In Skyrim Hearthfire DLC, you can purchase land, which can then be used to build a house. Houses in Skyrim serve multiple functions and can give you some much-needed respite when you’re out adventuring. However, acquiring the land and building the houses isn’t as straightforward.
This guide’ll take a comprehensive look at Hearthfire’s house-building mechanics. We’ll cover all purchasable houses’ locations, requirements, and prices. Additionally, this guide will also look at the room options that are available when building your house.
Skyrim: Hearthfire All House Locations
When it comes to houses, you have a total of three options to choose from in Skyrim: Hearthfire. They’re located around the map, and each house has its own perks and advantages, though it is possible to own all of them at once. The three houses include Heljarchen Hall, Lakeview Manor, and Windstad Manor.
1. Heljarchen Hall
Location: Heljarchen Hall is located toward the north of Loreius Farm, right at the foothills of Skyrim’s northern ice-capped peaks.
How to acquire this house: Complete the quests “Kill the Giant” and “Waking Giant”. After this, simply speak to Skald or Brina in Dawnstar to complete your purchase. This house costs 5,000 gold.
Benefits: The biggest benefit of Heljarchen Hall is its proximity to Whiterun, one of the biggest settlements in Skyrim. Whether you need to go to a smithy or relax in a tavern, you’ll never be without Skyrim’s core facilities if you build your abode here. Secondly, this house also lets you build a Grain Mill to convert your grains into flour. Many of Hearthfire’s new recipes require flour and with this house, you’ll never run out.
2. Lakeview Manor
Location: Lakeview Manor is near Bleakfalls Barrow and offers a beautiful view of Lake Ilinalta from the comfort of your home.
How to acquire: To purchase this house, you must become the Thane of Falkreath by completing several missions for the NPCs of the area. Talk to Nenya or Tekla after you’ve completed this requirement to purchase the house for 5,000 gold.
Benefits: Lakeview Manor lets you build a honey farm on the properties’ premises. While honey isn’t an extremely useful ingredient, living here will ensure you’ll always have a steady supply of this consumable.
3. Windstad Manor
Location: The final purchasable house in Hearthfire is near the Blue Palace.
How to acquire: To acquire Windstad Manor, you must complete the quest “Laid to Rest” and then talk to either Pactur or Alsfur. Like the two previous houses, Windstad Manor also costs 5,000 gold.
Benefits: The biggest benefit of this house is that it lets you build a fish hatchery. Fish can be used to create many potions that can provide various buffs, so if you’re a player who relies heavily on consumables, there isn’t a better place to build your home.
How to build a house in Hearthfire?
Once you’ve purchased your desired land, you can start building your house in Skyrim. Do note that building houses and their separate wings require lots of materials. Below is a list of all the required materials to build a house. Do note that every component of the house requires different quantities.
- Clay
- Quarried Stone
- Glass
- Goat Horns
- Sawn Log
- Straw
- Hinge
- Iron Fittings
- Lock Nails
Once you have the desired materials, approach the Drafting Table on your property and start building your house. Here, you can determine the size of the house, its amenities, and its outdoor utilities.
Once you’re done with building your house’s basic structure, you can move onto individual wings. In total, there are three wings, and each wing has three room options. Build your house according to your needs. Below, we’ve given all the available options:
West Wing Rooms
1. Bedroom
The room has sufficient space to accommodate a master bed, two children’s beds, and multiple display cases.
2. Greenhouse
The room is dedicated to plant growth in a controlled environment. There are plenty of satchel packs and containers for storing different items.
3. Enchanting Tower
The tower will include access to the rooftop. It will also include an enchanting alter, a mannequin, and plenty of display cases.
North Wing Rooms
1. Trophy Room
This is where you can show off your trophies. The room holds three large trophies along with plenty of small ones. A few storage containers are also present in this room, so you will have some storage capacity.
2. Storage Room
A room dedicated to storage. You can find a hefty number of containers in there.
3. Alchemy Tower
Like the enchanting tower, this room includes access to the rooftop. You will have your alchemy table in it for crafting experiments.
East Wing Rooms
1. Armory
The armory will have the following items:
- Mannequins
- Almost 6 display cases
- Storage Capacity
- Weapon Plaques
- Weapon Racks
- A Workbench
- Grindstone
2. Kitchen
Basic kitchenware like a stove, pot oven, etc. The kitchen also comes with plenty of storage space. You can bake recipes here.
3. Library Tower
A total of 12 shelves are available in this room. Like the other towers, you also get access to the rooftop.
Skyrim: Hearthfire Best House Layouts
Because you can own and build all three houses at once, you can maximize the utility of each one by crafting unique layouts for all of them. This will allow you to reap the benefits of their unique properties. Below, you’ll find our picks of the best Wing layout for all three houses:
| House | West Wing | North Wing | East Wing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heljarchen Hall | Enchanting Tower | Trophy Room | Armory |
| Lakeview Manor | Greenhouse | Alchemy Tower | Library Tower |
| Windstad Manor | Bedroom | Storage Room | Kitchen |
How To Reset Your Manor?
Once you construct your manor, the build options are pretty much permanent. If you ever feel like you want to take out a section, there is no in-game option. But, you can cheat your way there via console commands. Depending on which house you want to modify, type the following commands:
sqv byohhousepale
sqv byohhousefalkreath
sqv byohhousehjaalmarch
This will show all the rooms and further build options for these Skyrim Hearthfire Houses. It will show IDs for these options so you must navigate the data using the “Page Up” and “Page Down” keys. Once the room is selected, type prid “ID for the specific room or item”. This will select the object or room in the console and now you must use the command “Disable” to remove it.
If you ever change your mind, repeat the process and use “Enable” command instead of “Disable” to bring it back. Otherwise, you can disable the entire DLC from the Load Order, load your game, play for a minute, save it, restart it, and load your saved game and play it normally. Do note that both methods can break your game and render it unplayable. So, proceed with your own risk.
