Construction Step Three: The Staircase

The next step after constructing the base and chimney is to build the internal staircase. I decided before I even received that Fairfield that I would use a standard Houseworks stair kit instead of the kit that comes with the house, as I'd seen the difficulty many builders have had with it.  The problem with the Houseworks stairs is that they are wider than the kit stairs. So, I either have to cut down the Houseworks stairs, or move the stair case wall over.

Also, I decided early on that I wouldn't use the staircase hand rails that come with the house - they really aren't very attractive!  So that means I will have to trim those sections off the walls surrounding the staircase.

I've seen a few cases of builders turning the staircase around and removing the left hand side staircase wall completely, leaving the kitchen open to the hallway. The problem I have is that I have the stone fireplace to fit into the kitchen, and it will only fit along the back wall with no kitchen door, and the staircase in the original position.  I say "the original position" because I would actually prefer the staircase to run up the left wall of the foyer, to a) avoid the double rail at the bottom, and b) the stair rail obscuring some of the doorway into the living room.

The problem with running it up the left is that the kitchen ends up small, and odd-shaped.

I'm intrigued as to why there are two doors so close to each other here?

I could possibly do it like this, extending the back wall of the dining room and making it bigger.  I am already thinking of making the dining room into a study anyway. Or, I have seen several people swap the kitchen the the dining room around - I could make that room an eat-in kitchen and turn the old, smaller kitchen into a creepy store room and entrance to the "basement"? Then again I would have two fireplaces in the same room which would be silly.

Later:

I've been fiddling around with dry-fitting the walls and the stone Braxton Payne fireplace I bought will only fit in the kitchen along the back wall. I tried fitting the staircase over the top of the fireplace, but it won't fit unless the stairs start practically at the front door (the fireplace is quite tall).  I am wondering then, if I could do something like the above, where the beginning of the staircase is set off to the side - which in my case, would be opposite the entrance to the living room.

Alternately, I've been in several Victorian houses which had staircases so steep I could barely walk up them, so building one steep enough to fit wouldn't be out of character with the era. Makes it a bit more creepy too - although I would have to build it myself, and I don't know if I am that clever.

Later again:

I've done a very basic frame for a (very) steep staircase which will fit in the vestibule. It has very narrow treads, just wide enough to fit a spindle, and I don't know if I'll be able to make it myself with any degree of success. But really, what says "creepy" more than a dark, rickety, narrow staircase?