Victorian Mid Terrace Extension Advice & Creative Ideas Needed
We recently (4 months ago) purchased and moved in to a 2-bed Victorian mid-terrace house which we are looking to extend.
I have had a few thoughts about how we can extend the downstairs of the house/the various configurations and would love to hear other ideas from people who have extended similar homes.
The coloured attachment is our current layout. The two reception rooms (living and dining room) have already been knocked through to create one open-plan room and the kitchen is part of the original house. The room marked office at the back of the kitchen is the only part that has been so far added to the original house.
Idea 1 -
Originally I wanted to knock through from the kitchen in to the office and then extend a little further, in order to create a larger open plan kitchen with an area for a sofa/coffee table and doors opening out to the garden. However, the internal wall that separates the kitchen and the office is the original external wall, has the original chimney breast running through it and is extremely thick, so removing it is a huge job that I was not keen to undertake.
Idea 2 -
As we have recently had a baby we also liked the idea of creating a room that could double up as a playroom and a guest room for visiting family (as it is only a 2-bed house) and as the kitchen is small, a utility room which could also include a downstairs WC. Our architect has drawn up the plans for this which I have attached. I should mention that we can not extend out from the house any further than what has been drawn up as there is a right of way running through the gardens.
I am pleased with the plans that have been drawn up and I am hoping it won’t feel too cramped and will still flow nicely. Any ideas for different configurations we could consider with the space we have/will have would be appreciated though, whilst we are still at the drawing stage with our architect.
Idea 3 -
Side return extension. Originally we discussed this with our architect but he felt that the neighbours with whom we share the side return would have the light impacted into their dining room as in their house the living and dining rooms are still two separate rooms - so the dining room does not have any other light source. However, since then this house has gone on the market and after going to check it out ourselves we know it needs completely gutting and renovating and for that reason, it could well be sold to a property developer. So now we are wondering whether we hold off until we can meet with the new owners and if they too are interested in a side return ext. it could be something we both do with no worries about causing any issues. Our architect said he can draw up some plans for a side return ex. so that we have plans ready for whatever we decide to do, but i am wondering how best to configure the space with a side return extension as i would still ideally not what to knock out the chimney breast in the existing kitchen but rather keep that as a feature. I would still like to incorporate a downstairs w.c altho a utility room would not necessary if we had a larger kitchen.
Hope this all makes sense and thanks in advance for any advice.
Some other points to note -
We are located in the southwest of England
House is built in local stone
There is a drain located in the side return but it only serves our property, nothing is flowing into it from neighbouring homes, it only flows out from ours
A double story extension to create a third (bed)room upstairs is not possible for us due to the 45-degree rule and i am also not keen to do this anyway as we have a lovely big family bathroom which i would not want to lose by putting a corridor through it.
Comments (6)
PROBuild Team
2 years ago
PROThe Living House
2 years agoRelated Discussions
Victorian Terrace Side Return Extension/bathroom location dilemma!
Comments (2)A bathroom at the front may not be completely out of the question. We have previously installed a bathroom and en-suite back-to-back with the latter to the front of a Victorian mid-terrace. The soil pipe ran horizontally down in the middle of the house (where wears added a downstairs WC beneath the stairs), and ran beneath the suspended timber floor (with the correct fall) on the ground floor to the drains at the rear of the property. Without knowing more details it is difficult to say for certain whether it would work, but it is possibly worth exploring....See MoreIdeas for our mid terraced garden
Comments (9)Start with the basics of where the sun goes (Aspect) and how you'd like to use the space e.g dining table, loungers, space for kids or a grown up sanctuary and so on. Then look at practical considerations such as creating privacy/blocking views you don't want (for example the houses to the rear right), and pay attention to the boundaries - your walls and trellis look like they need a makeover - so remember to factor this into your budget (and I'd consider painting the 'man cave' :)If your existing patios at each end are staying as they are, you could consider making the middle section a mix of planting and paths (ditch the lawn idea altogether) with some seating mixed in (unless you lave kids that need to kick stuff about of course. Or pop in some raised beds to create some change of level interest. If you're not engaging a designer then definitely mark out your plot on graph paper and sketch out some ideas. By the way if you want fruit trees, think about espaliered trees etc which are great space savers - but you need to pick your sunniest spot....See MoreAdvice needed - kitchen and living layout w extension, mid-terrace
Comments (18)Been thinking about this one overnight:- ( i have a sad life! all say ahh ) You do not have to have a window to call it a habitable room, however, I believe there is a building control requirement for the room to be vented through another, check that out. So, in short, yes the bedroom could be moved and not have 'windows' . I don't know the arrangement of the wall top left that goes in to the garden area, but bear with me. ............ would it be better to have a separate Galley kitchen? I would prefer so. Is there a possibility of a window far top left? A stud wall only takes up 4" so not a great deal of space, plus it would make the lounge / diner look a lot nicer without seeing the kitchen on view permanently & of course you get a longer kitchen run. ( I think the proposed one is too small ). Plus you gain a wall to the lounge area, always handy for furniture placement, as this is what is lost in an open plan arrangement. I also changed the bathrooms round as previously suggested, and had the entrance in the hallway for the second one. Please bear in mind as a said before:- Not to scale - don't have dimensions as had to guess, but on the face of it, likely do'able. I like running plans through estate agents...........ones that I know well and trust as I know they'll give me their honest opinion on what would infinitely give a better price on re-sale. Contained living and dining with separate kitchens, good sized bedrooms etc. So do ask one. Estate agents are handy, they will want you to get more for the property because, if they smell a sale, they get more commission! Roughly where i was going with this after some sleep!Of course, if you still want to go open plan with the living / dining/ kitchen, then lose the top wall and maybe consider a door system to open and close for entertaining purposes - No doors, fully open plan .with doors!...See MoreSmall mid terrace extension
Comments (6)Hi Tanya, It may be possible to add a 4th bedroom upstairs but it would be dependant on several factors such as whether or not the property has full permitted development rights or whether it is situated on designated land (conservation area etc...). Even if it did have full permitted development rights to create a two-storey rear extension the depth of the extension (measured from the original rear wall of the property) would be limited to a maximum of 3m. Also you wouldn't be able to build within 2m of the side boundaries if you were building up to two-storey as there is a 3m height limit on the eaves height if you're within 2m of the boundary. Given its a mid-terrace house this would really limit the width of the extension. See link below for more guidance on this..... https://interactive.planningportal.co.uk/mini-guide/extensions-two-storey/0 Have you thought about adding a bedroom via a loft conversion? Do you have any idea how headroom there is in the loft?...See More
drpepe101
2 years agoJane Davies
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoThank you for your comments @drpepe101 and @rosemonde.
The kitchen on the new plan is how our kitchen is now, the new plan only includes a small extension to the rear. The kitchen is not actually that dark, the back of the house and garden is SW facing so luckily we do get a good amount of light. It also does not feel cramped but that is due to the fact that it has been badly designed with hardly any cupboards - the fridge/freezer and our food is currently in the 'office' behind the kitchen! So I definitely agree that in order to create a kitchen in that space with all the cupboards we need - it will end feeling cramped.
I did really want to take out the wall and chimney stack that separates the current kitchen from the office room behind it. We have had three different architects to view the property and they all felt that whilst not impossible it would be a very difficult job. The wall (which is the original exterior wall) is 2 feet thick and is built from large blocks of local stone, as well as having the chimney stack running through the centre all the way up to the roof.
I am now thinking the best solution would be a side return extension either for just the width of the kitchen (sketch attached) which would not require planning i believe as it would be under 6m or possibly a longer side return. I wouldn't necessarily need a separate utility if we are widening the kitchen as i could incorporate a washing machine etc in to the kitchen. I would like a downstairs WC somewhere though. Currently our shoes/costs are stored in the cupboard under the stairs.
If we went with this layout i would like to create a better opening between the kitchen and existing dining area and put pocket doors or similar in between the lounge and dining room so we can close off the lounge to make it feel cosier when we want to.
Will check out the George Clarke shows! Thank you for the recommendation.
rosemonde
2 years ago
rosemonde