After removing a soffit, and tons of tongue-n-groove rough hewn paneling from my walls, I found a gap in the framing of what I like to refer to as the "Wall of Death" between my K and Sun Room (SR).

The gap appears in wood from the original framing, right in front of what I know to be a true support wall (1 below) that was added in a home renovation in the late 1980s that enclosed an outdoor space and created a larger DR, and the SR. I'm wondering whether this indicates that the framing was left in place just to hold the paneling/drywall.

The house originally had a second floor overhang, that's now inside the house. A slightly angled roof joins the overhang to the new outside walls.

QUESTION 1: There are several open spaces in this house. Those in the DR, and between walls 2 and 1 are flush (meaning ceiling drywall is attached to the floor joists of the second floor). How are these openings supported? I peeked inside from the kitchen and there appears to be a beam at the front of the overhang.

The opening between Wall 1 and the DR has original framing for the window that was there. I'm wondering whether there's a way to tell whether this framing is obsolete (other than the gap that is there).

Thanks again for taking a look.