Wow! Big dreams for this house. I haven’t heard of anyone doing such things to a raised ranch. It’s good to hear you have a healthy budget. Good luck.

Sounds like it could get expensive. Have you considered tearing it down and building what you want? It might be cheaper.

Probably cheaper to find a house closer to your wants than this one. Your budget for your wishes is more than most decent budget's.

Hire a local architect to advise you. There is information about the existing conditions of the house and site needed to provide viable advice, and it is next to impossible to convey it all in writing.

As far as getting rid of the "mushroom top look", keep the possibility of hiring workers that smoke and drink heavily on the job in the alternatives.

Why not show photos of the actual house? Include a photo of the rear. The last thing I would do is add steps. I tried to renovate one of these and eventually gave up. I agree with the recommendation to find a house that is better suited for your needs or more easily renovated.

How would we know without pics of your house. Like this but different is useless. You need an architect and if you want any help here we need pics of the actual house a floor plan of the space you want to redo and the other level. All to scale with measurements clearly marked along with plumbing, gas lines . and windows.

Yes, you need to confer with an experienced residential architect. As RES said, these are challenging houses and you need someone with relevant experience.

Good Luck!

As a realtor and a designer I have to say (at least on the east coast) raised ranch homes are the least desirable. They are always the last to sell and at a considerably lower price that other styles. I would reconsider a project this large and putting a huge amount of money into something that may not warrant it.

I never knew what a raised ranch was until I googled it today.

So, I grew up in a raised ranch, see below...I would call your house a split level.

Here’s a 2nd story back addition on a raised ranch

A good architect can do anything

That addition is a hot mess

I agree with Design Girl whoever the did that design was not thinking clearly or did what the owners wanted rather than providing a design that enhanced the house.

It’s not that bad...?

lol

I had a friend who had a split-level and they did all the research, design, plans, etc. to expand. In the end it made more sense to sell and buy a different house in the same town.

We had a thread on this exact subject several years ago, might have been when it was still GardenWeb. Might be worth doing some searches here and with google.

So, why does your new master suite have to be on a second level, if the other bedrooms are on the first?

How many bedrooms in total do you want to have? Because it sounds like there are only two currently?

What is downstairs currently? I am another who'd never heard of a raised ranch, so had to look it up; it sounds/seems like a split level to me, too (I believe you that it's different, just for these purposes I'm thinking of it that way); all the split levels around when I grew up had the actual living room downstairs--the LR on the upper was more of a little conversation area or formal LR space, with the lower LR being bigger and where the families tended to actually gather/be.

I agree with @Patricia Colwell Consulting that we need to see at least a floor plan with measurements, and a picture of the actual house would help.

Based on what you've said, and without photos/plans, I have a few ideas/thoughts:

Why not a two-story extension, with a master suite and another bedroom below?

Why not make the entire lower story a master suite? Conversely, why not move most living areas below and just bedrooms upstairs, including your new master?

You'd need to speak to an engineer before ripping out potentially load-bearing walls that divide all those spaces now, which is why I wonder if moving living spaces to below might not be the better option. (Personally, I loathe the huge noisy open plan with its lack of privacy and cooking on display, but I know everyone loves open plan these days.)

You could also do just single-story additions on the ground level. Put your big open-plan living & kitchen there and attach it to the garage, then convert the upper floor to bedrooms only, including your master, which you could combine several rooms to make. Add a sundeck off the master to cover the lower level addition. You don't say there are views to take advantage of or anything, but it's always fun to have open spaces off bedrooms and to sit on the roof.

I'm sure others will have better ideas, especially once you show plans & pics. Best of luck to you, whatever you decide!

I live in a raised ranch. From what I understand, this style has a raised front entry presenting the double stairs and the space is clearly separated on two levels. A split will have three levels. IMO, the advantage of a raised ranch is the walkout basement. The disadvantages are many. I've googled all sorts of things for this house style, including front entry remodelling, extensions and two-storey decks. The results weren't plentiful and I suspect it's because it's all very expensive.

Very popular in Ohio in the early 1970’s and they were called “bi-levels”. SIL had one-no place to move when you came in front door except up or down. Everyone in the living room looked down on you standing in the tiny entry. No place to take off coats and shoes until you decided up or down. Walking up gave you a good view of the undersides of table, lamps, and skirts. It always felt awkward entering the living room, almost like coming up from a basement. If you are insistent about buying this, walk into the front and pretend you are a guest at a party. Does the entry feel welcoming and pretty? Is there space for a small table and lamp or is the ceiling pendant the only light, harsh and casting deep shadow on the floor? When the host opens the door, is there room for two or three people to enter without anyone stepping up or down ? If you live in snow and ice country, where will you remove your boots? As you can probably tell, I intensely dislike this floor plan because of its inconvenience!

Consider something else. Buy a home that has all the space you need. Because adding it on as a remodel costs twice what that does. At least! Buy someone else’s money losing project.

Sorry, one more thing. This is about split-levels, but it looks like some of the info and ideas might be really helpful to you, specifically the parts about changing the interior floor plan.

I hope that helps!