Hi Mrsv,
i can totally empathise with you. My place is very old and needs to be totally revamped too, and i dun have the benefit of a parquet floor on level 2. So far, all the IDs and contractors have came back to me with a quotation of ~55k. This does not include all the box up pippings and other decorative features.
One of my ID have even quoted me 80k and the worst thing is, I like his design the most. haha.
Have anyone used timber strips for their flooring? I totally love the feel of stepping on timber but the big trade off would be cost.