Skyrim: What Is the Biggest House You Can Buy?

Each major city in Skyrim has a house for you to purchase. The houses range from mansions to humble cottages, but in any case, every house comes complete with everything to suit Dragonborn’s needs. After all, the most important thing is to gain access to enough storage to store all the loot we will acquire throughout our adventures and, perhaps, move a family in. If your storage needs are getting bigger, and you’re running out of space in the house you own currently, you’re probably wondering, what is the biggest house in Skyrim that you can buy?

How do you get Proudspire Manor in Solitude?

You can purchase Proudspire Manor from Falk Firebeard after you’ve completed quests “The Man Who Cried Wolf” and “Elisif’s Tribute.” The house itself will cost you 25,000 gold, and this is without the many upgrades you can purchase for it. If you plan on becoming the Thane of Haafingar, you will need to purchase Proudspire Manor, among other prerequisites for the title.

Can you get into Proudspire Manor without buying it?

You can get into Proudspire Manor without buying it. All you need to do is steal Fletcher’s key, carried by Fihada and Jawanan. The stolen Fletcher’s key will unlock the house’s patio door, giving you unlimited access to the house and its amenities. The interesting thing is, even though you’re not the legal owner of the house, the containers will not respawn, making them safe, and you will be able to sleep in the bed and gain a “Well Rested” bonus.

Proudspire Manor: Location, upgrades, and storage

Location

Proudspire Manor is situated on the main road that connects Castle Dour to the Blue Palace. It’s in a very desirable location due to having several merchants in its vicinity. The very first house next door is Bard’s College. Proudspire Manor has three entrances: one that overlooks the main street, one entrance that leads to the basement, and the aforementioned patio entrance.

House upgrades

The base house can be further upgraded for a price that can be between 11,000 and 14,000 gold. The possible upgrades include additional bedroom furnishings, kitchen furnishings, living room furnishings, an alchemy station, an arcane enchanter, patio furnishings, a child’s bedroom (if you have Hearthfire installed), and Housecarl’s Quarters.

Players with Skyrim: Special Edition with additional creation club content can upgrade Proudspire Manor with a fish tank and fish plaques. You can see the detailed overview of each possible upgrade and its price in the table below.

Rooms

We’ve already mentioned that Proudspire Manor is a three-story house; however, its gigantic size does not warrant that it has the most storage space out of all houses available for purchase. When we take into account the price and storage containers available, as well as other crafting stations and tools, Proudspire is far from the best house in the game. Still, let’s take a look at all the rooms and amenities available to the player once Proudspire Manor is purchased.

The basement is quite spacious, and this is where most of your crafting stations are situated. The basement holds several storage containers, Housecarl’s quarters, an enchanting altar, and an alchemy station. Several weapons plaques, bookshelves, ingredient shelves, and mannequins are at your disposal if you wish to showcase your prized weapons.

Climbing the staircase leads you to the patio section of your house and the dining room. Despite the size of the house, this general area of Proudspire Manor is small and has little to no practical use as storage containers are few, and most surfaces are cosmetic in nature. Your Housecarl will spend most of her time in the dining room area. There is a juniper tree on the patio that frequently respawns.

Climbing the staircase once more leads you to the last floor of the house. Here is where you will find another dining area, a master bedroom, and a child’s bedroom. The dining area is nothing spectacular and serves to fill the empty space. The Master bedroom is slightly better regarding storage containers, as it has a secure chest and a safe. The rest of the features are pretty much unremarkable and have only aesthetic functions.

Storage

Proudspire Manor has four bookshelves, two shield plaques, two weapon plaques, two mannequins, two weapon racks, and fifteen storage containers.
There needs to be more storage to justify the price of 25,000 gold. What is even more outrageous is the fact that the house doesn’t have display cases of any kind. Another bad thing about Proudspire Manor and Solitude, in general, is that there aren’t any smelters in the city, so if you wish to take up smithing, the nearest you’re going to have to travel to smelt ores is Broken Oar Grotto on the coast nearby.

Summary

Regarding purchasable houses, Proudspire Manor holds the title of the biggest house in Skyrim. It’s also the most expensive house in the base unmodded game, and amenities cannot justify the price as it needs more storage space and display cases. The house can be, however, claimed for free by stealing Fletcher’s key carried by Fletchers in Solitude.

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