Yes we possibly could have, however then the Entertaining, Living areas of the home would have been on the First Floor which would have meant incorporating a larger Patio on this level. You also must remember over 80% of owners of Two Storey homes prefer bedrooms on the First Floor, so you we need to take this into consideration for our clients potential resale of their home.

All the 'sad' and disapppinted people commenting here; those who 'dislike this and that, or want to see 'character' retained, etc, etc, ought to get out more; to go see the world. As far as I can see, much of the architectual integrity HAS been retained. Is this 'sadness' a Victorian thing?; must we save all the old buildings, all the trees, the whole planet - from what? For what? Despite the hype, we're not likely to tip the place off it's axis anytime soon. Likewise with older houses; give them fresh breath, i say. Using whatever our creative and forward-looking brains can offer us is a positive solution to all things. My recently renovated heart agrees! This cosmetic reno' is nothing short of a grand improvement on its' former presentation; it's lighter, brighter and far more livable; refecting the owners outlook on life, I'd say. So, to all the 'experts', to those who want to pretend that they'd prefer to live in the dark ages - say, the 70's which were notoriously bland and most everything built then was built to a tough budget. ( I remember building in the 70's, in the 80s', renovating and building in the 90s', the nouties and still renovating now; i just can't seem to leach it out of my DNA as I complete the restoration of a 1930's Cal' Bung', one runied in the 70s' by some hapless 'handyman' who insatlled a plastic Chub and added a Victorian bull-nose verandah! All my homes turned out differently as my tastes and budget changed. Beginning in 1974 when I painted the front door of my 60's 2-bedder, bright yellow, the weatherboards 'Conifer'; the darkest posible green, now cracking in the sun, no doubt! Or has it been renovated by some 21st century house-hipsters? Then in 1976 I chose Avo' toilets, basins and bath ! Used native timbers, unpainted T & G everywhere, too ) I pulled out 'space wasting' french doors and installed open arches ! And wall-papered everything that didn't move. Not every so-called 'mid-century' home is a classic, or is worth preserving. Like this one probably was, they were pretty darned ordinary, particularly compared to those of the Victorian, Edwardian, the Art Deco and Californian Bungalow styles before them; all of which HAD definable chararcter, had enduring stlye; and are much sought-after and highly valued for having it laid, thickly, throughout. 70s' era homes were / are lacking wholly in character; and they lacked space, lacked insulation, lacked lots of design and comfort amenity we all want and deserve today. They're, nevertheless, given a new and longer life when younger eyes and energy are applied to their renovation, design and decor. Good on them!

Find out who built the home. If it is a company, then you have warranties for structural problems. Give them a call and see what they can do. We bought a home that was four years old, built by dale alcock homes. There were issues with the hob around bath. They came out and fixed at no charge. The warranties are for the home, not its owner, so therefore get carried on to new owners.

your house looks like an 80's home with a sunken lounge. I live in an 80's single level house like yours and love the spacious feeling, do you have raked ceilings? If it was me I would make small changes so suggest the following, 1) If the eave is deep enough I would push your sons bedroom wall out this would give him a good sized bedroom with access to the next bedroom and bathroom for his "PAD" 2) There is a flow problem with the house with accessing the bedrooms as you have to step down into and back up from the family/rumpus/living at two points. Keeping the "fireplace" insitu I would take part of the internal bedroom to allow for a passage across from the entrance to the bedroom wing. the reduced bedroom would make a great study or guest room. you can keep both step down points or close off the wall from the fireplace to the master bedroom 3) another problem with the house is internal access to the alfresco, at the moment it would only be via the family/rumpus or master bedroom, I suggest that the alfresco decking be split level to allow for large sliding doors coming off the new open plan kitchen. The door into the existing kitchen be kept but remove the laundry which will allow for a bigger dining table. 4) The laundry could be moved into the planned office/guest.pool room which would be perfect if there was access down the L/H side of the house for hubbie coming home and needing a cleanup which would be done in the same space, which could also be his man cave!! 5) The granny flat needs to be sorted by a local designer to get the best possible result, I have heard that a studio is more readily approved over a granny flat (siriuskey)