Ultimate Skyrim Houses Guide – What Is the Best House in Skyrim?

If you want to feel at home in Skyrim (pun intended) than buying a house is an integral part of the Skyrim play experience.

There are several options in deciding between the houses in Skyrim and choosing correctly the first time is important otherwise it can be a pain to transfer everything over to your new home.

The Benefit of Player Homes in Skyrim

Houses in Skyrim have many benefits to gameplay:

• Getting your rest is important and having a house to sleep in means you can readily get the well rested bonus.
• You can leave your wife or follower in the house.
• Owning a house means you can safely store loot without the risk of the containers resetting.
• Different houses can have upgrades such as Alchemy Labs and Archane Enchanters.

How To Buy a House in Skyrim

There are six Skyrim houses available to buy. You will have to prove yourself to the Jarl and their steward by completing quests before the option to purchase a house becomes available.

You’ll need a fair chunk of Skyrim gold so be prepared to save up.

The Best Houses in Skyrim Ranked

Choosing the best house in Skyrim can really be down to personal preference. We’ve tried to take in the pros and cons of each house to rank them.

6. Severin Manor

Location: Raven Rock, Solstheim

Cost: Free

Upgrade Cost: N/A

This is a decent sized house and is awarded after completing the quest “Served Cold”. You get hold of the house fully furnished so there’s nothing for you to do. So why at the bottom of our best house list?

Well, for a start it’s in Solstheim which means it’s such a pain to get to when you want to drop off some loot or have a sleep. The location just really isn’t great.

The other downside of this house is that you can’t have spouses here, there will be no housecarl assigned here and you can’t have children here either.

5. Vlindrel Hall

Location: Markarth

Cost: 8,000

Upgrade Cost: 4,100

This is a reasonably priced home with not too much clutter. It has a decent amount of storage, close to merchants and has both an Alchemy Lab and an Arcane Enchanter.

The reason that this house comes so low on our list is because of its location within Markarth. It’s up so many stairs!

It’s such a pain to get to you’ll soon get bored of making the tip up to Vlindrel Hall. It may have great views but the climb just isn’t worth it.

To get your hands on Vlindrel Hall you’ll first need to complete two requests from the Jarl of Markarth; killing the Forsword leader and find Hrolfdir’s Shield.

4. Proudspire Manor

Location: Solitude

Cost: 25,000

Upgrade Cost: 11,000

The most expensive house for sale is in Solitude and is one of the grandest.

To acquire the house you will have to complete two quests given to you by the Jarl and his steward. With Proudspire Manor you need to buy the house before you can become Thane.

The house is large with good lighting, has an Alchemy Laboratory and Arcane Enchanter. Solitude also has the largest selection of shops and amenities of any hold in Skyrim.

The main limitation for Proudspire Manor is really the cost. It’s a great house but the price, especially in the early stages, makes it too expensive.

3. Honeyside

Location: Riften

Cost: 8,000

Upgrade Cost: 4,300

One of the cheaper houses in the game and moderately sized, Honeyside is one of the easier houses to get earlier in the game.

Acquiring Honeyside goes hand in hand with becoming the Thane of Riften and is a two part process. Firstly, you have to get in good with the Jarl and destroy the Skooma trade via the quest “Skooma Trade”.

Once that is done you then have to build a good reputation with the citizens of Riften by helping three of them with small quests. After completing these you can then talk to the Jarl’s steward and purchase Honeyside.

Honeyside can be equipped with an Arcane Enchanter, something that Breezehome cannot.

Honeyside also has the benefit that it has direct access to Skyrim as the porch from the house leads outside of Riften’s wall.

This is a great perk for those who might be a vampire. Sadly there is no smelter nearby which can be a pain.

Given the price, location, access and adequate storage, Honeyside deserves a decent place on our Skyrim houses list.

2. Hjerim

Location: Windhelm

Cost: 12,000

Upgrade Cost: 9,000

This house has a bloody past but worthy to take the number two spot on our list of best houses in Skyrim.

The home has two levels, large rooms and even has a secret chamber. How cool is that!

The house is on the more expensive side but it is still cheaper than Proudspire Manor and in our opinion just as good.

To purchase this home you’ll need to complete the whole Civil War questline if you choose the imperials or the “Rescue from Fort Neugrad” quest if you choose the Stormcloaks.

This is a great house due to the location of all the amenities close by including; smithing, smelter, the Windhelm Fence.

The storage might be slightly less than some other houses but the location and size is generally amazing.

Also of the all the houses in Skyrim (excluding Skyrim Hearthfire) this has the largest armoury to display all of your most prized weapons and armour.

Despite the higher costs compared to other houses in Skyrim, this is still worth it.

1. Breezehome

Location: Whiterun

Cost: 5,000

Upgrade Cost: 1,800

You might be surprised to see that Breezehome makes the top of the list as the best house in Skyrim.

It is the easiest house to get in the game being the cheapest and also available very early on in the game after completing the quest “Bleak Falls Barrow” from the main quest.

One downside of Breezehome compared to other houses is that you are unable to have an Arcane Enchanter here and it is on the smaller side. However, there are a bunch of other advantages.

Aside from the price the location is fantastic only a short stroll from the front gate of Whiterun.

You’re also conveniently next to the blacksmiths which has a forge, workbench and smelter.

You’re also super close to the merchant and apothecary. Despite the size of the house there is adequate storage.

Well there you have it, that’s our Skyrim house guide. If you’re looking for someone to share it with, feel free to check out our guide to Skyrim Wives.

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