How to Buy a House in Whiterun

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Last Updated: August 19, 2024 Fact Checked

"Breezehome" is one of the homes in Skyrim that the player can purchase. It is the first home that you can purchase when progressing through the main story, and provides a safe spot to drop off loot and rearm between excursions in Whiterun Hold. Breezehome can be purchased for 5000 Gold after completing the "Bleak Falls Barrow" quest in the main story.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Completing "Bleak Falls Barrow"

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Start the "Bleak Falls Barrow" quest. This quest is part of the main story in Skyrim, and you receive the quest from Farengar Secret-Fire at Dragonsreach in Whiterun. This quest immediately follows the quest "Before the Storm".^{[1]
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- Note: You can make everything a lot easier for yourself by traveling to Bleak Fall Barrow before you even get to Whiterun. You can start the Golden Claw quest by talking to Lucan Valerius in Riverwood. This will allow you to get all of the items you need from the Bleak Falls Barrow and give it to Farengar Secret-Fire as soon as you get the quest, without having to backtrack.^{[2]
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You can find this dungeon to the south of Whiterun, and to the west of Riverwood. There will be several bandits outside, so you'll want to dispatch them before you enter. You'll find the entrance to Bleak Falls Barrow at the top of the stairs in the ruins.

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You'll soon come across a bandit that pulls the wrong lever, setting off a trap that kills him.
You can look at the tablets above the gate and beside the lever to determine what order the pillars need to be in. Set them to "snake", "snake", and "whale". This will allow you to pull the lever and proceed.^{[3]
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Free Arvel, then kill him. You'll find Arvel the Swift trapped in a spiderweb further down the dungeon. Hitting the spiderweb will free him, and he will take off running. Try to kill him now so that you can easily get to his body. If you don't kill him, he'll either be killed by a draugr a little farther down, or impaled by a spike trap.^{[4]
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- Arvel will cower for a moment after being freed from the spiderweb, making this the best time to kill him.
You'll find this item on Arvel's corpse. The Golden Claw is required to pass through Three Ring puzzle later in the dungeon. Zooming in on the Golden Claw's palm in your inventory will show you the correct order the rings need to be in (from top to bottom: bear, hummingbird, owl).^{[5]
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The Word Wall will teach you Unrelenting Shout, one of the most useful Shouts in the game. After reading the Word Wall, you will be attacked by a draugr overlord. Dispatch the dragon and take the Dragonstone.
This will complete the quest and allow you to purchase a house in Whiterun.^{[6]
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Part 2

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Purchasing the House

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After completing the quest, talk to the Jarl in Dragonsreach. He will inform you that a home is now available for purchase, and point you towards Proventus Avenicci.
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Find Proventus Avenicci in Whiterun. You can usually find him near the throne in Dragonsreach. If he's not there, he's either in his bedroom or dining in the Great Porch.
- If you haven't purchased the house by the time you start the "Battle for Whiterun" quest for the Stormcloaks, you'll be required to purchase the house afterwards from Brill in Dragonsreach.
Proventus will sell you the house if you can cough up the 5000 Gold payment. If you don't have the cash yet, raid a few nearby dungeons and sell the loot off to the merchants in Whiterun.^{[7]
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Purchase furnishings from Proventus. Your house will be pretty bare when you first purchase it, but you can add additional furniture and decorations by purchasing them from Proventus. When you purchase additional furnishings, they will be delivered to your house automatically.
- You can purchase furnishings by the room. For example, furnishing your Living Room will provide 2 Weapon Racks, 1 Bookshelf, 1 Cupboard, 1 Small Table, and 2 Small Chairs. Furnishing the bedroom will provide 3 End Tables, 1 Dresser, 1 Table, 1 Chest, 2 Chairs, 1 Shield Plaque.
After purchasing your home, you'll receive the key and can start using it. The house is called "Breezehome", and you can find it to the east of "Warmaiden's" just inside the western gates of Whiterun.^{[8]
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Part 3

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Using Your House

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Safely store items in your containers. Many containers throughout Skyrim will reset after a while, making them an unsafe place to leave valuables for later. Containers in your house, however, will never reset, allowing you to safely dump all of your excess loot between adventures.^{[9]
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- Many players will sort different categories of items into different containers to make finding items easier later. For example, you might place all of your clothing and armor in your Bedroom containers, while keeping all of your ingredients in the Kitchen.
- Weapon Racks will automatically store your equipped weapon when you use them, making them a great way to show off your more prized weapons.
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Upgrade your Kitchen to cook ingredients and make food. Upgrading your Kitchen provides you with a Cooking Pot. You can use this pot to combine food ingredients to create more effective and powerful food.
- Most foods will require Salt as an ingredient.
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Upgrade your Alchemy Laboratory to brew potions. The alchemy lab allows you to use ingredients to brew very powerful potions.^{[10]
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Research source} You can combine up to three ingredients (two base and one bonus) to create a large variety of helpful potions and devastating poisons. The alchemy lab is the most expensive add-on at 500 Gold. Click here for a guide on brewing potions.
- If you have the "Hearthfire" expansion, you can replace your alchemy lab with a Children's Bedroom. This allows you to adopt children to live you with. Click here for more details on adopting in Skyrim.
One of the best features of Breezehome is its close proximity to Warmaiden's. This means you can quickly forge and repair equipment without having to track down all the proper equipment.
Breezehome doesn't have an Enchanting Table, or a Mannequin. This means you cannot enchant items without walking all the way to Dragonsreach. Without the Mannequin, you can't display your favorite pieces of armor. Breezehome is also fairly far away from the Thieves Guild fence at Honningbrew Meadery.

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Question

How and where do I find Jarl's friend to buy the house from after the Whiterun Battle?

Community Answer

He is usually upstairs at the table or he's on the great porch, through the big double doors, or he's in Jarl's quarters, which is the first door on the right at the bottom of the staircase.

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Question

I cannot purchace Breezehome in any way. I tried hundrends of diferent combinations. What should I do?

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Complete the main storyline up until you slay Mirmulnir, the dragon at the western watchtower. Go to the Jarl of Whiterun afterwards and collect your reward. This will ensure you reached the point of purchasing the house. Go to Proventus Avennici, the steward. Talk to him, and the option to buy Breezehome and all upgrades will be in the options.

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Question

Is there a way to get easy gold in Whiterun?

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The easiest way I've found to harvest gold is to loot an invisible chest from the traveling merchants throughout Skyrim. The easiest one is in Dawnstar.

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