Little house load bearing wall question

[small cabin dreamer]

I have built the little house in a 16x24 configuration. Now i want to put on an addition along the 16ft wide end. I understand that it is ballon framing and the 24ft length are the side walls my roof rafters sit on, but are the ends load bearing? I wanted to either remove the top plate to add on and continue the wall, or will i need a large header across the 16ft width to continue this addition to make the room longer, thus the cabin longer than the original 24ft?

[Don_P]

The ends are not load bearing but they are bracing the structure. IIRC you do need a bracing wall section every 24'... best to check the wall bracing section of the IRC there. Will this be a large open plan or are there other bracing walls in the vicinity?