I would build the wall back. It does look better than what you have now.

Agree with cat_ky. You dont quite have the volume of the inspo pics, I’d consider building the wall back.

I would build it back to the extent that the handrail dies into a wall again rather than into the ceiling. This could happen right below the ceiling so it would be more open than before by a couple steps.

Stairbuilding is second only to boatbuilding on the carpentry difficulty scale. Not a DIY project. Okay, maybe an advanced DIY with plenty of tools and instinct.

I, too, prefer the wall the way it was originally. After that, choose a squared newel post, banister, and spindles. The latter could be iron or wood.

To make the handrails work, you'll have to have a wall back in there, at least at the point where the handrail is going to hit the ceiling. Here's a set of stairs I re-did (DIY) a couple houses ago. Perhaps you can move the wall portion so it's higher up than it was originally, so you do get some openness.

This house has 9' ceilings, and your look to be 8', so it won't be able to be open quite as far.

And your stairs do look a little steep. What's the tread depth and riser height on them?

My 9 foot ceiling entrance hall has a long steep open 100 year old staircase. The railing is set a few inches away from the ceiling and meets with a cat walk on the second floor.

Gap between wall/ ceiling and banister.

I think this would be tough to retro fit so i would do as pal suggests.

Thank you all! I’m not there to measure but I feel like almost all of the wall will have to be built back in order for the railing to die right into it. It just seems a shame to build it all back!
But we are still under construction so it won’t be that big of a deal.

I’ve been trying to find pictures where it’s done well. Thoughts on this solution? If we just build the wall back over a little bit and curve the handrail to finish going up the stairs…? I’d still need some diminishing balusters (I just learned they’re called :) )

I had new oak stairs and bannister installed last year. I also think your stairs looked better with the original wall. Best of luck in your choice.

I just saw this in a house listing and thought of you. An example of diminishing balusters.