My favorite is Lakeview Manor. What says you, humble poster?

Good Ol' Lakeview. Great view and location in the countryside all a close walk away to the general store and bar/inn in Falkreath. The Necromancer neighbour can be 'convinced' to move and it's my least attacked house. Usually one of the mages is a guard so it doesn't matter anyway. I also like the one in Dawnstar, especially for mages.

My favourite urban house is actually the free Justiciar Headquarters in Solitude you get after helping the Thalmor in Markarth but I rarely bother with city houses anymore so I guess Breezhome simply due to it's central location.

Of the homes given with Hearthfire, easily Lakeview Manor.

Of the vanilla homes, Breezehome and Hjerim are my personal favorites. Whiterun because of the three smiths, smelter, and some other stuff. Windhelm because of how close all the merchants are, that smelter also helps.

That said, most, if not all of my characters live in Breezehome.

The mansion in Solitude.

Or Breezehome thanks to Lydoa.

Lakeview was my first home; away from all that over prevalent Skyrim S N O W. So it's real hard not to label it as a fav. Yet after buying and building every house I really learned to appreciate each home's little touch of comfort. Beautiful as Lakeview is (I got the Apiary to work by sticking bees in it) I just couldn't get over the disappointment in that sacrifice table below the cliff. My kids play in the yard. They don't need to see that (I know what happens to orphans who pay a little to much attention to that kind of thing). Even tho I loved the weather at Lakeview I finally moved my family to Windstad and I have never regretted it. What's not to love in a fishery?

I may move again into the city someday. You know, like after I save the world, assuming I can. The kids need a proper education. But I'm not in any hurry.

In vanilla form I'm partial to Honeyside and Breezehome. If Honeyside's alchemy table could have an apothecary satchel on top the way Breezehome has, it would beat Breezehome hands down.

My favorites are :

Lakeview Manor

Severin Manor

Hjerim

Volkihar Keep

Fort Dawnguard

For me it all depends on the role-play,I refer to this : http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Category:Skyrim-Places-Safe when deciding what place I want that character to use as a home...

Early on I used a Proudspire mod that added full crafting equipment and I've always preferred it and Solitude for my characters regardless of any other RP choices I made. With the Hearthfire add-on I like Lakeview quite a bit, but I actually prefer Heljarchen Hall and use a mod that places walls and guards around it to keep out the bandits and giants.

Hjerim in windhelm is my favourite house of all of houses available in skyrim including dlcs but its a shame its only available after CW

Did they EVER get the serial killer plot fixed?

Probably my favorite is Hjerim, although two long running characters spent a lot of time at Honeyside and really liked it except for the storage limitations. I like house decorating when I get tired of adventuring, or tired of fighting dragons, although the Hearthfire homes looked good, the respawning junk and constant attacks ruined it for me.

I have since defected from the Xbox 360 to the PC, Honeyside now has plenty of storage space, and Lakeview Manor is well fortified, with no attacks, and still I hardly ever visit.

im a PC player who plays with unoffiicial patches which cleans up this mess

I favor Winstead for it's fishery and built the greenhouse so this is Alchemist heaven. In city houses I love Solitude to house the family. Windhelm is too dirty and dingy, Riften is too small, Markath is tough to get around and the other hearthfire houses are nothing special. If you play on PC some MODs come with player homes as a bonus and some of these are great.

I like Heljargen Hall personally. It's distance to Whiterun is good. The Markarth House is my favorite vanilla house though.

I only have two so far (Breeze Home and Vlindrel Hall) but I know of Honeywell (I think that's what it's called) in Riften.

What? Houses get attacked? I didn't even know this!

Personally, Winstad Manor is my favorite Hearthfire home. Location is great being that near to the plethora of merchants on Solitude, and there's convenient barrows/dungeons within a short walk in order to test out any new weapons/poisons I might make.

Of the vanilla homes, Honeyside in Riften is my choice there. For a standard home, it has everything you could ever need. Just a few more storage options like bookshelves would be great, but the home works well even in spite of that.

Yes all the Hearthfire houses get attacked by Giants, Bandits and Sundry other foes.

This.

While entertaining, the risk can be mitigated though.

If you have a good Steward, the Bandits won't actually steal your stuff. If you have a spouse, but no Steward, then there's the random chance of a kidnapping and ransom at some point.

If you have cattle or chickens, Giants won't be able to stay away.

There is always the chance of having a Dragon swoop down on your estate since all the houses are juuuust far enough away from a major city that they become tempting Dragon-bait.

The odd wolves/saber cats/horkers (yes, I'm serious...)/Draugr random attack that could take place at any given time.

The Hearthfire homes are all out in the frontier, it's a bit more dangerous than that plush, urban life that most are used to. lol

It's a good idea to do the Thane quest for whichever hold you choose to build a Hearthfire home in so that you get a housecarl to patrol the grounds. A definite improvement in the sense that unlike the vanilla game the housecarls actually protect your property rather than sit around the kitchen eating crunchy, stale bread all day. It's also a good idea to get a competent steward to help protect the property as well.

Ah, Winstad Manor, provincial seat of the Lord of Haafinger, Uthred of Winstad

I've yet to find the Perfect House (I haven't built Windstad or Heljarchen yet, though). Even my favorite houses have some disadvantages:

-Hjerim: I love the layout and that there's plenty of room, I like Windhelm with it's medieval city plan and plenty of merchants. Disadvantage: No storage in the alchemy/enchanting room. Glitchy weapon displays and no chest in the bedroom (at least on PS3 - I haven't bought it since I switched to PC with USKP, I think at least the bug with the missing chest is fixed). No bedroom doors (poor housecarl!).

-Vlindrel Hall: Proof that a home can be cozy despite skulls as decorations. Plenty of storage, I like the the size and layout. Disadvantages: Is situated in Markarth, the city the gods forgot (and the Daedra found). No bedroom doors (next time I buy it, I think I'll have to marry Argis!).

Depends on which side you take - you'll get quicker access on the Stormcloak side.

You know, my steward is onmund and all he does Is wear my dwarven armor and eat food that comes out of his pocket.

Lakeview Manor and Raven Rock Manor.

Severin Manor.

I love Redoran architecture.

I always side with the stormcloaks but still CW is a prerequisite for that house which is a shame