The brick wraps around the corner to the dining room and covers that wall behind.

The left end of the wall features a coat closet, but it is also the home of the electric sub-panel plus access to both the crawl space and the attic space. IOW, no easy way to just delete it. See the doorknob on the inside? There isn't a matching doorknob on the outside; the way you get it open is to bang firmly until there is enough door edge to grab with your fingernails and pull. Good planning.

You could do a layout similar to this in reverse. Fireplace with full height built-in's between it and the closet and a coat closet door that blends right in with the built-in's. The door could even be a part of the built-in shelving...hidden door effect.

I like that idea, designsaavy. It breaks up the wall into visually manageable pieces and adds some potentially useable space. Wish we had that little step-up for the hearth, but when the LR floor gets raised (bamboo), the FP will be directly at floor level. Hmm...something interesting with a tile surround?

What style do you like? Traditional, contemporary, mid-century modern, etc, etc.?

I've been thinking about this all day while I madly worked on a quilt that's been sitting out for some time mocking me. When we remodeled our current house, we went for clean lines, bamboo flooring, and frameless cabinets, while our furniture tends more traditional. For this house the traditional-ish furniture is moving from A to B with us and we'll install bamboo flooring throughout because we've loved it here. If I had to name what this new house is now, I think I have to go with a Brady Bunch house - busy wallpaper, dark paneling, and the occasional brick wall. I'll be happy to lose that look. I could easily go contemporary or traditional. I am tempted by white wainscotting, but I'm not sure.

Thought I'd throw these in to the mix before I head out the door.

I also think the closet door is cool; we had a couple of those designed into our brand new house :-) Maybe clean up the hinges and get a touch latch installed to make opening easier. If you don't like the paneling, could you just paint?

The sunken front room does look like a trip hazard, glad you are planning to address that.

Good luck!

Thanks designsavvy. I like the way those way have been "zoned" so they're not just massive structures that dominate the space.

Sophie Wheeler - I also like the brick, and I say that as someone who's historically not been a brick-inside-the-house fan. The dark, looming paneling's got to go though. There's another whole (huge) wall of it in the family room. You sent me on a search of MCM fireplaces though, and I think something over the fireplace might work, like a large piece of wall art of some sort. Maybe our oil painting of a CA mission, have to try it out. Hidden doors are fun! It will just have to work better that what is currently there, which is really hard on the fingernails. A better pop-latch for sure.

There are better ways to construct jib doors than what they did there, but I agree, it's an asymmetrical mid century fireplace and it's going to be very difficult to make it look more traditional because of the asymmetry. I would work with what you've got even if it means newer, better quality, lighter colored, wood paneling.

Just go for a seventies look and go with real vintage furniture! This can be the coolest room ever... If you talk to a good interior designer... Or are one...

It just so happens that we have some 70s furniture - from the 70s! I guess it's fair if we're reupholstered some of it.

Make the mantel smaller than the fireplace and center it. Whatever size that isnt easy to walk into around the corner.

I dont know what you have planned there but that would make for an awesome double sided fireplace where you can see through. I am thinking of those gas fireplaces with glass enclosure on both sides, I am pretty sure you cant do a double sided open fireplace, not entire sure but I would worry about a breeze pushing fire out one side.

Update: Once we moved in, we had several people in to look at this fireplace on structural issues. We knew when we bought the house that the floor in that hall area sloped a bit towards the fireplace. Turns out it wasn't just that bit of floor, it was also the DR and the adjoining end of the kitchen (the backside of the closet). It had also torn the drywall panel on the DR side of the wall as it sunk - not a seam, but the sheet itself. The underlying problem was insufficient footing of the FP when the house was built. Hmm. In the end there was no reasonable way to fix the issue, so we bit the bullet and had it removed. I miss my little brick walled DR, but I seem to be the only one. The lovely plastic wrap was in place for several weeks.

We also had the floor raised, which is a definite improvement. (The stuff in the DR is a vanity waiting to go in the hall bath. When we took up the bath floor - guess what! - it was mostly rotten from a leak several years ago, so the bath progress is a little slower than anticipated.)

We've chosen a new FP to go on the wall at the right side of this photo. It will be more or less like this with a black frame, but insides TBD:

P.S. Remember that wallpaper in the DR and entry hall from the original photos? Turns out that that paper was a second layer over the original paper. The second layer was vinyl, strippable paper that came off in the usual fashion. The paper underneath was another story altogether. Evidently, the builders applied it directly to raw drywall. It was never coming off. We finally had to have the drywall guys in to mud over those walls and re-texture. The master bedroom and bathroom were the same story. This is the master bath which hasn't been redone yet. We think the original paper was a foil.

So glad you found a resolution. Keep us posted on your progress.