Hello all! Thanks to all who give me their advice on this matter, I'm really stumped and I've searched and searched and just can't seem to come to any final determination on whether this project is worth pursuing.. ie; engineers, etc. So hopefully I can get some guidance?

Here is my house:



And here is the interior area I'm looking to modify:



It is a 4 level split, and the beams in the ceiling run from front to back as per the exterior shot. There are the two visible in the living room/kitchen, and one at the top of the stairs that is embedded in the wall. That wall is between the kitchen and the upstairs level, and is built on top of a higher foundation.

I want to remove this wall in it's entirety, and make it an open floor plan. Here is where it gets complicated: At the second beam from the right wall (to the right of the open doorway) there is a column from the beam down into the floor. The entire wall is a stud wall, but there seems to be an original wall underneath the "new wall" to the left of the door opening, and going back towards the staircase. I am obviously concerned about there being columns to contend with, and if those beams are actually supporting anything.

The roof is constructed with a ridgeboard, 2 x 6 rafters extending over a run of 21' total from the beam at the top of the stairs to the right exterior wall, 16" OC. I figure one of those beams, likely the one to the left of the doorway, is a purlin of sorts supported by the front and back walls, and the rafters extending from the top beam end on that, and start again before terminating in the right wall - and the beam to the right of the door is strictly ornamental... but there is that stupid column!

Here is why I'm especially confused: I found this picture of a house in my city, same builder, same model, same year of construction:



Any thoughts at all about what I'm trying to do? Thanks for the help everyone!

 

Welcome to the forums.

Tough to answer remotely, it might be worth the cost to have a structural engineer come out and take a look.

 

I figured it may be, it's definitely a quirky one. It's really hard with a house of this vintage to track down anything remotely related to it's original construction. But I guess that's why we have engineers and people who know this kind of thing - and it looks like I'm going to be hiring one.

Thanks!

Phil