Functionality versus Luxury

So, the ultimate question comes to almost anyone who decides to put an addition onto an existing house. How much money do you spend? You have a lot of things to weigh up. How long you will be in the house after the Reno is done, is also something to take into consideration, as time acts as a buffer against the almost inevitable overspend. We are looking at  ensuring we have a house that is easily sold, a house that is perfect for a medium sized family or 4-6 people.  We live approx 5 km from the city centre from Perth in Western Australia. We are three blocks from a train station which takes fifteen minutes to get into the city centre. Once in the centre all buses are free. So it is a couple of dollars to get into the city and it takes relatively no time at all. This bodes well in any energy crisis which we will inevitably be ensconced in again some day soon. We also  have the luxury of being within five hundred meters of two primary schools. One a public school and another a Catholic school. We are within walking distance to a public library, tennis courts, bowling club, family day care and a few small restaurants as well as the required bottle shop. Ten minutes to the closest large grocery store and mall via car. So we have what most people look for in a house for a young family. We are ten minutes from the domestic/international airport, with no flight path over head, so for anyone travelling with work a lot like my wife, it is nice to know that you will be home in a short time once you hit the ground.  

So, I have given you the pros on the house, what are the cons, It is old, and I always worry about termites as WA is prone to them and this house has had them in the past. Each year we are here we get them treated but they are in this neighborhood and I am just going to have to be on the look out for them all the time.  The roof needs replacing, none of the plumbing is worth saving, all of the ceilings will need redoing as well as some of the wall plastering as I want new finishes. Most of the wiring is older now , though not original, basically new wiring will be required throughout. The house does not have any central air-conditioning , so this means that if this is what we want we will need to have all of this put in.   All in all, lots of money.  Houses on this side of the world rarely have basements, so we don’t have the added benefit of having extra space like most houses in North America do by having that space below you. As well you lose the ability to have a cool place in the house. This for Perth seems ludicrous as you would think it would be on of those places on the earth where a basement would be an important place to have.

Things I would like to have in the house. These things are things that are WANTS, and will definitely be on the short list.

A cellar, A large walk in pantry, a parents retreat with office space and reading space, a pool, air-conditioning through out the house, Polished concrete floors. self designed kitchen with industrial accents. I would love a Sauna close to the pool, I would love to have the current living area to have a loft put into it, with dormer style windows. The current bedrooms to have French doors off of them out to a new outdoor deck,  all new high brick fence between our property and the neighbors.

So, there are a lot of things to do to the current house and all are quite do able. There are a few things that we will definitely have to cut out of the plan and I am not silly to think that this will be a cheap Reno. But I am hoping to get clarity on important aspects to our design as well as purely functional aspects of the house into the future. I would very much like to have an open airy house, which when closed can be warm during the winter. Perth is a desert city and you really get extreme temperature fluctuations throughout the year and for this reason you can have a big swing in temperatures from day and night, as well as seasonal changes. Ensuring the house doesn’t get extreme sun in the summer is very important and it is also very important to ensure that there is also enough light coming into the house throughout the year.   Being able to adjust temperatures according to your needs without having to throw on the air-conditioning is important, sometimes difficult, yet possible ninety percent of the time if you build properly. Enough said for now, I will try and cleanse this drivel over time.

( the act of writing in itself is a great way of clarifying what I like and need for the house  )

thanks and i will write more later.  Tony