1. since the roof has to be completely resurfaces and since any permit application is likely to trigger the requirement of fire sprinklers throughout the home (also any unchanged parts), it is really like putting on a brand new roof, possibly reusing the exposed structural beams (23' long, 4x10s, 6" oc) with the 2x8 center-match decking on top. And since truly flat roofs are serious headaches, this may be a good occasion to get a bit of slope throughout - get a shed roof instead (also more Eichler'ish)
2. Would it be possible to simply build a kind of "hat" to mount on top of the existing walls, separating the hat from the walls below by putting in a kind of sill plate at height 8' above finished floor. The idea would be to define the new building envelope as the same footprint and lower walls, but with plenty of head room and clear-story windows in the "hat" - and allow for subsequent and gradual renovation of what is below. I could imagine the "hat" being 4-6' on the tallest south-facing side and possibly just the minimal height to comfortably allow open-able clear-story windows, say 2' at least. See also sketch, the "hat" is shown on the proposed elevation drawing bottom right
3. I am tempted to add an addition on the south side, to get more depth into the living area and also break the long south facade. Any addition will likely require a pier/pile foundation - the soil report suggests going 15' down. Perhaps any change I make to the ceiling height might trigger a requirement to beef up the foundation, I really don't know.
4. Tom, the architect I have consulted, thought it would be way too expensive to integrate the 4' overhang into the living space because of the required foundation etc. I am still thinking that "stealing 4' of the garage would be a great way of getting hallway and access to the Eastern rooms without having to take away from the already narrow rooms. So I am not entirely convinced he is right. But I am also not sure how to make the right calculation to do a pro-et-con.
5. Since I am going to mess with almost all of the existing plumbing, it strikes me that it might be a good opportunity to clean up and upgrade the runs. The current plumbing is a mushroomed system, evolved between 1958-1980.
