The Alchemy Laboratory is a two-storey tower you can add to the north wing of a Hearthfire homestead once the Main Hall stands. It is available at Lakeview Manor, Windstad Manor and Heljarchen Hall alike, and it takes the same north-wing slot that could hold the Trophy Room. If you brew more potions than you swing swords, this is the wing for you.
What you’ll find
- An Alchemy Lab. It is one of only two places on a homestead where you can build one, the other being the Main Hall.
- Alchemy-themed storage: barrels, a chest, a cupboard, display cases with small wardrobes, end tables and two safes. The safes need their shelves built first.
- A washbasin on a stand, hanging racks, wall sconces, a small chandelier and a mounted mudcrab for that authentic swamp-witch look.
- A spread of ingredients scattered around the tower once it is fully furnished.
- A ladder from the second floor up to a small rooftop balcony, just like the Library and Enchanter’s Tower.
Building it
The tower takes seven stages, ending with an optional roof canopy. The structure alone needs 24 sawn logs, 16 quarried stone, 34 nails, 9 clay, 3 iron fittings, 3 locks and 6 hinges. Furnishing everything brings the total to about 44 sawn logs, 68 nails, 15 iron fittings, 14 hinges, 7 locks and 6 steel ingots, plus a little glass, iron and a quicksilver ingot for the lab itself. Don’t feel like doing carpentry? A steward will furnish it over time for 2,500 gold.
Tips
- Skip the canopy if you want a clear view over your land from the roof. The tower works exactly the same either way, and your household will still wander through it as part of their routine.
- Furnishings are permanent once built, and an option’s name doesn’t always tell you everything it adds.
- Free ingredients plus a lab under one roof makes this a handy base for levelling Alchemy.
- Some players report that paying a steward to furnish this room took the gold without adding anything. If you can, build it yourself.
Details checked against community wiki articles and the Skyrim game files, summarised in our own words.