Skyrim, a vast and immersive world, offers players countless adventures. One of the first crucial steps in establishing yourself in this land is acquiring a home – a safe haven to store your hard-earned loot, crafting supplies, and the treasures you’re not quite ready to part with. This guide will walk you through the process of buying your first property in Skyrim, focusing on early-game options and valuable tips for furnishing your new abode.
One of the most important things to remember is that it is not safe to store your items in random chests found throughout the world. These chests often respawn their contents, leading to the loss of your precious goods. Investing in a player-owned home is essential for safe storage.
Earning the Jarl’s Favor
Before you can purchase property in a hold, you must earn the favor of the Jarl who governs it. You can’t simply waltz in with a bag of gold and expect to buy a house; you need to prove your worth to the local ruler.
Breezehome in Whiterun: An Ideal Starting Point
The easiest and often the first house players acquire is Breezehome in Whiterun. Gaining the Jarl of Whiterun’s favor is relatively straightforward, as you’ll naturally impress him while completing early-game quests.
Breezehome costs 5,000 gold. It’s crucial to start saving early and selling loot to accumulate the necessary funds. While 5,000 gold might seem like a significant sum initially, it becomes more manageable as you progress.
Even unfurnished, Breezehome offers a valuable chest for storing your possessions. You can then purchase furnishings as you acquire more gold.
Alternative Early Housing: Windstad Manor in Morthal
Alternatively, you can acquire land in Morthal and build Windstad Manor. More details on this option are provided below.
Land Ownership and Building Your Dream Home
Every hold except for Winterhold allows you to purchase either a house or a plot of land on which to build a house. Land plots also cost 5,000 gold and include the basic materials needed to construct a small house with a chest. Houses in other cities besides Whiterun are significantly more expensive and best reserved for later in the game.
Plots of land are available in Falkreath Hold (Falkreath), Hjaalmarch (Morthal), and the Pale (Dawnstar). However, the quests required to gain favor with the Jarls of these holds may be too challenging for low-level characters, with the exception of Morthal. While you likely already have the Jarl of Whiterun’s favor, this favor does not extend to other holds.
In Morthal, you can complete the local Jarl’s quest and begin building Windstad Manor relatively early in the game (around level 6). However, Breezehome remains the easier option for those who prefer not to tackle the Morthal quest.
Build-it-yourself houses on land plots offer the greatest customization and utility, but this is only fully realized once you can afford all the necessary materials for construction and furnishings. These houses offer a wealth of crafting stations and gardens for growing alchemy ingredients.
Therefore, starting with Breezehome and later moving your belongings to a custom-built house is a viable strategy.
Windstad Manor: A Prime Choice
Windstad Manor stands out among the three available land plots due to its fish hatchery, allowing you to farm fish for alchemy. However, this advantage is only significant if you’re interested in utilizing fish for alchemy.
Architecture Design Advice for Custom Homes
Building a house in Skyrim Special Edition differs from the settlement building in Fallout 4. You have limited options and cannot manually place objects. Here’s some advice on designing your custom home:
- Start with a Small House: This serves as the entryway to your main hall.
- Build a Main Hall: This central hub unlocks options for adding wings to your house. Each wing location offers three unique options.
Consider these wing options carefully:
- Alchemy and Enchanting Towers: Generally not recommended, as alchemy and enchanting stations can be built in the main hall. Building these towers prevents you from building the greenhouse.
- Storage Room: Redundant, as there are ample storage containers throughout the house.
- Cellar: A better alternative to the storage room, offering various smithing-related stations and storage containers.
- Kitchen: Largely useless, unless you prioritize food (especially in survival mode or with mods). A cooking pot is available in the main hall.
- Library: Primarily cosmetic and only worthwhile if you appreciate the aesthetics. It lacks sufficient bookshelves. Building either the kitchen or library prevents you from building the armory.
- Armory: A superior option to the kitchen and library, allowing you to display souvenirs, mannequins, and weapon plaques.
- Trophy Room: A decent choice for the north wing.
- Garden: Extremely useful for alchemy, especially due to its cost-effectiveness. Build it early on.
- Greenhouse: Highly beneficial for expanding your growing capacity and providing extra alchemy ingredients.
- Cellar: Almost essential, allowing you to house all smithing-related stations and storage containers.
Other Considerations
- Cows, Chickens, and Bards: Purely cosmetic additions with little practical value.
- Stable with a Horse: Potentially useful but often not essential. Requires a steward to purchase the horse.
- Fish Hatchery: Exclusive to Windstad Manor and valuable for alchemy.
Final Tip: Furnishing with a Steward
If you hire a steward to furnish a room, the process occurs incrementally and slowly, based on the number of times you enter and exit the outside map cell. Simply sleeping or waiting will not expedite the process. The steward will furnish the entire room, without offering choices. Consult the Skyrim wiki for tips on speeding up the process by repeatedly crossing the cell border.
By following this guide, you’ll be well-equipped to find and furnish your first home in Skyrim, providing a secure base for your adventures and a place to store your growing collection of treasures.
