Seems as though a lot of house mods I'm seeing on the Nexus break quests, so I figured I'd ask what people are using.

Things I'm hoping to avoid:

Houses that break quests

Open world housing (The ones where when you look out a window you actually see whats outside, cool idea, just too much lag on my computer)

Lots of loading screens. I've seen some very nice houses, castles, etc ruined by having to go through tons of loading screens.

God items, although I can just delete them or put them in a trophy case so this is low on the undesirable list

For my main house I would like to find player home/castle that could sleep 10 - 15 people if needed. (a quest would be cool ... but I can think of something if there isn't one). I don't even know if any mods exist that have that many beds.

The idea I have for this play through is to gather many NPCs and I'm going to be using http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/18045/?so I can give some of the houses to followers. Then periodically do some quests, visit or whatever with them when I'm in the area. So small houses are good also.

I guess the short of it is that I'm trying to populate Skyrim with what would be my characters friends and/or business associates.

Thanks,

Tell us a bit about these associates of yours and we might be able to match them to a suitable home more easily.

I can't rave about Elianora's small-medium houses enough. almost all clutter is static, they're sensibly laid out in single zones, and they're in good locations around Skyrim.

My main is currently living in RealitySpectre's http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/51234/?, a small (single or couple) slightly hobbit-y cottage between Korvanjund and Nightgate. Would suit a blacksmith due to the smithy, and plenty of magic/enchanting/alchemy stations & storage too for mages and rangers.

The most I have slept in a home is 6 (Elianora's Ivarstead Ranch v666) so I can't help with your 10-15 boarding needs, im sure there are estates and castles big enough.