Well you win for oddest fireplace location in history. Is this a home you own or are buying? The only fix is to remove the fireplace or raise the step down section.

Haha! It is the strangest one I’ve ever seen! It is on the short list of homes to buy. The fireplace issue is something I want to figure out before we move forward.

I was thinking the same thing, but I would love to keep a fireplace if possible. I don’t know how cost prohibitive raising the floors would be.

Find out if raising the floor is doable and economically feasible first. If not forget the house. That step is dangerous for children and the elderly and for those who “forget” it is there. Solution increases usable space in LR, a good thing.

It's interesting all right.

Since there is plenty of 'stair' area to maneuver up and down into the other living space, I would think about raising the floor just in the end where the fireplace is.

Create a larger hearth area on the sunken side.

But, the first thing I would do is remove all the carpeting.

Thanks! And I agree, carpet would have to go!

If you are replacing the floors already raising the floor will be fairly limited (framing and plywood) but it has spillover effects- those windows are close to the floor- are they tempered? That wall seems short, should it be raised with a shed wall dormer to bring in more light? Are other rooms lowered too? Should it become a wall of French doors to an outdoor deck (I’m great at spending $)

I like the idea of just expanding the hearth area rather than raising the entire floor. Is this by chance in a community where there are other homes with a similar floorplan? If so, it would be interesting to see if there are old listing photos online showing how other homeowners treated this feature.

I doubt that fireplace is original to the home but I certainly can be wrong. Looks like a later addition to get a wood burning stove in a place that was code compliant. Split levels are mostly 50's, 60's & 70's. They did goofy things with fireplaces back then but that doesn't look original. What's the outside venting?

Doesn't matter. I love Beverly's solution unless you need a wood burning stove.

Now this would have been original LOL

Just saw a decorating show and the cost to raise the floor (in about the same room size as yours) was $10,000 (no electrical or window changes). Also how will it effect the adjoining space.

If the actual steps are a safety factor/bother you, at some point you can make your mind up then, but in the meantime Patricia’s idea is the route I’d go if budget allowed.

I like Beverly’s idea and also the idea of expanding the mantle. After my original post, I found these fireplaces with floating hearths and long mantles. Maybe raise the fireplace and put in a floating hearth that is highlighted than the stairs? Thoughts?

If this is a home you currently don’t own but are considering, I would re-visit it and calculate ALL the renovation/remodeling costs you’re thinking of. They add to your cost-of-the-house factor.

If you don’t buy it, what other houses are available? Do you love the house even though it has this strange feature?

I think it could be original, because in modernism they sometimes injected traditional elements in contemporary houses, but put them in locations that indicated that they weren't necessarily the traditional focal point that they once were. I've seen some in very odd out of the way locations. This is the first one I have seen straddling steps.

Look at the fireplace in this house: It's that small black square in the lower left hand corner.

" Just saw a decorating show and the cost to raise the floor (in about the same room size as yours) was $10,000 (no electrical or window changes). "

In reality that means double it. TV shows are notorious for no clue on dollars

What if you just move the stairs back three feet, so that they line up with the half wall (thus making them less dangerous) and so that the floor in front of the fireplace is all one level (the lower one)?

Bench bookcase!

You can never have to many bookcases.

I would consider replacing the horizontal and vertical tile with something more to your taste and continuing a bench at that level of the top step all the way to the windows. It could become the location for the TV, or seating, or Paul's bookcase!

The issue is not the fireplace, it’s the invisible stairs that people are not going to see and may fall down with their glass of wine or cup of coffee spilling everywhere. And raising the floor Will be very expensive and may open up a hornet’s nest of unseen problems.

^agree - I would first figure out if you want a house with interior steps like that - then if you do, buy the house and figure out the cosmetic changes with the fireplace down the road

Agree, we have always tried to avoid buying houses with odd interior steps. Not great for the very young or older folks.

Is there a basement or crawl space so you can see what is going on under these rooms?

I will be the lone dissenter. I actually like the setup, don’t love it but like it. I had a vacation home with nearly the same layout. The raised hearth actually prevents anyone from falling off on the side. I you remove the carpet and replace steps with wood and paint the risers white the stairs will become quite visible. Save your money whatever fix you do will be expensive and not look good.

Luckily, two steps like this are not particularly hazardous, because subconsciously we pick up level changes of this height. One step is a major tripping/falling hazard because the level change is too shallow for most people to detect unless they are looking for it. It would be even more detectable if there were a material change from one level to another. It doesn't have to be from wood to wall-to-wall in the sunken area but a large area rug in the sunken area could work to signal the two different areas.

In my experience steps , one or two, are a hazard and difficult for elderly guests to navigate especially since I see no railing to hang on to. Or a railing to guide one along the corridor between rooms. I have 1 step from kitchen to FR. Older friends look for something to hang onto to go up or down. They forget it is there, I have forgotten it is there more than once and fallen. Done my best to mitigate the hazard with obviously different flooring of hardwood and tile. Still a hazard. An obsticale if want to age in place and wheelchair is needed. Should have raised FR floor but involved far too many additional changes. If buying, need too think about future needs and the cost to fix all the area. On plus side raising floor solves fireplace that could be left untouched.

I was traveling abroad and saw a walk in clinic that had a load of American tourists mostly having tripped on cobble stone or stepped into open tree planters as the walked along the street looking up.

The house is a split-level so steps are everywhere. I appreciate everyone’s comments about the stairs. I like the idea of going all wood and painting the fronts white. We are in our early forties with teenage children and no elderly relatives which we would need to worry about. Now, me with one too many glasses of wine is another story! Haha!

I really appreciate you all taking the time to give me ideas and offering your perspectives. I’ve gotten a lot of great ideas and issues have been raised to think about! Thanks everyone!

IMO traet the FP like I always do with corner ones . Ignore it in arranging furniture and just enjoy the heat .I like the way it was treated in the pics you show but those steps are a hazard if anyone has poor site or has issuses going up and down stairs with nothing to hold on to.. IMO keep looking or expect to spned huge money to fix. BTW hope your insurance company does not want to see the house IMO that set up is an accident waiting to happen even though it is a pretty fantastic spac e.

I grew up in a home with a sunken living room - the step down doesn't bother me, but the placement of the fireplace and the dead space between the kitchen and living room stairs makes it feel like a mistake. Poor planning. Possibly an addition that was poorly planned.

Poor planning scares me. I don't know what else they did that may have not been done with care.

I can't see what happens to the steps opposite the fireplace, but if there is a reasonable wall there, you could put a small handrail.

We had two steps to our garage, and my mom had more trouble with those two steps than she did the full flight. They ended up with chair lifts for the full flights, but a platform lift to get her to and from the garage after the grab bar was no longer a good option. She was only 60 when she developed her condition, and eventually was crawling up the stairs until she would succumb to a full chair lift, but the two stairs were awkward--but not unsurmountable, just very inconvenient. However both my parents were able to live in a house with stairs and not very accessible baths, my mother for a couple decades, and my dad until he was 90. It was not convenient but it was their choice.

I’m not concerned about the stairs. Only the fireplace. 😊 we don’t have anyone elderly that I am concerned about.

No, I get that. But my parents moved into the house when my mother was 40. She got an autoimmune disease that slowly crippled her right before she turned 60. My point is that they both managed with stairs. But don't assume that it's only a problem of being elderly, or something that you can plan for.

I love @Paul F.’s idea of bookshelves to make the hearth less awkward. You could even just expand the hearth there without shelves if you didn’t want bookshelves right there on the floor.

It is an odd place for a fireplace, but your furnishings are beautiful and classy!

Maybe put a step basket there to draw attention to the step down. Unless of course it might catch fire.

Wicker Step Basket, Natural Brown · More Info

For balancing the space, I like what @lye Nielson suggested, just extend steps to end of fireplace and remove carpet. Most sunken living rooms have a reduced way into them, either made by the furniture or the construction of the stairs. Look at some pictures first and see if this fits your lifestyle. I love it for coziness, conversation, reading, etc. and you have a Great Wall of glass to enjoy. Take a look at this article for options.
https://www.decoist.com/sunken-living-room-pros-cons/

Excellent link above. Solution may be to eliminate a good part of the steps so a smaller area of danger. Adding a glass or other modern mostly see thru railing plus a handrail down the steps. Advantages: cheaper, enlarges usable LR floor area (or hall), fixes FP issues somehow, safer, not need to refigure windows or other elements of the room, and retains the sunken LR. How to design the area is your next challenge if buy the house. Need pictures of the whole room and adjacent space with detailed measurements.