Yeah, i kind of found an extremely lucky work around, though it's not really something that can be replicated. Namely i couldn't get the note from gramps because of the living room bug, but the scene where you met a couple council members in the garden bypasses the living room automatically and drops you in the garden. And luckily pulling back into the living room popped me into the main bedroom rather than forcing me to the main menu. So I was able to progress significantly, but I'm now in a situation where I once again have to get into the garden, which had stopped my progress for a particular quest again.