Skyrim Hearthfire: Build a House and Adopt a Child

Short answer: all three Hearthfire plots cost 5,000 gold and let you build the exact same house from the same materials. Only three things differ: the quest you must finish before the steward will sell, the one exterior feature unique to that site, and how often enemies wander in. So buy whichever plot you can unlock right now — Windstad Manor in Hjaalmarch is the fastest (one side quest), and Heljarchen Hall is gated behind level 22. On adoption: you do not need to be married, you can take in two children, and the requirement that stops most players is that if you build the Bedrooms wing you must build both the child beds and the child chests before anyone will let you adopt even one child.

Verified against UESP on September 11, 2026. Hearthfire is included with Special Edition, Anniversary Edition, the Switch version and Skyrim VR — no separate purchase. Current build: Special Edition 1.7.104 (released August 27, 2026).

Four things to settle first

The three plots compared

The civil war can delete the prerequisite entirely. If a hold changes hands, the newly installed jarl sells you the land out of gratitude with no favor quest attached — that applies to Dengeir in Falkreath, Sorli in Hjaalmarch, and Brina Merilis in the Pale. For Heljarchen Hall that is the difference between waiting for level 22 and buying immediately. Which jarls end up where is covered in our Imperial vs Stormcloak guide.

The level 9 letter

If you reach level 9 without starting Build Your Own Home, a jarl or steward sends a courier letter that points you at the relevant jarl. If you approach Siddgeir in Falkreath before that letter arrives, he will usually demand Rare Gifts (a bottle of Black-Briar mead) before he even offers the bandit quest — that is almost always why Falkreath appears to be a dead end.

What is waiting on the plot

1. Pay 5,000 gold. You receive a deed and the site is marked on your map
2. Travel there. A drafting table, carpenter's workbench, anvil, chest and log pile are already set up
3. Open the chest: 30 clay, 30 quarried stone, 6 iron ingots, 1 corundum ingot, plus 20 sawn logs in the pile. That is enough to build the Small House but not to furnish it
4. Use the drafting table and pick the Small House Layout — the only plan available at first
5. Build the foundation at the workbench. It takes one sawn log and ten quarried stone, so the shell goes up quickly

Materials: the numbers that matter

Structure only, furnishings excluded. Identical at all three sites.

Nails, hinges, fittings and locks are crafted at the anvil on site. The conversion rates tell you how much ore to bring:

• Nails: 1 iron ingot makes 10 at a time
• Hinges: 1 iron ingot makes 2
• Iron fittings: 1 iron ingot makes 1
• Locks: 1 iron ingot + 1 corundum ingot makes 1

Where the materials come from

Sawn logs never appear in your inventory. They are weightless hidden items tracked as the log pile on your land, and the supply is shared across every property you own. Buying a new plot adds 20 logs on top of whatever you already had.

Wings: three sides, three choices each

Once the Main Hall is finished you may add one wing to the east, north and west. Each choice is permanent, so decide before you spend materials.

Do not spend a wing on crafting stations. The Main Hall alone can hold an alchemy lab, an anvil and an arcane enchanter, and the cellar adds the full smithing set plus an altar for shrines to the Divines.

Adoption, and the requirement that blocks people

You can adopt two children, married or not. Sleeping in the same house as them grants the Mother's Love or Father's Love bonus, which makes healing magic spells and potions more effective.

What your house needs

• In a player-built home, the Main Hall is enough: build the two single beds and a dresser for the children's clothes and toys. You do not need the west wing at all
• But if you build the Bedrooms wing, the rule changes. You must then build both the child beds and the child chests before you can adopt even one child. Once done, your children move into that room
• Several Creation Club homes — Tundra Homestead, Myrwatch, Hendraheim, Shadowfoot Sanctum and others — arrive already furnished for two children

For city houses you buy the child's room from the hold steward:

Who you can adopt

Honorhall Orphanage only opens up after Innocence Lost; while Grelod the Kind is alive nobody may be adopted. Once she is gone, Constance Michel takes over and a courier brings you a letter about adoption.

The four street children can be adopted on the spot, no orphanage visit required — so Lucia, Sofie, Blaise and Alesan are available even if you have not touched Innocence Lost.

Answer the job question carefully

Constance asks your name and what you do for a living. Saying "I'm an Assassin" or "I'm a Thief" ends the conversation — she assumes you are joking and sends you away. Dragonborn, Harbinger of the Companions, Arch-Mage of the College of Winterhold, Adventurer and Mercenary all pass.

When you adopt a second child you cannot send them to a different house; both must live together. Move the whole family later by speaking to a family member at home.

What a steward does for you

Once the Small House is standing, a follower you bring to the site can become that homestead's steward — usually by volunteering. The choice is permanent, so do not hand the job to a follower you want in the field.

• Materials: 20 logs for 200 gold, 20 stone for 100, 20 clay for 20 — without leaving the property
• Furnishing: they will decorate rooms for you, but slowly, adding pieces over time. You skip the material hunt and forfeit the Smithing experience
• Staff and livestock: carriage driver 500, bard 1,500, horse 1,000 (needs the stable), cow 200 and chickens 25 each (need the animal pen)
• You can buy three chickens but only ever get one nest, so one is enough if you just want eggs

Quirks and known bugs

• General goods merchants can take up to 30 days to restock glass, goat horns and straw. Buy them in bulk when you see them
• Furnishing positions are fixed. You choose whether to build a piece, never where it goes
• Remodelling the Small House into an Entryway wipes nearly everything you furnished inside it. If you plan to expand, do not furnish the starter room
• Beds in player-built homes do not grant Well Rested (Lover's Comfort and Mother's/Father's Love still apply). A known bug, fixed by the unofficial patches
• Mannequins duplicate gear and drift off their pedestals. Putting an item on the mannequin and taking it off again settles it
• Hire the bard early. Buying every other improvement first can remove the option to hire one at all
• Windstad's fish hatchery takes one fish or roe of each species in the column at the end of the jetty; return after seven days for the offspring. The slaughterfish that spawn are tame
• Lakeview's apiary restocks its honeycomb and bees on its own, so it is not safe to use as storage

The five achievements

In short

• Every plot is 5,000 gold and builds the same house from the same materials — choose by prerequisite quest and unique exterior
• Fastest first home: Windstad Manor (Laid to Rest). Heljarchen Hall needs level 22 unless the Legion has taken the Pale
• Shell plus cellar: 72 logs, 116 stone, 115 nails. Stone and clay are free and infinite; lumber is the only real expense
• Three wings total, and the Main Hall already covers all three crafting stations
• Adoption needs no marriage and caps at two children. In a built home the Main Hall beds plus a dresser suffice — unless you built Bedrooms, which demands child beds and child chests
• Lucia, Sofie, Blaise and Alesan can be adopted straight off the street; the orphanage requires Innocence Lost

Sources: the add-on overview and land requirements come from UESP's Hearthfire page, material and wing breakdowns from Construction, adoption rules and the child roster from Adoption, site details from Lakeview Manor, Windstad Manor and Heljarchen Hall, steward services from Personal Steward, and the achievement list from Achievements.