Distance from bottom of sink to trap

Hi, I am looking at a house that has a double handle tap, as per the image below. I would like to have it replaced with a single level mixir style tap. I was hoping to get some input as to how feasible this would be, given that the entire thing looks to be built into the wall. Would this be a expensive modification to make, or are there some clever ways around it? [ATTACH]79027[/ATTACH] Thanks in advance!

My house was built around 1983. The original silcock was pretty well mudded over with mortar. When it leaked, they pulled the guts out and welded some adapters and tubing onto it and just screwed another silcock on. Guess they did not want to chip away the mortar. Well, the weld cracked and the monstrosity leaked. Tried some JB water-weld and it slowed it it down, but I know that is not a permanent fix. I tried to see what I had from the crawl space, but because of the new AC venting, there is just no way I can work on it from inside. There is no separate shutoff for the silcock I carefully chipped some mortar away and exposed some pipe. It took forever because I did not want to bust the pipe. Can anyone please look at the attached pictures and tell me if it is a threaded adapter or if the silcock was sweated on. This has been a real pain and I don't want to just start to torque on a pipe and and then have a real problem. Maybe its wishful thinking, but I swear I think I see some plumbers dope there! Thanks so much for your help.