Player houses have come a long way in technology and inter-actability, and in that sense some are perhaps "better." But none surpass or equal the beauty of Castle Strunmah, still the most beautiful home in Skyrim.

I made a few minor tweaks to Yevic1992's masterpiece.

INSIDE: Changed the jarl thrones from static to where you can look around. Other than that, no changes. Still the beautiful bluish interior with awesome views outside the windows.

OUTSIDE:

- Added safe containers in the outside courtyard to go with the original smithing.

- Just discovered an area I had not noticed in prior uses of this home, of a courtyard-like place on the left side of the estate, when looking at the front entrance to the court yard. I turned it into a stable of sorts, with a few goodies included. Added a few steps to assist access, as you have to run around to the back-side, as there was no way to enter at the front of the area. Use the goodies or not. After over 2k hours in-game (not counting off-line mode) I decided to have some goodies...which only at level 7 this play through I usually keep stored.

- Made it possible to get to the walkway on top of the castle wall. Navmeshed (tested with dog Meeko and picked-up Beltrand at Solitude just for the test.) Basic navmesh; no idle markers. Not sure of the interest yet. Not much to do up there but appreciate the view, but I'm sure some will like the ability.

FOLLOWERS/CHILDREN:

In my level 52 play over a year ago I used this place for some time with the followers: Vilja, Serana, Janessa and Lydia, all at the same time.

I also used the Custom Home Mod to bring my Steward and Bard and kid Lucia from Heljarchen Hall (the house in the Pale). With this mod, one can set where the children, steward, bard sleep. Also the wife. I did not have a wife at that time, but am confident it also would have worked. (I've used the Custom Home Mod with success on another house as well.)

I am also pretty sure that if I had two kids, I could have set both to sleep on either side of the large double bed. (My steward and bard took turns in the other bed.) As I recall, the Custom Home Mod only allows for setting-up two children. But then, we're not building an orphanage here.

REST OF FOLLOWER ACCOMODATIONS:

As I recall, Vilja mostly slept in the master bed. Serana, Janessa and Lydia slept on the rug at the foot of the table near the door.

INTERIOR EFFECTS:

As I recall, Serana wore her hood inside during the day. I am currently using the mods Hypothermia and Wet & Cold. I have no problem staying "warm" inside, as there are several fireplaces. I recently experienced a rain outside, but nothing inside.

I am currently using Climates of Tamriel with its warm interior lighting option. Inside looks the same as I recall. COT seems to be working with the outside view through the windows.

ACCESS:

I no longer fast travel in-game, and getting to the place on foot or horse is a bit of a chore. However, one can get down the mountain to Dragon Bridge going toward the right, just past the Dragon Bridge Overlook (Forsworn). One can also get out toward the south going past a Stormcloak camp. Going south past the Cliffside Retreat is more of a chore.

There is also a trail going down the river-side of the mountain on the stable side. But only way to cross the river is to swim, use the fallen tree, or go along the top of the falls. I experimented with various bridges, but thus far they did not look too good. Also was having trouble navmeshing the bridge so dog Meeko could cross (he didn't.) Perhaps later. But that area is pretty remote, anyway.

No key or quest; just go inside.

SERVICES:

Speaking of Stormcloaks, there are two Stormcloak camps nearby which have blacksmith merchants: one north of Dragon Bridge and one south of the estate. I keep the military camps around in my latest plays, just for their merchants. I figure that the war has been going on for years - if not decades - before my entrance into Skyrim, so what's the hurry?

MISCELLANEOUS and FPS/LAG:

I deleted what appeared to be a duplicate interior cell of the house. I also deleted via TES5edit an unknown association with a house in Dawnstar. Have not noticed any negative effect, but FPS seemed to improve a bit (if not in my imagination.)

There appears to be an association with the Abandoned Prison interior, which I could not delete. I suspect that this is where the inside gets its bluish coloring. Note that the inside appears to be its own world space - not just an interior with which I'm familiar.

I turned on Steam's FPS counter (had to remember how) and I say I got an average of 20 FPS inside - which means sometimes higher and sometimes less; around 60 FPS outside. Using a budget AMD/APU set-up I built myself about a year ago just for Skyrim. That means no dedicated graphics card. Yet game plays beautifully. I turned the FPS counter back off; don't want to develop a dependency of playing with one eye on it (as some seem to do.) If the game appears to be going okay, then it is.

This place is not built for an army of followers. If one requires more accommodations (and little or no lag), try the mod Castle Strunmah Redone by IronDusk33. You will have a massive amount of extra space and beds, but at the loss of the unsurpassed original coloring inside the main estate.

Can see the estate from as far away as Solitude when leaving. Place may disappear or partially disappear upon entering and exiting anything.

INSTALLATION/UNINSTALLATION:

First make a hard save. Then add the four loose files to your Skyrim/Data folder. To uninstall, best to leave the area (go to Dragon Bridge) and remove/delete the four files. Make sure that you first go into god mode and pack-up your loot.

CREDITS:

Yevic1992 for the masterpiece, which this estate is. Original at http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/13236/?

Bethseda for the greatest game of all time.