Kind of late in the day to notice it.

It can be used for lots decorative purposes, such as large vases and statuary. I would finish it with flooring--tile or hardwood--rather than drywall to help keep it clean.

To me, a railing would indicate it's a place for a stroll. Don't think so.

BTW, I would have saved some money and had a fixed window.

Since it is still in the framing stage do you think you could come up with the budget to change the window to a fixed vertical one centered over the stairs themselves and just get rid of the ledge? (Make it storage accessible in the adjacent room or something.)

Ledges and awkward spaces like this end up being the bane of people's existence.

Other option, move the wall of that room, making the ledge into a landing with a railing. You could put the door to the room off the new landing. Side benefit, the stairwell is less of a "shaft". We're so glad the original owners of our house changed the developer's plan in a similar way.

Thanks for the suggestions. I think if it stays this wide we will be forced by code to put in a railing. Unfortunately this is a new home to replace a home knocked out by hurricane Sandy. We had minimal time to change plans as the architects were so slammed with work. If we had taken more time it would have delayed the home 6 months or more. We are on of the first in the town to be in the build phase. It is a log jam after us. Build crews, surveyors, township inspectors all have more than they can handle. This is my 68 year old uncle's full time residence. We could have asked more questions or asked for revisions at the plan time but we knew any change would take at least a month and would put us back further in the log jam of work to be done.
So this is the result of the trade off we made. I am just looking to do the best we can now. I can live with it ( this is a summer home for us) since it will get him in sooner.
Choices are
ledge as is with railing
Bump side wall in narrower ledge no railing
Raise ledge up 3 ft no railing
No ledge out triangular fill so wall goes out at 45 degree angle (then you can't open the window)
..... Or....

I would probably narrow it so the window would be centered in that space and then not worry about a separate railing.

**Bump side wall in narrower ledge no railing **

Do you mean making the 2nd floor room on the right in the picture larger? If so, I think that's your best option of the ones presented. it creates a very tunneled staircase so furniture moving will need to be well thought out.

Raise ledge up three feet AND use space inside bedroom for built-ins. We have a winner.
Casey

Can they turn the existing window sideways, center over staircase and reframe so no ledge. You won't be opening the window anyway.

I had a ledge just like that in a 1922 Craftsman house. It was finished with plaster and trim. I loved it! Gourds in the fall, decorative eggs in April, greenery at Christmas... My kids loved watching the arrangements change. It's a fun detail.

This post was edited by larecoltante on Sat, Oct 5, 13 at 20:54

Curious, how wide is the staircase? What room is below and to the right of the ledge?

I searched Houzz for stairway and ledge and found this https://www.houzz.com/photos/idaho-court-residence-mediterranean-staircase-los-angeles-phvw-vp~57217-Residence-mediterranean-staircase-los-angeles and this http://www.houzz.com/photos/staircase/ledge-/p/8

Good luck with your decision.

We have a ledge on the 2nd level of our foyer. I knew it would be there. It was either do away with it and have a window that wasn't centered or keep it and make it work. I've decorated it with decorative panels. There's an outlet up there if I ever to decide to use accessories that need electric.
I tried linking the photos - but something is wrong with my photo bucket! Sorry

This post was edited by downsy on Mon, Oct 7, 13 at 7:34

Electrical outlet! That is a stellar idea :)

Framing it out in open cubes accessible on the stair side, and stepping upward on the ledge towards the window. You can still get to the window to open it (like climbing another mini set of stairs), and the cubes are nice cubbies for storage of decor for the house. Or if it leads to something like a backdoor, for kids to put their shoes in. And if they're worried about someone walking on it, put the railing at the end of the ledge, not down the whole thing.

The only railing necessary will be a return at the top to close off the space.

Closing it off it any way, such as moving the wall of the room to the side, will result in a narrow slit of a stairwell

Hi everyone!
Thanks so much for all the great suggestions. Here are the answers to some of the questions.
The room below the staircase and to the right is the master bedroom and it is a rather modest size (17 x 12) so I can't shift the staircase to the right. Not sure how wide the staircase is (I will measure it next time I go there). The room to the right of the staircase on the upstairs is a 2nd master which is rectangular about 15 x 12 with a lofted ceiling.
I am loving all the suggestions and feeling less blue about the space. I am going to look into all the ideas and see what works best. Thanks so much.