Version 2.0.0 available. Check description and changelogs for details. Thank you all for your patience, reports, suggestions, compliments and endorsements.
Warning! If you have already installed a previous version: the new files contained in v2.0.0 will NOT replace your older ones. They're meant to be used with a save in which you've not yet built the house or used older versions.
Please read the description page and the following F.A.Q. before posting issues. Thanks!
Q: I have missing walls, inaccessible sections of the house, furniture protruding from walls, missing workbenches or furniture, etc. What did I do wrong? A: a)You haven’t built the required wings. One more time: East Wing – Kitchen, North Wing – Alchemy, West Wing – Bedroom. b)You have another mod editing Lakeview. Check with TES5Edit or disable HF related mods till you find which one is responsible. c)There’s a small chance you’ve used another Lakeview remodel which changed the building script or vanilla scripted furniture. Those changes stick with your game even after the mod was uninstalled. The only “cure” I know of is to reset Hearthfire DLC (make a save free of HF and then reinstall it). Do this at your own risk!!! It could break HF quests or HF dependent mods.
Q: I have no mods altering adoption, my family won’t move to Lakeview. A: Make sure you’ve built the required bedroom furniture after installing LKVM. Not before. If you use a marriage mod note that it can mess the adoption system.
Q: Will you make this compatible with Hearthfire Multiple Adoptions? A: You don't need HMA for this house. If you use it, then place it before LKVM in your load order. The house will remain for for two kids only (there's not enough space to add more beds), so stop asking! If you adopted more than two kids and still want to use this home, use the AFT+MHIYH workaround.
Q: I’m getting CTDs on load/infinite loading screen/lag. A: Read the system requirements on the description tab. Optimize your game for mod usage. Install Crash Fixes. Install ENBoost. Use Ordenador. Close the hundred tabs in your browser. Stop playing modded Skyrim on your childhood computer. Don't use the mod.
Q: How to gain access to the Vampire Room? A: NO LONGER AVAILABLE with v2.0.0 v1.1.0 and before: Once you become a vampire, a sliding door will appear on the southern wall of the basement.
Q: What and where can I display? A: For version 2.0.0, there are in-game illustrated guides showing where everything goes. For v1.1.0, here’s the list
Spoiler:
Show
Main Hall - bookshelves: Paragon Eggs, Dwemer Puzzle Box, Grey Fox Bust, mantelpiece: Ornate Drinking Horn, Kitchen - Queen Bee Statue, Honningbrew Decanter, Main Bedroom, vanity table area : Daedric Rings, Divines Amulets, Gauldur Amulet*, Necromancer Amulet*, Music Room: Dancer’s Flute* Library: Black Books, Elder Scrolls, Oghma Infinium, all 14 Masks, Dragonstone, Daedric Staves, Azura's/Black Star, Savos Aren’s Amulet*, Staff of Magnus*, on the desk: Quill of Gemination, Dragon Burial Map, Kids rooms: Critters Jars, East Empire Map, Jurgen Windcaller, Golden Ship, Model Ship. Basement Treasury: Dragon Claws, TG collectibles (Jeweled Candlestick, Flagon, Goblet, Pitcher, Golden Urn, Crown of Barenziah, Left Eye of the Falmer), Helga's Dibella Statue, Aetherial items, Keening, Spellbreaker, Dawnbreaker, 13 treasure maps, Mercer's Plans. Display Areas: Auriel's Bow and Shield, Ysgramor's Shield and Axe, Mehrunes Razor, Mace of Molag Bal, Rueful Axe, Volendrung, Kahvozein's Fang, Mask of Clavicus Vile, Jagged Crown, Targe of the Blodded, Helm of the Unburned, Helm of Yngol, Forgemaster's Fingers, Gloves of the Pugilist, Savior's Hide, Blades Sword, Harkon's Sword, Bolar's Oathblade, Ebony Blade, Draw Knife, Poacher's Axe, General Tullius Armor. Vampire Room: Ancient Traveler's Skull, Pelagius Hip Bone, (Kolbjorn's) Skull, Torsten's and Saerek's Skull Keys.
* added in v 1.1.0
Q: Treasury Room. How does it function? A: You must store gold coins inside the open book named Treasury Ledger found on the desk. There are 16 stages and their thresholds are: 1000, 5000, 10000, 25000, 50000, 100000, 200000, 300000, 400000, 500000, 650000, 800000, 1000000, 1250000, 1500000, 2000000 gold coins.
Q: I want that white plaster texture for walls. Where does it come from? A: As stated in the description, I use a mix of Whiterun retexture mods. Here’s the list:
Spoiler:
Show
From Reskin Cities: wrdoor01, _n.dds, wrdragontile01, _a_l, _n.dds wrdragontileblack01.dds wrlargewoodpillar01, _n.dds wrroofslate01, _n.dds wrtrims01, _n.dds wrwoodplanks03, _n.dds From Alternatives – Whiterun v1_3: wrdragoncarvings01, _n.dds wrplasterint01, _n.dds <- this is what you’re looking for! wrplasterint01low, _n.dds wrshields.dds wrslate01, _n.dds wrslate02, _n.dds wrslatefloor01, _n.dds wrtemplefloor01, _n.dds wrwoodfloorint01, _n.dds wrwoodlattice01, _n.dds Everything else in my Whiterun folder (except the carpets) comes from Noble Skyrim.
Q: Are you planning to remodel the other Hearthfire houses as well? A: Yes, I’ve heard your plea. Here's Windstad.
Q: Did you really build this house all by yourself? A: Well, mostly. Check the credits.
This is absolutely, unequivocally the greatest house mod for Skyrim ever made (especially when combined with Avant Garden!) I just built it and entered for the first time today, and the single word that keeps coming to my mind is overwhelming. It is so gorgeous that it's absolutely overwhelming. The quality and beauty and detail is overwhelming. The cellar is particularly mind-blowing. The pictures don't do the scale of it justice. Going from the dank, crumbly, dark, dingy vanilla pit in the ground to... THIS... is absolutely overwhelming. I had to tell myself to take a deep breath and calm down so I didn't explode from excitement. I'm going to spend hours and hours and hours just deciding where I want to put stuff in this glorious cellar!
Anyone can just spam vanilla assets and make a stupidly large house containing copy-paste halls from the Blue Palace, lined with more chests, mannequins, and display cases than anyone knows what to do with. Many house mods on Nexus are exactly that, and they're boring and sterile. Every single square inch of this paragon of perfection is dripping with unique charm, character, and beauty, and best of all, it still manages to be extremely cozy, which is a non-negotiable requirement for my character's family's permanent home. This is the zenith of fantasy rpg homesteads. This is what an endgame player home should be. Thank you.
if you consider this average house mod to be overwhelming then you should try the mod i linked in my post and then say if this is still the best house mod you have ever used. maybe you say its overwhelming because it tries to fit a lot into such a small house without giving enough storage (non respawning containers)
How anyone can call this masterpiece average is beyond me, but we all have our tastes and preferences.
Alright, I tried Castle Gonduin, and frankly... I'm not all that impressed. It's alright. It's certainly big enough (though bigger does not necessarily mean better), and it has all the amenities one could want, but it's not at all what I want out of my dedicated home. I want a cozy (but still decently sized) house, not a sprawling city/fortress.
I do have quite a few castle and palace mods in game as well, though, because I love visiting and exploring them, but even for that purpose, Gonduin doesn't impress me. There's nothing wrong with it, but for my home, it's too big and not at all cozy or pretty, and for a place to visit and explore, it's nothing particularly unique or impressive.
If Gonduin is your favorite player home mod, then that's fine. More power to you, and I'm not trying to change your mind. This is more for anyone else who might read this, but if you want some of the best, most unique, and most beautiful home/castle/palace mods on Nexus, I'd recommend anything by SkyrimLazz. If you just want a gorgeous, grand castle to explore, but not necessarily to live in, I'd recommend Castle Grey and Raven Castle. Raven is unequivocally the most spectacular, impressive, overwhelming, and technically brilliant piece of architecture ever made for Skyrim, bar none, though it's totally impractical to actually use as a home. It's just a set piece to explore.
But yes, I still consider Lakeview As it Should Be to be the best player home mod. And I can't understand your complaint that there isn't enough storage. There's separate containers for every possible thing anyone could ever want: wood, ore, refined metal, pelts and leather, misc smithing supplies, armor, weapons, about a dozen safes for whatever and half dozen or so chests for good measure, drawers, a spot for cooked food, sweets, raw food, frozen food, alcohol, two ingredient cupboards, a spot for potions you want to keep, poisons you want to keep, and potions and poisons you want to sell, a drawer just for an alchemy outfit, satchels aplenty and strongboxes too, books, letters, keys, filled soul gems, empty soul gems, enchanting potions, unenchanted jewelry, enchanted jewelry, multiple wardrobes and end tables. It just goes on and on and on. I mean, I just don't understand what else one could want. But to each their own. And incidentally, I did not experience a single one of the bugs that you listed in your long post.
Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.
firstly everything you said is vaild so dont take the rest of this response as my making drama but with that said i have a few things i want to highlight that you didnt mention and i did in my "long post"; so before you go claiming this is still the best player house mod maybe you could explain these things to me as "features"
1.) from my "ugly" section" the fact that you have to put quest items in the named displays and stroage containers even though some cant be put on display or even removed from player inventory and there isnt a chest with them added so you dont need add after each quest
2.) the fact that you are forced to have the mages tower at the back and it not being a seperate tower that replaces the ulter and skulls
3.) the constant randomly spawning hostile enimes aka wolves etc that not only attack but also clip inside the walls of the house
4.) the loading lag when entering/ leaving the house after putting everything into each named display
i will conceed that depending on the amount of mods you run and the system you play on can detrmine load times but personally i dont like watching loading screens just to enter my house
castle Gonduin might not be for everybody although i cant understand why you say its too big but dosnt feel like a family home. again i guess it depends how you see it and how you like immersion. personally i think of castle Gonduin as 3 seperate locations in 1. the first being the "town" as you called it as it adds to the immersion and is a great place for mod follwers to be set to. 2. the main hall and lower kitchen i consider (again for immersion) is where you "hold court as the Thane" and its the more formal part of the castle and 3.) the "lords wing" should be thought of (again for immersion) as the "player home" aspect as if you use mods that move the kids/ house carl etc then it acts as a better family home
the other mentioned castle mods while fine defeat my point and while they might appeal to some i dont want places i "visit" i want a immersive player home that feels like im part of the worldspace. again for "immersion" i say castle Gonduin is good because if you skip the quest it comes with and start it after killing the first dragon it feels like a better "reward" than the basic Whiterun house
but as i said i respect the fact it isnt for everybody and frankly if there was a way to stop the constant random attacks and minor lag/ loading issues and floating textures/ objects then i would agree that this version of Lakeview Manor is the best on nexus but because of those things i just cant
I finally got a computer strong enough to enjoy this mod to the fullest. No more crashing in the bathroom under the stairs, so that was probably a VRAM issue with my old laptop. I chose the wrong lighting solution because I thought I would need something brighter, but I think default is probably fine.
This is one of the finest player home mods that has ever been created.
consider this an update of my previous "review" if you want or if its TLDR just pay attetion to this comment:
if you fill the house with the named "clutter" aka books on the shelves and all named trinkets/ quest items/ collectables it WILL seriously lag the loading time entering/ leaving the main house and the basement.
for this reason above all the other "bad/ ugly" things i mentioned in my review THIS is the reason NOT to use this mod. you want a bigger better family home without the lag in loading times use the linked mod in my response comment about the Castle Gonduin mod. you will need the mod "move family" if you want your kids and fav bard/ house carl to use it but thats a mod everybody should be using anyway
unlike others in this comment section i WONT be back slapping the modder at every turn this will be an honest review so take this opening line as fair warning; you dont want to hear the flaws move on to comments that overly priase this mod.
with that out of the way here is the review:
the Good: the attention to detail is visually impressive and finally makes the Lakeview manor feel like a real lived in player home NOT just another house they own but a "family home". a lot of work went into making this and it shows and while not to everybodys taste it has a lot going for it to compensate for that.
The Bad: with the good (points) done with here are the things WRONG with the house firstly while it might be visually impressive frankly the lack of storage, seriously for the attention to detail given MOST containers on show are just that aka "for show" secondly the pointless "bakers bench" in the back kitchen when theres included a bakers oven is just a little over kill as you cant do much aside from use 1 or the other to make the same food items, thirdly the fact that this mod forces you to use the alchemy add-on at the back instead of adding it as a seperate tower and replacing that damn ugly alter with mage and standing stones; some of us dont want a huge tower at the back (north end) because we like the storage room that gives a nice open upper porch when used with the kitchen and bedrooms, forthly the already planted garden thus removing the whole point of having it and again lack of outside storage, fithly the fact that you didnt remove the outside blacksmith items (beside the cliff and the garden fench) and making the trapdoor to the basement slightly hidden are just more things that while not immersion breaking are annoying and fianlly the fact that the childrens bedroom is clearly seperated for 1 male child 1 female when some of us DONT want male children (or viceversa) its annoying because like with the alchemy tower it feels like you are pushing what you play as having onto others rather than giving us a choice
The Ugly: we all knew this was coming didnt we: floating objects and randomly added objects such as beds shelves and strange wall textures dispite NOT building anything except the basic (empty) main hall, the fact that you change the bard to a different race but dont include this detail on the main page meaning mods that change the house bards race/ gender dont work, faulty textures on walls/ doors/ floors and other misc items ( as others have reported) and finally (didnt include it in The bad because this might just be me that find it annoying) the fact that display racks (named) require quest items (dragon claw displays for example) but you havent included a chest with them in the house meaning after doing the quest you need to go back to the lake house and store/ display them making them unuseable in other player homes and fianlly (again didnt include it in The bad cause again might just be my own personal issue with it) the fact you didnt remove the constant random attacks from wolves/ giants/ bandits or dragons and the way they clip into the extior walls meaning you cant find/ fight and kill them but everybody inside the house and outside keep saying they will fight or run screaming, lack of outside greenhouse (again more stroage issues) and the fact you didnt include a wall surrounding the manor and gaurds to protect it, a better road leading from the lake to the manor would also have been a good touch but again is something you didnt include
final verdict: this mod is a great mod for those after using the lakeview manor as their "main family home", if you can look past the above mentioned bad and ulgy things and focus on whats good about this mod and what it adds then this is worth using if you cant i wouldnt bother with it. frankly while its visually impressive it just reminds me of a smaller version of the better mod Castle Gonduin https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/63801 which adds the same features as included in this mod but works better because of the extra storage and space. an middle of the road 5 out of 10
Whoever the author of this mod is didn't even mention what texture this home uses, whether it's FPS friendly for low end PCs/laptops nor included any downscaled patch for convenience. And I learned the hard way after downloading it. For a mid-sized home, it very poorly optimised, FPS drops drastically everytime you look at the house and even gets worse when you enter it. This was my favorite home location in the game and I thought using this mod, I can finally have a more beautiful home and adapt more children, but now I'm left with no choice but to uninstall it. FYI, there are other home mods where the mod authors clearly mentions the home texture (1k, 2k or 4k) and even included different patches for different audience convenience. Not everyone owns high end PCs to play great video games! I hope you will include a downscaled version for this mod soon!
To anyone having issues with extra walls around the forge area in the basement on SE version, there's a patch for the conflict with new/included AE/CC fishing content! https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/62586
Have to post here, as author has disabled posts on the SE version (but not this one for some reason)
Extremely satisfied, eyes rejoice at every little thing. But, there is one problem: when I go up to the second floor, the textures of the entire room disappear, if you go a couple of steps, they appear but the office disappears. SLMP assembly installed.
It is a shame that the mod author diabled comments on the SE version, espicially because that disables other modders from helping eachother. I am currently using Skyrim AE, and this mod, for whatever reason, persists with a bug causing the vanilla stairs and railings to clip through the indoor structure des[ite all instructions being followed to the letter. It is extremely frustrating, and I have no clue how to fix it. I cant find any help on other sites either.
Bonjour, le mod est magnifique ! ... Cependant dans la cave , vers la forge j'ai des murs qui n'ont rien à faire ici ^^' Avez vous déjà rencontré ce problème ? Si oui, comment le régler ? :) ( PS: j'ai suivi les instructions à la lettre pour la création du Manoir. )
I'm unsure if this is still being supported, but I've got a bug in my saves- for some reason my spouse won't sleep in the bed and instead chooses to go sleep on the cushions in front of the bedroom fireplace. Any ideas as to what went wrong and how to fix it?
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Warning!
If you have already installed a previous version: the new files contained in v2.0.0 will NOT replace your older ones. They're meant to be used with a save in which you've not yet built the house or used older versions.
Q: I have missing walls, inaccessible sections of the house, furniture protruding from walls, missing workbenches or furniture, etc. What did I do wrong?
A:
a)You haven’t built the required wings. One more time: East Wing – Kitchen, North Wing – Alchemy, West Wing – Bedroom.
b)You have another mod editing Lakeview. Check with TES5Edit or disable HF related mods till you find which one is responsible.
c)There’s a small chance you’ve used another Lakeview remodel which changed the building script or vanilla scripted furniture. Those changes stick with your game even after the mod was uninstalled. The only “cure” I know of is to reset Hearthfire DLC (make a save free of HF and then reinstall it). Do this at your own risk!!! It could break HF quests or HF dependent mods.
Q: I have no mods altering adoption, my family won’t move to Lakeview.
A: Make sure you’ve built the required bedroom furniture after installing LKVM. Not before.
If you use a marriage mod note that it can mess the adoption system.
Q: Will you make this compatible with Hearthfire Multiple Adoptions?
A: You don't need HMA for this house. If you use it, then place it before LKVM in your load order. The house will remain for for two kids only (there's not enough space to add more beds), so stop asking! If you adopted more than two kids and still want to use this home, use the AFT+MHIYH workaround.
Q: I’m getting CTDs on load/infinite loading screen/lag.
A: Read the system requirements on the description tab. Optimize your game for mod usage. Install Crash Fixes. Install ENBoost. Use Ordenador. Close the hundred tabs in your browser. Stop playing modded Skyrim on your childhood computer. Don't use the mod.
Q: How to gain access to the Vampire Room?
A: NO LONGER AVAILABLE with v2.0.0
v1.1.0 and before: Once you become a vampire, a sliding door will appear on the southern wall of the basement.
Q: What and where can I display?
A: For version 2.0.0, there are in-game illustrated guides showing where everything goes. For v1.1.0, here’s the list
Main Hall - bookshelves: Paragon Eggs, Dwemer Puzzle Box, Grey Fox Bust, mantelpiece: Ornate Drinking Horn,
Kitchen - Queen Bee Statue, Honningbrew Decanter,
Main Bedroom, vanity table area : Daedric Rings, Divines Amulets, Gauldur Amulet*, Necromancer Amulet*,
Music Room: Dancer’s Flute*
Library: Black Books, Elder Scrolls, Oghma Infinium, all 14 Masks, Dragonstone, Daedric Staves, Azura's/Black Star, Savos Aren’s Amulet*, Staff of Magnus*, on the desk: Quill of Gemination, Dragon Burial Map,
Kids rooms: Critters Jars, East Empire Map, Jurgen Windcaller, Golden Ship, Model Ship.
Basement
Treasury: Dragon Claws, TG collectibles (Jeweled Candlestick, Flagon, Goblet, Pitcher, Golden Urn, Crown of Barenziah, Left Eye of the Falmer), Helga's Dibella Statue, Aetherial items, Keening, Spellbreaker, Dawnbreaker, 13 treasure maps, Mercer's Plans.
Display Areas: Auriel's Bow and Shield, Ysgramor's Shield and Axe, Mehrunes Razor, Mace of Molag Bal, Rueful Axe, Volendrung, Kahvozein's Fang, Mask of Clavicus Vile, Jagged Crown, Targe of the Blodded, Helm of the Unburned, Helm of Yngol, Forgemaster's Fingers, Gloves of the Pugilist, Savior's Hide, Blades Sword, Harkon's Sword, Bolar's Oathblade, Ebony Blade, Draw Knife, Poacher's Axe, General Tullius Armor.
Vampire Room: Ancient Traveler's Skull, Pelagius Hip Bone, (Kolbjorn's) Skull, Torsten's and Saerek's Skull Keys.
* added in v 1.1.0
Q: Treasury Room. How does it function?
A: You must store gold coins inside the open book named Treasury Ledger found on the desk. There are 16 stages and their thresholds are: 1000, 5000, 10000, 25000, 50000, 100000, 200000, 300000, 400000, 500000, 650000, 800000, 1000000, 1250000, 1500000, 2000000 gold coins.
Q: I want that white plaster texture for walls. Where does it come from?
A: As stated in the description, I use a mix of Whiterun retexture mods. Here’s the list:
From Reskin Cities:
wrdoor01, _n.dds,
wrdragontile01, _a_l, _n.dds
wrdragontileblack01.dds
wrlargewoodpillar01, _n.dds
wrroofslate01, _n.dds
wrtrims01, _n.dds
wrwoodplanks03, _n.dds
From Alternatives – Whiterun v1_3:
wrdragoncarvings01, _n.dds
wrplasterint01, _n.dds <- this is what you’re looking for!
wrplasterint01low, _n.dds
wrshields.dds
wrslate01, _n.dds
wrslate02, _n.dds
wrslatefloor01, _n.dds
wrtemplefloor01, _n.dds
wrwoodfloorint01, _n.dds
wrwoodlattice01, _n.dds
Everything else in my Whiterun folder (except the carpets) comes from Noble Skyrim.
Q: Are you planning to remodel the other Hearthfire houses as well?
A: Yes, I’ve heard your plea. Here's Windstad.
Q: Did you really build this house all by yourself?
A: Well, mostly. Check the credits.
Anyone can just spam vanilla assets and make a stupidly large house containing copy-paste halls from the Blue Palace, lined with more chests, mannequins, and display cases than anyone knows what to do with. Many house mods on Nexus are exactly that, and they're boring and sterile. Every single square inch of this paragon of perfection is dripping with unique charm, character, and beauty, and best of all, it still manages to be extremely cozy, which is a non-negotiable requirement for my character's family's permanent home. This is the zenith of fantasy rpg homesteads. This is what an endgame player home should be. Thank you.
Alright, I tried Castle Gonduin, and frankly... I'm not all that impressed. It's alright. It's certainly big enough (though bigger does not necessarily mean better), and it has all the amenities one could want, but it's not at all what I want out of my dedicated home. I want a cozy (but still decently sized) house, not a sprawling city/fortress.
I do have quite a few castle and palace mods in game as well, though, because I love visiting and exploring them, but even for that purpose, Gonduin doesn't impress me. There's nothing wrong with it, but for my home, it's too big and not at all cozy or pretty, and for a place to visit and explore, it's nothing particularly unique or impressive.
If Gonduin is your favorite player home mod, then that's fine. More power to you, and I'm not trying to change your mind. This is more for anyone else who might read this, but if you want some of the best, most unique, and most beautiful home/castle/palace mods on Nexus, I'd recommend anything by SkyrimLazz. If you just want a gorgeous, grand castle to explore, but not necessarily to live in, I'd recommend Castle Grey and Raven Castle. Raven is unequivocally the most spectacular, impressive, overwhelming, and technically brilliant piece of architecture ever made for Skyrim, bar none, though it's totally impractical to actually use as a home. It's just a set piece to explore.
But yes, I still consider Lakeview As it Should Be to be the best player home mod. And I can't understand your complaint that there isn't enough storage. There's separate containers for every possible thing anyone could ever want: wood, ore, refined metal, pelts and leather, misc smithing supplies, armor, weapons, about a dozen safes for whatever and half dozen or so chests for good measure, drawers, a spot for cooked food, sweets, raw food, frozen food, alcohol, two ingredient cupboards, a spot for potions you want to keep, poisons you want to keep, and potions and poisons you want to sell, a drawer just for an alchemy outfit, satchels aplenty and strongboxes too, books, letters, keys, filled soul gems, empty soul gems, enchanting potions, unenchanted jewelry, enchanted jewelry, multiple wardrobes and end tables. It just goes on and on and on. I mean, I just don't understand what else one could want. But to each their own. And incidentally, I did not experience a single one of the bugs that you listed in your long post.
Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.
1.) from my "ugly" section" the fact that you have to put quest items in the named displays and stroage containers even though some cant be put on display or even removed from player inventory and there isnt a chest with them added so you dont need add after each quest
2.) the fact that you are forced to have the mages tower at the back and it not being a seperate tower that replaces the ulter and skulls
3.) the constant randomly spawning hostile enimes aka wolves etc that not only attack but also clip inside the walls of the house
4.) the loading lag when entering/ leaving the house after putting everything into each named display
i will conceed that depending on the amount of mods you run and the system you play on can detrmine load times but personally i dont like watching loading screens just to enter my house
castle Gonduin might not be for everybody although i cant understand why you say its too big but dosnt feel like a family home. again i guess it depends how you see it and how you like immersion. personally i think of castle Gonduin as 3 seperate locations in 1. the first being the "town" as you called it as it adds to the immersion and is a great place for mod follwers to be set to. 2. the main hall and lower kitchen i consider (again for immersion) is where you "hold court as the Thane" and its the more formal part of the castle and 3.) the "lords wing" should be thought of (again for immersion) as the "player home" aspect as if you use mods that move the kids/ house carl etc then it acts as a better family home
the other mentioned castle mods while fine defeat my point and while they might appeal to some i dont want places i "visit" i want a immersive player home that feels like im part of the worldspace. again for "immersion" i say castle Gonduin is good because if you skip the quest it comes with and start it after killing the first dragon it feels like a better "reward" than the basic Whiterun house
but as i said i respect the fact it isnt for everybody and frankly if there was a way to stop the constant random attacks and minor lag/ loading issues and floating textures/ objects then i would agree that this version of Lakeview Manor is the best on nexus but because of those things i just cant
This is one of the finest player home mods that has ever been created.
if you fill the house with the named "clutter" aka books on the shelves and all named trinkets/ quest items/ collectables it WILL seriously lag the loading time entering/ leaving the main house and the basement.
for this reason above all the other "bad/ ugly" things i mentioned in my review THIS is the reason NOT to use this mod. you want a bigger better family home without the lag in loading times use the linked mod in my response comment about the Castle Gonduin mod. you will need the mod "move family" if you want your kids and fav bard/ house carl to use it but thats a mod everybody should be using anyway
with that out of the way here is the review:
the Good: the attention to detail is visually impressive and finally makes the Lakeview manor feel like a real lived in player home NOT just another house they own but a "family home". a lot of work went into making this and it shows and while not to everybodys taste it has a lot going for it to compensate for that.
The Bad: with the good (points) done with here are the things WRONG with the house firstly while it might be visually impressive frankly the lack of storage, seriously for the attention to detail given MOST containers on show are just that aka "for show" secondly the pointless "bakers bench" in the back kitchen when theres included a bakers oven is just a little over kill as you cant do much aside from use 1 or the other to make the same food items, thirdly the fact that this mod forces you to use the alchemy add-on at the back instead of adding it as a seperate tower and replacing that damn ugly alter with mage and standing stones; some of us dont want a huge tower at the back (north end) because we like the storage room that gives a nice open upper porch when used with the kitchen and bedrooms, forthly the already planted garden thus removing the whole point of having it and again lack of outside storage, fithly the fact that you didnt remove the outside blacksmith items (beside the cliff and the garden fench) and making the trapdoor to the basement slightly hidden are just more things that while not immersion breaking are annoying and fianlly the fact that the childrens bedroom is clearly seperated for 1 male child 1 female when some of us DONT want male children (or viceversa) its annoying because like with the alchemy tower it feels like you are pushing what you play as having onto others rather than giving us a choice
The Ugly: we all knew this was coming didnt we: floating objects and randomly added objects such as beds shelves and strange wall textures dispite NOT building anything except the basic (empty) main hall, the fact that you change the bard to a different race but dont include this detail on the main page meaning mods that change the house bards race/ gender dont work, faulty textures on walls/ doors/ floors and other misc items ( as others have reported) and finally (didnt include it in The bad because this might just be me that find it annoying) the fact that display racks (named) require quest items (dragon claw displays for example) but you havent included a chest with them in the house meaning after doing the quest you need to go back to the lake house and store/ display them making them unuseable in other player homes and fianlly (again didnt include it in The bad cause again might just be my own personal issue with it) the fact you didnt remove the constant random attacks from wolves/ giants/ bandits or dragons and the way they clip into the extior walls meaning you cant find/ fight and kill them but everybody inside the house and outside keep saying they will fight or run screaming, lack of outside greenhouse (again more stroage issues) and the fact you didnt include a wall surrounding the manor and gaurds to protect it, a better road leading from the lake to the manor would also have been a good touch but again is something you didnt include
final verdict: this mod is a great mod for those after using the lakeview manor as their "main family home", if you can look past the above mentioned bad and ulgy things and focus on whats good about this mod and what it adds then this is worth using if you cant i wouldnt bother with it. frankly while its visually impressive it just reminds me of a smaller version of the better mod Castle Gonduin https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/63801 which adds the same features as included in this mod but works better because of the extra storage and space. an middle of the road 5 out of 10
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/62586
Have to post here, as author has disabled posts on the SE version (but not this one for some reason)
Best player home ever!