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The subject property is a mid 50's ranch, about 1500 SF, built in 3 separate parts (original floor plan). Looking at house from front, you see the following from left to right:
Part One: 2-car garage with step up to front-to-back dining room. Entry to garage is in the middle of the long wall of the DR.
Part Two: couple feet wider than Part One both front and back. Imagine this part split in half lengthwise with the living room with fireplace in front, kitchen and full bath in back.
Part Three: at right angles to Parts One and Two, this section of the house contains 3 bedrooms in a row, front to back, with a hallway on the left bisecting it from Part Two. The BR's are bigger on the front and back of the house. The middle bedroom is smaller, losing some space to a 3/4 bath between it and the hallway. You can enter the bath from either the hallway or the BR.
Here's the problem.
- We would like to make an open floor plan between the kitchen and living room, like removing the walls on either side of the fireplace, exposing the huge chimney, and leave only one entry to this room from the front hallway, which would be through the kitchen side. We'd close up the wall on the LR side to give back some needed wall space.
(maybe opening walls on either side of the LR fireplace?)
- The front to back dining room has a lot of wasted space and a single tiny windows at each end. We want to install new big windows, leave the DR table at the kitchen end, and make a much bigger opening on the LR side to expand the open floor plan feeling. We'd also like to move the garage entry door to one end or the other, rather than have it in the middle of the room.
- How to improve the bedrooms? That's a real tough one. The bigger rooms are about 13x12, the small one maybe 10x11 or so. The 3/4 bath is really tiny. Not sure what to do about this except putting on a small addition that would extend one of the bigger bedrooms out to make a huge master....but now we're talking real money I guess.
Anyone dealt with a ranch re-arrangement before? Ideas? Suggestions? Pitfalls? All thoughts welcomed. Oh--- the house is in a VERY nice neighborhood, all other houses being way more expensive but this house has the best lot. So it would be almost impossible to overspend on improvements, but we're not made of money. We just would like to make the house as nice as possible for us without screwing up the resale value.
Does the house have clear span trusses or is the roof stick framed ? If trussed, you can do what you want rather easily with interior walls and such. Take them out, move them... whatever ! If not then you have some issues to deal with as the ceiling joists are dependent on the existing walls and you will have to deal with that in the form of headers where you want to change openings in existing walls. Moving and/or completely removing walls will be virtually impossible while being cost effective under this circumstance.
As for the windows on the exterior wall you want to make into one big one..... that is sort of a big project as you need to hold up the roof & ceiling while framing a new window opening with header. It's a bit of a job.
Thanks for the comments so far. I should mention that this is a house we are seriously considering buying, but do not yet own. I appreciate the feedback of things to think about. It seems like an awesome buy - very solid, high-end for its time and style, and there's nothing else in an as-good or better location for a similar price right now.
1) sorry, I don't have an accurate floorplan (measured), only a very rough drawing, not sure that would help much. Was hoping people who had knowledge of similarly built ranches might know some pros/cons off the top of their head
2) I do have several reputable contractors ready to take a closer look and make bids, not sure about the additional expense of an architect...
3) thank you, Stephan, for the valuable information on trusses vs stick framed. We'll definitely check this out; hopefully there's a crawl space somewhere to get a good look. I understand from our agent's initial check that "headers are in place" that could be used to expand into new and better windows; e.g., longer, not necessarily wider.
I'm willing to bet that house is stick framed all the way as trusses were not very common in the 50's..... there should be attic access so just pop your head in and have a look. You should be looking up there anyway to see what kind of insulation is present and how much if your thinking of purchasing it..... and to check for any past or present leaks/damage..... 3 birds with one stone !
I would recommend a home inspection by a licensed home inspector. Expect to pay up to a few hundred dollars but it is money well worth spent since he will write a full evaluation of all of the major systems and answer all of your questions about a possible remodel.
I would never buy a house without having this done except if it were a new home, never occupied, and even in some of those cases, if you don't know a thing about construction, it is best to have one done anyway. The licensed professionals guarantee their work and stand behind their findings.
Considering how much money you are about to spend, a few hundred dollars will protect you immensely if they find major hidden problems or nix your ideas about the remodel.
Thanks, Brian -- we are having the house inspected, and meeting with a construction/renovation guy. With all the "mid-century" fans I hoped that someone could tell me what they've done with a similar floorplan. I've also been looking all over the web at original ranch designs to see if there was anything similar but perhaps designed slightly differently (better for my purposes). I'm thinking that even slight modifications might make the whole thing work better, instead of spending megabucks on an addition.
Couple of reasons: you mention some aesthetic issues (the fireplace) and some "flow" problems you wish to resolve. Architects are uniquely trained to deal with those issues and to think about space and light and traffic patterns in the way that other professionals are not (and no, I am not an architect).
Secondly, you mention that you bought a smaller house in a great neighborhood and that it is a classic 50's ranch. Good, solid Mid Century architecture deserves a little respect in it's own right. An architect will help you up-date your home without committing the dreaded sin of remuddling.
I don't know about structure issues but my first thought was to open up the kitchen and living room like you described. Can the fireplace be opened up on both sides so both rooms can enjoy it? Also instead of a larger windows does the DR open up to the Back yard? Maybe french doors to an outdoor living area/bbq area to help open it up?
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