If it’s only the two rooms that have the lower ceilings i think you can learn to live with it. i lived in an older home and only some of the rooms had low ceilings, it was charming.

This is part of the charm of older homes. Unless you or your partner are unusually tall, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Part of the decision process is how tall you are, and just in general how much "too close" the ceiling feels to you.

People in the Building a Home Forum will tell you anything under about 12 feet is insufficient for the main floor, but somebody has lived in that cottage over the past 130 years.

If you are trying to come up with ways to make it feel higher you should probably pass.

As has been said, the ceiling height contributes to the coziness of the home. I wouldn’t find the ceilings to “short.” But then I am short! The way I see it, when you are in the dining room, you are mostly sitting, no?? Same with the living room! (Come to think of it, you are mostly prone in the bedrooms, too!). The only room that might feel too confining is the kitchen where you probably stand most of the time. (Just another way to think about this home.).

We have nine foot ceilings on the first floor and 7 1/2 on second! I don’t notice it now….

I’m 5’9” - i guess tall for a woman - the ceilings do feel a tad short but i love the house otherwise. Anyone out there expose beams in a ceiling only to be disappointed they didnt work out for whatever reason? maybe didnt get as many inches as hoped, or they just didnt look great?

I am short and I wouldn't want ceilings that low for my primary home. A vacation cottage in a great location, maybe. For my home, I feel claustrophobic with anything less than 10 ft ceilings.

It’s difficult to replace the charm of older homes. I would make the compromise on ceiling height, even if trying to raise the ceiling wasn’t successful.

If you're looking for an old home, lower ceilings are a part of that style and "vibe". I wouldn't try to change it (even if you could).

I'm 5' 9" and have 7 1/2 ft ceilings. They don't bother me at all. It makes life easier to change chandelier bulbs, hand vac up stink bugs, paint and wash. The only problem is you have to watch what ceiling fans you buy. Tall ceilings are a waste of space. They just suck up heat or AC. You can't place anymore furniture in a 12 x12 room just because it has higher ceilings. Tall ceilings, vaults and open concept are just an illusion to make small areas look bigger than what they are.

exposed joists/rafters are cool.

Low ceilings wouldn't bother me (and I'm 5'9"), especially if only in those 2 rooms.

The stairs on the other hand, would give me pause. I have slipped on wood-tread stairs and look at those winder-stairs. I'd be more worried about that, for my own well-being. I realize people have lived with those through the ages, but... if I were going to fix/change anything it'd be the stairs.

In Rhode Island I imagine you are heating the house for more months than you are cooling it. Lower ceiling mean less air volume to heat, so easier heating and lower bills.

My current home was accidentally built with 8 1/2 ceiling downstairs and 7 1/2 upstairs. The lower ceiling feels cozy, we don't mind it at all.

A house with character and a fab large mature garden? Go for it! :-)

I love watching British mysteries on the TV. It amazes me when I see how low the ceilings are in many of the homes and especially the pubs. Everyone there has learned to "duck" when moving about.

Thanks so much everyone. Im leaning towards buying, yes in spite of the possibly deadly staircase (its not a total winder, it makes two forty five degree turns - and there is no railing whatsoever!). If anyone else has successfully taken out a plaster ceiling in a house of similar vintage in order to gain ceiling height, please let me know. i may try this in the living room only and leave the dining room as is.

Taking out a ceiling doesn’t gain you much height. The lowest part of the ceiling is only an inch or so above where you started because that’s the bottom of your floor joists for the upstairs. And what you see when you open things up may not be pretty at all. Yes, I’ve got lovely douglas fir joists, but I’ve also got nails sticking through, water damage and pipes in view. My second floor is 7’6”. If you can live with the height, buy the house. If you go in thinking you can ”fix it”, don’t buy it.

I added a nice rope "railing" to a narrow staircase in my cottage that doesn't have one. i wouldn't trust it to hold my entire weight if I fell, but it's good to have it there to kind of set my sense of balance on the stairs. Because it's rope, it hangs against the wall and really doesn't take up much width. I just bought 1" diameter cotton rope, some matching brackets, and did it myself (even learning to tie the fancy eye splice at the ends).

You mostly are seated in a living room and dining room, so the lower ceilings would be less noticeable in thise rooms than in a kitchen or a room where you mostly were standing. Not sure what that would be unless you give lots of parties with people milling about. If you buy it, I would leave the ceilings intact for at least a year and see if they actually bother you before opening them uo.

Great advice! Thanks.

The height would not bother me but unless you have been told there were beams or can see evidence of them do not be surprised if they do not exist. Even if they existed they would not add more than an inch in height to the room.

Buy it only with the expectation that you can live with it with the ceiling left intact. I can pretty much guarantee that removing the plaster will expose some ugly stuff, like plumbing, electrical, and/or ductwork. That will draw more attention than a clean, low ceiling.

From someone who is tall, don't remove the plaster/drywall on ceiling.

I can adjust to a flat low ceiling height rather easily. I have had many basement dens and things that were around 7' and change. However, when the joists above are exposed, my eyes are drawn upwards almost as if my brain wants to warn me about the low hanging obstacle. So open joists feels worse to me even though I am gaining space.

1892 is not really old enough to have charming framing, most likely. My aunt and uncle lived in 1810 log house with ceilings that were under 7 on the second floor. My uncle was 6'2". The only place they removed the finished ceiling was in the bathroom. And there they had to fill in between the beams to make it look better, hide wiring and a couple pipes, and to prevent dust and dirt sifting down from the attic.

Pass. I am 3” shorter than you and had 7’ ceilings in the garden level. They were only in the rarely used bathroom, hall, and part of an unused bedroom. It would have driven me crazy to have them in the living or dining room.

Just an aside, I bought an exercise machine and had to figure in my current ceiling height of 8’ just to make sure I had enough room to use it. As long as it’s not under the ceiling fan, I should be fine.

You won’t have room for ceiling fans or drop lighting.

Removing the plaster ceiling will contribute to more sound transmission when people are upstairs. One of the things we love about our old house is how quiet it is. My plaster walls and ceilings give us a little more privacy when we have guests overhead.

I would. Lower ceilings feel refreshing and quiet after years of volumous dead space in soulless new builds with ten plus foot ceilings.

My dream is 9' ceilings, but I currently live with 8' and lower. Doesn't bother me that much. I hang drapes as per below and that helps make it seem more spacious above. Your HVAC bills will be lower than those of folks in huge open concept two-story spaces.

Great idea!

I would only expose them if you don't mind painting them all one color cuz it's a pain if you paint it to different colors the beams dark and the ceiling light cuz that's the way mine is and it's pain to paint between them and it takes much longer and make sure there's no Plumbing going to run through it cuz that would look hideous

Do you like the way yours look? i was planning on painting it all matte white. Shouldnt be any plumbing as the bathrooms are over each other in one spot, not near the living or dining rooms. do you think your ceilings feel taller by exposing the beams?

 I have a sloped it is on one side 10 ft in the others 12 and I like the spacious feel so with yours being all white it will fill taller but my beams are like 8 in between the bottom of the beam to the ceiling even if your beams are rough that's okay a Shabby Chic or Farmhouse

This is a very personal question, which only you can answer.

It is not unusual at all in older homes. It could feel adorable and cozy, or I've also gone the other way into claustrophobic. If I were considering buying it, I would have to see the house to know if I could tolerate it. The one photo you shared leans towards the cute end of the scale for me.

My first home was a cape cod with ceilings which were only a smidge over 7' upstairs. I hated it. I'm OK with 8', prefer 9- don't actually like cavernous living rooms. I like to feel cozy, not like I'm in the lobby of a Hyatt. But 7 feet is dangerously close to hobbit territory. That said, this is so typical of coastal New England that it's ubiquitous in older homes.

TL;DR - not my first choice, but could make it work if I loved the house.

I’m a big fan of the UK show Escape to the Country and as you can imagine, many of the older homes have very low ceilings. With some I cring, especially if doorways are low. Then others feel fine, due to the amount of light, furnishing choices, and paint color. Consider room as a whole (size in general, natural daylight, doorways, no lighting in ceiling I assume).

We bought a house that did not have good access to the garden. It was the only feature I disliked, but we bought anyway due to school district, neighbourhood and we loved the house otherwise. I never got used to it (lived there for 25 years) so suggest weighing your decision with the realizion you may never come around and if that’s ok.

I love older, historic homes but for the practical purpose of living a 7'-9" ceiling would give me pause.

Consider resale value in case you don’t like it.

My Dad told me don’t get emotionally attached to a house before you buy it. Really good advice.

Even if you love it and buy it, you may not love it forever. The neighborhood could make you want to sell one day. Things change. People change.

I have a friend whose older house, a Florida Cracker cottage style maybe built in the 20s, was hit badly by Hurricane Michael. As she was getting repairs made she decided to do away with the low living room/dining room ceiling which exposed the wood in the rafters. She didn't mind also exposing some mechanicals but this change also meant doing away with the roof insulation in that part of the house. She's been pleased with her design decision and the new look but her utility bills have responded to the lack of ceiling insulation and the now-open vast space that must be heated and cooled.

Thanks so much for all these responses! I agree with verbo - there are a lot of issues to be addressed besides the low ceilings in those two rooms. However, it really is so charming, and the garden is so amazing, im willing to address them (it seems to be well insulated, the bedrooms upstairs have 8’ ceilings and are extremely pleasant, and the staircase issue cd be solved with a good, historically appropriate handrail.) It’s really the lr that’s the problem because I’ll probably spend a lot of time there. I think if it were just 6 or 7” higher Id love it. Im just not sure if ill gain that much until I remove a little of the ceiling. But i cant do that unless i buy the house first😱

I dont think it will raise the utility bills too much because there’s a room above the living room. There might be sound issues, but I live alone so that’s ok. Thanks again!

I had a condo in Back Bay, dates around 1860, low ceilings. I loved it. It was on the basement level and was super cozy. Cool in the summer and easily heated in the winter. This place sounds great.