The Beginner ' s Guide to Homesteading Content . The Beginner ' s Guide to Homesteading If you ' re like most people , you ' ve always dreamed of owning your own steading and building your own home . But where to start ? Never fear , you hold in your hands the guide to everything you need to know . Before long , you ' ll be gazing complacently across your well - tended lands from the porch of your own manor house . Getting Started . There are two vital pieces of equipment that the prospective homeowner needs : the Drafting Table and the Carpenter ' s Workbench . Your Drafting Table is where you ' ll lay out the plans for each stage of your new house . Don ' t worry about making a mistake here - you can always change your mind , and making a new plan costs you nothing . Remember : measure twice and cut once . Your Carpenter ' s Workbench is where you ' ll do the actual construction . Once you ' ve settled on a plan at the Drafting Table , you can start building your house at the Carpenter ' s Workbench . Avoid the common beginner ' s mistake - don ' t try to build the roof without building the proper supports first ! Space for the Family . If you have a spouse or children , you ' ll certainly want to get the house in a livable state as soon as possible . Your loving spouse will no doubt make do with nothing more than a roof over her head and a bed to sleep in , but what about the children ? Don ' t worry - all they need is a bed and a chest or dresser to store their treasures , and they will be perfectly content . Building Materials . You will need a lot of supplies to complete your house , but it isn ' t necessary to gather everything you need ahead of time . Unless you ' re in a hurry , you can just build in stages as materials become available . You ' ll enjoy watching your home progress from dream to reality . The most common materials you ' ll need are sawn logs , cut stone , and clay . Luckily , these are plentiful in Skyrim - in fact , most building sites will have one or more easily accessible sources of clay and stone . For sawn lumber , any lumber mill owner will be glad to sell and deliver as much as you need . You ' ll need a lot of nails - fortunately even a novice blacksmith will soon find themselves turning iron into nails with ease . When you turn to furnishing your completed house , you ' ll need a much wider variety of materials . Some of them , such as straw and glass , are commonly obtained from general goods stores . For the rest - the whole of Skyrim will become your general store ! Hiring a Steward . Once your estate is well - established , you may wish to consider hiring a steward to help manage your affairs . A good steward can be invaluable - from hiring a carriage driver to buying a cow to keeping you supplied with building materials - freeing you to enjoy the fruits of your labors . Before hiring a steward , it ' s advisable to bring a potential candidate to your manor and observe whether they are a good fit for your requirements . Remember , you are putting your entire estate into their hands - you need someone you can trust implicitly . Building Your House . The rest of this guide will review plans for each room that you might want to build . Additions . Once you ' ve built a Main Hall , your options become almost unlimited - you now have room to add three more additional wings , if you decide you still need space . For each wing , you have three choices of what to build , giving a total of nine possible additions ! ( But remember - you can only build three of them , so choose wisely . )