it should be relatively easy to add an extension but by the time you add a good sized master suite and new living area with better kitchen i'm wondering if it would be better to long term plan on a knock down rebuild to have a two storey house with garage and direct entry at upper ground level with internal stairs and more useable downstairs...depending on how many people would live in the house immediately you could move the laundry downstairs and create an entry ramp deck to a new front door through the original laundry

yes agreed and thankyou ... definitely the best thing in the long run would be knock-down & rebuild, bring the house forward and access it from street level. But I figure that to be a $800k-$1M project at the end of the day, which is beyond us :(

You probably need to split the difference. 300-400k arguably too light for an extension scenario which involves mucking around with existing, but for around 500-600k you could possibly get close....the key is the solution and minimising changes to the existing layout and consolidating budget to a clean extension, which could be achieved with an interesting split level concept, which would give you a far more interesting and unique home than any off the shelf thing you could find..........the knockdown option is always the easy way out, on face value, dollar for dollar value yes it appears you can get "more" for your money, BUT when you factor in embodied energy and environmental principles there's actually no argument which is the more expensive option, for the planet and future generations....I digress....

The projects we deal with are exclusively clean builds on a vacant allotment or extension/renovations where we endeavour to salvage as much as possible for re-purposing of the existing home......ultimately comes down to balancing your personal priorities, project goals and available finance

Good luck! PD

www.pauldistefanodesign.com

Really appreciate your input Paul, thanks!

Sounds beautiful but maybe wrong for you at this time. what budget would you expect to work with. Zillow is a Californian site,? this is Australian Houzz

Looks lovely. House nice & high but I think I'd check creek flooding history anyway.

I like the old layout on paper but it's so different walking around I. the space. Your new plan looks fine but maybe you could live in the house for 6 months first - to get a real feel of the reno you want.

Thanks all!!

@siriuskey ... not sure about Zillow, never heard of it? This house is in Frankston South, Melbourne

@Cee ... thanks for the point about living in it first ... what you feel going in may not be what you feel a year later!

that was strange when I clicked on the link immediately after your post it brought up a different page. Great spot Frankston. It is a lovely house but with your parents needs it will make it expensive. I did see a Blueys Beach House years ago that had an external thing that looked like a furniture lift which took several people but it's gone now

@siriuskey thanks ... I did find that (internal) residential lifts are now approx $30k ...

Not a cheap item, neighbours sold their two story house, the cost of a lift was a lot so they have sold and are building a new home, good luck

@siriuskey, assuming space isn't an issue, which it probably is, $30k would be a lot less than the stamp duty.

They had the perfect position for the lift, but with the Government offers available they decided to go with the new build single level house for easier access to everything., even though their old house was on a canal which they loved.

Room for a ramp? The visiting parents + you don't want a minor thing like a sprained ankle preventing access to your own home.

@Cee it will have to be explored, but the direct route is a 2m vertical to maybe 7m horizontal. For that much fall we would probably want 24m of horizontal to get a 1:12 slope. The block width is probably about 15m.

I have visited houses in the Dandenongs & NSW like this with steep inclines but wonderful views.

The house is primarility for you. How often will family visit?

To be honest, unless we sorted a ramp or something like that, neither of our fathers would ever really be able to visit. We've pretty much decided we cant go for it. In the meantime, if you're curious, I developed another option:

your idea looks good but make sure that you first check with local councils about setbacks before assuming that anything can be built to any boundary...and too many stairs are not just a problem for the elderly and disabled it can be a real nuisance when you need to supervise small kids playing in the yard and a real pain when carrying groceries and washing up and down stairs.. good luck with your ongoing search for the perfect new home

@oklouise great advise, much appreciated

okay so I haven't read all the ideas and comments so forgive me if I'm doubling up. What about lifting the house up? Maybe you could have it raised to the same height as entry. It might seem drastic but isn't as much as you think. That would keep the original footprint of house on block, and have plenty of space under for a granny flat. My parents had a house like that. They built a big carport that came off the driveway and it connected to the house. It was essentially spanning the gap. the drive sloped down a ways and then the carport came across.

btw they often used this area for entertaining you could potentially even still connect the carport to a verandah running down the side to the existing entry? My maim concern with extensions on a house this tight on the block is you would loose that air flow and connection to the garden and vista you love so much. the driveway was still large enough to accommodate 2 cars and sit in the carport.

Hi ... had considered it briefly but probably not seriously enough. It has a brick veneer front but other sides are weatherboard. I had assumed, perhaps incorrectly, that the brick veneer would rule out raising the house? Although probably you would just knock that front brick veneer away.

no I don't believe so... not if its not structural brick. if it's a veneer then it's still a framed building which I assumed from the weatherboard. But I live closer to qld and so there are a lot more of these businesses. Might be prohibitive in VIC. My parents used a company with a hydraulic lift to put the house there. it was pretty easy actually. Our house is 2 storeys up and we need to restump, for a small 3 bed house you are looking at around $30,000.

Perhaps the granny flat could be upstairs even? If downstairs is raised up a bit with the restumping, you could have a whole retreat suite for yourselves.

I think making it work for you is worthwhile.

really great ideas. Thanks :)