@ worthy Thanks for your insights. We discussed the possibility of adding transoms above the bedroom doorways to bring more light into the hallway. The concern was the expense of adding more height to the second floor. A solar tube (not visible from the street) might be a cheaper option, although I always worry about roof leaks. I have mixed feelings regarding a basement laundry. I like the separation from the living spaces to minimize noise and potential water damage. However, I agree that bringing laundry up and down flights of stairs can be annoying (this is our current situation). At our next meeting with the architect we will reopen the discussion of laundry room placement with the options of: 1) keeping it in the basement; 2) moving the guest bedroom to the basement to make space for a laundry room on the second floor; and 3) using the suggestion of @MrsPete to install a dumbwaiter. Regarding the house footprint, we have tried to be as efficient as possible with the space available. With a narrow city lot (80') in the historic district (zoning requires two story) the house footprint is constrained. We also really enjoy the backyard for gardening and kids play and do not want the house to swallow the entire lot. Overall, I think we have achieved a good balance of a nice size home (3,000 sq. ft.) with most of the features we desire, that also blends into the existing historic neighborhood (the newest house on the block is 100+ years old).

I was glad to see this question. I am getting ready to move into a 1890 cross gable Folk Victorian (and I would consider it a farmhouse.) I live in a city in the very southwest of Calif. (almost to the border) In the late 1800s,, early 1900s, ten acre lots were sold to gentlemen farmers from the east and midwest to plant lemon groves. The agreement included that they had to live there and build a house that was worth at least $2,000, which was a lot in those days. Some have been destroyed, but the city is sprinkled with quite a few large, fancy, Queen Anne Victorians, many that are restored perfectly. They are called Orchard Houses, of course because they were built by the owners of the orchards . This house is an Orchard house, but not as big and fancy as others. I can get more info about it at our Historical Society Museum, but I have not gotten over there yet. Maybe they skimped on the $2,000 or maybe there was more to it before. Maybe it had a guest house, or horse stables. I know nothing about old houses but my family is all in Minnesota and this looks somewhat like the farmhouses and rural, in town houses that my aunts and uncles lived in. I had to search pictures and articles to determine that it is probably a Folk Victorian, but I think I am pretty close. I say "move in" because I will be renting it from my brother in law who has had it for 37 years, but it is a rental and he built 2 apartments behind it. He doesn't know much about it and hasn't had a lot of interest it it, other than to keep it rented, even though the Heritage Society has been out to see him a number of times. My brother in law spent his youth in rural Minnesota, so this is just a house to him. I have always liked the house. It is definitely "folk" and doesn't have any fancy Queen Anne style trim etc... It fact I thought it was a craftsman, until I found out when it was built. It is structurally very sound, but is sort of unkempt looking. I am a retired teacher, single and don't have experience in this, but he is happy that I want to make it look as close to how it was originally (but not for much money LOL!!) Just to have it clean and really well kept up will make him happy. The block has a couple more old houses, one Queen Anne Victorian that is not kept up at all. Otherwise it is a hodgepodge of 50s and 60s. This is the one very visible old home, so the neighbors are sort of hinting that they don't like it being such a mess. I especially want to get the bushes cut down in front of the enclosed porch so I can open the windows and use it for that. I saw the house 35 years ago, and now have only been able to do a quick walkthrough. The Craftsman question interested me because I have quite a bit of Craftsman style furniture that I already own, and I felt that it would match the farmhouse feel that this house has. Of course I am just talking about furniture, interior decorations, etc..., no permanent changes. Overall though, I don't think my brother haschanged much (except in the kitchen.) I believe he has maintained original moldings, possibly even lights and he hasn't done any dumb stuff like take out the built ins or put big modern closets. The bedrooms still have the tiny little closets (with the original doors) where you can hang a few things and I think tenants have made closet type spaces by putting rods and curtains at the corners of the gables, so that did not change anything structurally and can look cool with the right kind of material. He is a contractor and does most work himself, and if something can be fixed or maintained as is, that means he doesn't have to spend money, so the house is lucky in that respect. It has a basement with an inside door and an outside cellar door (so I will be prepared for tornadoes), and it has a mudroom, because in Southern California I need a place to put my parka and snow boots (we don't even have rain LOL) and those steep gables will keep the snow from collecting so my roof won't collapse. They built what they knew when they got here!! I think the combination Victorian Farmhouse/Craftsman will work because it has a farmhouse feel and we are only talking about furnishings, I do have one final question though, and I hope this picture comes through. It is odd looking because this house is flat in the front. It has an enclosed porch that is flush with the outside wall, a very small porch for the front door, otherwise, there is no other porch with posts and a covering like Victorian's (and usually farmhouses) seem to have. It looks like something is missing. Maybe something was removed over the years. Or is there a way that a larger porch could be added to make the front look more interesting, and to have a place to sit outside, but still in character with the style of the house? I might be able to talk my brother into it because he could build it himself. I am excited about the enclosed porch because those windows have hinges and open completely out but have not been opened in years. I suggested that it would be really nice if he could take down those dumb apartments, but he wouldn't go for that!! Lol!!

@ Geller Thanks for your comments. I like your idea to rearrange the kitchen. On another forum, I received mixed responses to the corner sink. I was planning to leave it as is because I wanted the corner window view. I did not want to switch the stove and sink as a corner stove really limits accessibility when there are two cooks (we have this in our current home). However, your idea of moving the sink to the stove location (along with the DW) and adding a window on the SE wall would give us a more accessible sink location and a larger window for more light (the porch is only 5' deep here). Moving the stove to the SW wall, a few feet from the refrigerator, should also work.Thanks. How many bathrooms to have on the second floor is a good question. I think one bathroom per bedroom is overkill, but is two bathrooms for four bedrooms enough? About 3-4 times a year we have family stay with us from out of town, usually for 1-2 weeks at a time. The remainder of the time the guest bedroom will be a home office for the adults. We are considering finishing a 3/4 bathroom in the basement, which might provide a reasonable alternative for guests in a pinch (although a bit of a hike up and down stairs). For resale, I can see how some families might want three bathrooms upstairs if all of the bedrooms are occupied. I will discuss this with our architect at our next meeting tomorrow.

lots of ways to go with that color. Maybe these will provide some inspiration