Hjerim

It is located in the Valunstrad quarter of Windhelm. The house has two floors, several spacious rooms and a hidden chamber. Hjerim also has a large armory with a number of mannequins, display cases, shelves, and weapon racks. It originally belonged to Friga Shatter-Shield, until she was tragically murdered by the Butcher.

The secret chamber, hidden behind a ground-floor wardrobe to the rear of the first floor, is where the Butcher kept the severed body parts of his victims with which he intended to reanimate his dead sister. Purchasing the cleanup package will clear its bloodstained furnishings, enabling the purchase of the needed upgrades to transform it into an combined Alchemy and Enchanting workshop.

Acquisition
The house is available for 12,000. Purchasing all upgrades costs an additional 8,000. Completing Rescue from Fort Neugrad or the full Civil War questline is necessary to purchase this house. Upon becoming a Thane of Eastmarch, a housecarl, Calder, will be assigned by the Jarl to look after Hjerim and serve the new Thane.

A part of the quest Blood on the Ice takes place here, but the purchase of the property is available before or during the quest, giving the Dragonborn the key to the house which allows entry to the house without having to pick the master lock on the front door. (The key can also be obtained during or after Blood on the Ice by pickpocketing it from/talking to Tova Shatter-Shield.)  The quest is automatically gained when entering the house for the first time, if not previously started. Talking to the Jarl's Steward, Jorleif, enables the purchase of decorations for Hjerim; however, the quest Blood on the Ice must be completed before buying decorations and the cleanup package from Jorleif, else glitches ensue.

Advantages

 * Hjerim contains both an arcane enchanter and an alchemy lab.
 * Hjerim also has a large armory with room for five weapons and three mannequins.
 * It is in close proximity to smithing facilities, a smelter, an alchemist's shop, a general merchant and the Windhelm fence, all of which are closely grouped.
 * Adding a children's room does not mean sacrificing the alchemy and enchanting facilities.
 * Niranye, the Windhelm fence, is located outside in a market stall, whereas many other fences require at least one additional transition to reach or are hard to track down.
 * It has the biggest armory of all the houses (non-add-on) with three mannequins and many weapon racks and plaques for both shields and weapons.
 * There is a thief cache barrel to the left as the Dragonborn exits the house after completing the necessary quest for Delvin Mallory after joining the Thieves Guild.

Disadvantages

 * The secret room has poor storage.
 * Its cost is high including decorations.
 * It's amongst the hardest houses to obtain, due to many quests being needed to be completed to obtain it.
 * In order to have the blood from the Butcher's murders removed, a fee of 500 gold must be paid similarly to the other improvements. In addition, it also removes all of the contents of the secret room.

Item displays
See Windhelm Home Decorating Guide for detailed descriptions.
 * Eight Weapon Wall Plaques
 * Two Weapon & Shield Wall Plaques
 * Three Sword Display Cases
 * Five Weapon Rack
 * Three Mannequins
 * Four Dagger Display Cases
 * Twelve Bookshelves (holding a total of 132 books)

Housecarl room
Although the Windhelm Home Decorating Guide lists a guest room, its actually the housecarl room; it is automatically installed when Calder, the Housecarl, moves in. This room alongside the Vlindrel Hall housecarl room are the most luxurious available in Skyrim.

Trivia

 * Although this house can be purchased, during Blood on the Ice, the key to it can be found by pickpocketing or asking Tova Shatter-Shield. The master lock can be picked as well.
 * There are a few high value potions in the chamber and a few soul gems that can be sold to cover some of the expense of buying the home and furnishings.
 * The table in the small room appears to have Shadowmarks on it that refer to "empty" and "danger."
 * When purchased, the alchemy labs comes with valuable ingredients such as void salts, fire salts and frost salts.

Appearances


Хьерим Hjerim Hjerim