We also have a timber-frame house, built in 1976. The wall structure is similar to yours, only with wooden shingles on the outside instead of bricks. We have already removed the shingles and replaced them with wooden cladding. Inside, it doesn't smell, but we are still gradually removing all the plasterboards; there is ugly textured plaster on them, so wallpapering is impossible. Therefore, for simplicity, the boards are being taken down. Underneath is white-painted particle board. This remains in place, among other reasons because I don't want to deal with the strange and possibly hazardous insulation wool. Also, it's a huge mess. Since we could only add 6 cm of additional insulation outside anyway due to the lack of roof overhang, we are taking the opportunity to do internal insulation. This is absolutely unproblematic with timber framing, as the whole wall already consists of insulation. So the plasterboards come down, everything is smoothed perfectly with filler (especially around the windows, which were enlarged and very sloppily worked on by the window people), then a climate membrane goes on (only glued!), then battens, another 6 cm of insulation, OSB, Rigidur (no more Rigips, I hate that papier-mâché stuff). I find this variant much more pleasant and faster, cleaner, cheaper and more practical than tearing everything apart completely. The climate membrane should solve the odor problem, insofar as it comes from the walls. At least the membrane has a baby icon with the inscription "[zuverlässig aromadicht]". As I said, we have neither odor nor mold problems. Therefore, I notice no difference. Oh yes, about the mice: the protective grid at the ventilation gap is probably missing. That was the case with us as well! We had meter-sized wasp nests IN the facade. We completely sealed all that during the facade work. There are angle grids with different leg lengths, which were then installed at the top and bottom so that air now passes through but nothing larger than 3 mm can get in anymore. Check that and possibly close the gap. Otherwise, you can fight mice however you want, they always come back in.