There are certainly a few new ideas to consider.

We have also been looking at what is available to buy in the area but our current house actually has a lot going for it for the stage we are right now and the age of our kids. In 5 years we may look at moving and our needs will most likely be different then.

We always recommend going to a local Pro , on site inspections are invaluable, look forward to seeing the end result