You need an actual respectful of history architect and several hundred thousand dollars for restoration work, then rearranging work.

Fair point, I should have mentioned: yes, there's at least $200k+ available, though of course we need to be budget-conscious. Also, the house is very typical of this area of the rural midwest; it is simply an old farmhouse like 99% of its neighbors, not a historic house. (We will be respectful of the period, like hex tiles in the bathroom, and we won't be knocking down walls, but it doesn't need to be a museum.) It's a solid brick house and this section is in the worst shape -- the rest is lovely, with restored complete 10 inch baseboards and orginal door and trim millwork. This area simply needs insulation and framing and drywall and a ceiling and a floor and plumbing and electrical and cabinets and appliances... :) I'm talking to GCs but I want to have some ideas about layout worked out to be getting started with. And Houzzers always have excellent suggestions.

Do you need a full bath on this level?

Are there any bedrooms downstairs? Is there a bathroom upstairs?

Yes, there needs to be a full bath with tub downstairs, and there aren't any bedrooms on this floor. Upstairs there is a 9x5 bedroom they've plumbed to be a bathroom, but it has a long tall window so it will need to be a shower only, and I want to have a bathtub in the house for the little kids. Those will be the only 2 bathrooms, unless maybe some day we can put one on the 3rd floor/walk up attic.

Your drawings and photos aren't super clear, but I'd try to keep the bathroom where it is. What appears to be outdoor stairs/landing leading to the door opening to the bathroom - can that be incoporated into the house, for your mudroom/laundry room? Can the back of the kitchen area serve as a mudroom the rear entrance? can you expand the footprint in some other way? I just don't see shoehorning the bathroom into that location as worth it.

That is a good idea. But the problem is that there is only one set of stairs down to the basement, and it's through the bathroom. That could be closed off, but then the only entrance to the basement would be from the outdoors. I guess it might be possible to re-route the stairs but that seems like a much bigger and more costly fix, especially since we have a big family and need a laundry and mudroom space anyway. We could have closed off a bathroom and created a narrow hallway but there's a big window there that overlaps the door and covers a third of that wall, so I don't think that could work.

Where is the front door? The door on the bottom or on the left?

Is it possible that the laundry could be put in the kitchen and the bath could be more properly separated from the back door?

Yes, the door on the bottom is the front door. The door on the left is to a side porch. That room would be perfect for creating a bathroom except that it has original floor to ceiling cabinetry on both walls and an exterior door to the porch and another big window, so I wouldn't want to rip all that out. There's actually another door to that porch that was blocked off originally behind the shower in the current bathroom/proposed laundry, so I thought about using that door instead... But I don't know about moving all that cabinetry that was made for that location...

I have used graph paper and tried to separate the bathroom from the back door but I don't think it can be done, it's just a small space.

Here's that other room

I'm a little confused - so the only stairs down to the basement are the stairs you show going directly into the bathroom? And those stairs also lead to the rear door? If yes, where do the stairs in the kitchen go?

An amazing project but definitely a big one - i think you likely need an architect and/or a very good contractor who is used to problem solving in old houses and won’t be a big baby about its quirkiness. Very good plumbers, electrical and HVAC pros will help with systems - we moved our kitchen and added a bath in our 1920s house and it took a village for sure - congrats on your new home, it is a labor of love to bring an old house back to life - SO worth it ❤️

You're better off putting a bathtub upstairs and switching out the window and then later adding a second full bath to 3rd floor. How old are your kids? The bathtub years are fleeting - I wouldn't add a full bath to a first floor to just be able to use a bathtub for little kids.

Yes, @HU-918119203 that's exactly right. The other stairs in the kitchen go up to the second floor and on up to the third floor.
@Sally T Now THAT is an interesting point. It had not occurred to me that we might turn the toilet and create a small half bath/powder room downstairs and call it good for downstairs bathrooms, and then we might be able to put a bath upstairs in the attic or at least plumb for it while the work is going on. That will increase costs of course ... My kids are young (1, 3, 5, 6.. etc) so I do like a tub and it seems a shame to waste that nice new tall window, and a claw foot would be a bit impractical/heavy upstairs.. sigh, tricky.

Hmm. I'm used to a 13x9 kitchen.. what would I even do with 21x15?? Lol. I know folks on this site wouldn't say that was big but presumably all the finishes in that space cost a lot as well, and the layout with the stairs would still be tricky.. Hmm food for thought.

Do you need a back staircase? (From your drawing, it seems that you have a main staircase in the living room.) That seems totally unnecessary in this size house. If so, eliminating that and relocating basement stairs there or just taking over the space for the kitchen seems to me like a no-brainer.

I think you'll find this forum more useful once you have hired a pro and figured out what logistically is possible within your budget. You don't want to go down a rabbithole that ends up not being practicable or not considering good options based on site conditions we can't see.

Can you put the door to the bathroom in the side porch? You'd have to put the door in the existing wall but that'd get the door out of the kitchen. And that room oh my! What a gem.

It‘s not that you need all the space for the kitchen but it seems strange to have full bath right off kitchen and will further separate kitchen from dining. with 4 kids i’d think about an eat in kitchen with a table.

Could you remove the stairs that go downstairs and put them under the stairs that go up? Utilizing the closet space that is under the steps now? Then you would have room in the back to separate the mud room from the toilet area. Plumbing could be redone through the basement so the cost of that might not be too bad. Then you could have a full bath near where the toilet is, off of a mudroom where the w/d is located. And have a door into the kitchen there. You could block up any opening into the middle room on the left side. The full bath, with tub, would be accessed from the kitchen through the mudroom. I hope this makes sense!

Congratulations on your new home--it looks like a wonderful project! The woodworking is beautiful--I love the cabinetry in the "other room"! I'm sure you can find a way to use it perhaps in the kitchen or dining room.

That being said, this is definitely a huge undertaking, and not one that is done by crowdsourcing. Find an architect and a good GC, let them see the space and communicate to them your wants and needs.

Your budget of $200K may seem large, but it could quickly be used up if you have unseen problems behind the walls or under the flooring. Get a good handle on your costs before you start ANY work, and have a PLAN in place before anything is demolished.

Houzz is great for decisions like "should I use oak or maple for cabinets?" or "what counter top material would work best?" Not good for taking control of the whole project. You will be paying your architect and GC, and thus they have skin in the game. Random posters on Houzz (whether pros or amateurs) have no liability for anything that happens in your home.

It looks like an awesome project, so keep us informed of your progress.

Yes these are all fair points. As to the stairs, the front staircase is the decorative "public" one that has pretty woodwork and just goes from the 1st to the 2nd floor. The back staircase goes all the way through 4 floors from the basement to the attic. It appears to be a major structural piece of the house. I know I'm not an architect, but it feels to me like it should be easier and less of a big deal to keep all the walls and windows exactly where they are but add a couple of interior non-load-bearing walls in the existing space, rather than cutting into existing walls and stairwells.
Definitely what the contractors suggest is best; I was really thinking that either bathroom position I was thinking about would create a mini-hallway either with the stair door or the other under-stair door. And just wondering which would make a more functional kitchen space of the 2. That was kind of my focus, but it sounds like people aren't super fond of the idea :)

Your bathroom options do make a mini hallway but neither one is also private. Any one in the kitchen will also see who is coming and going from the bathroom. Having the bathroom right off the back porch door I'd think would be good for kids running in to use it and then running back out. It's basically a mud room and that's where I'd want to keep dirty feet that are coming in for the potty.

Your measurements of the actual mudroom space are inconsistent/contradictory on two different things you posted. Could you please post the correct measurements and include the size of the window and the width of the door to the stairs? Does that door need to stay?

I'd prefer your first bath option but create a small hall with a door on the kitchen side. A pocket door for the bath may be better to avoid doors hitting each other.

For the kitchen something like this.

Thank you so much for the visuals! That is really helpful, and I hadn't thought of that idea. Aesthetically, I do like a galley kitchen.

For the measurements, I'm sorry about discrepancies! Nothing is square and the room has pieces jutting out. The wall in the mudroom with the window is 8'10": 3'4" from the toilet wall to the window frame; the window with frame is 3'2"; and the wall by the door is 2'4"; however the door to the basement stairs is 2'6" so it overlaps the frame.

Yes, the door on the bottom is the front door. The door on the left is to a side porch. That room would be perfect for creating a bathroom except that it has original floor to ceiling cabinetry on both walls and an exterior door to the porch and another big window, so I wouldn't want to rip all that out.

Based on what I know of older homes like this, I'm guessing what is currently the kitchen was probably the dining room originally and what is currently the left side room with the door out the side and the cabinets was originally the kitchen.