SDV Almanac

Verified for game version 1.6.x

Stardew Valley buildings turn an empty field into a working farm. Robin the carpenter builds everything on your map for gold plus raw materials, and most can be upgraded in tiers. This guide lists the major buildings, what they do, and a build order that matches a normal progression.

How building works

Talk to Robin in the mountain cabin north of the farm. She quotes a price in gold and materials (wood, stone, hardwood, iron, etc.) and a construction time — usually next day. You must have the materials in your inventory; she does not sell them. Demolishing a building refunds half the gold but not the materials.

House upgrades

Your farmhouse has three upgrade tiers, each adding function:

The kitchen is the highest-value early upgrade; cooking boosts energy and gives buffed dishes for the mines.

Chicken coop

Houses chickens (and, at higher tiers, ducks and rabbits). Tiers:

Buy animals from Marnie. Coops feed your mayo and cheese lines — a core mid-game income.

Barn

For mammals: cows, goats, sheep, pigs. Tiers:

Pigs find truffles outside; sheep give wool; cows and goats give milk for cheese. The money guide ranks these by return.

Shed

A bare building you fill with anything — usually kegs, preserves jars, or furnaces. The Shed (15,000g + 300 wood) holds a basic layout; the Big Shed (20,000g + 550 wood + 300 stone) is bigger. Sheds are where processing happens so your fields stay clean. See the keg guide for why you want 100+ machines.

Silo

Stores hay (200 capacity each) cut from grass with a scythe. Needed before animals can eat in winter. Cheap (100g + 100 stone + 10 clay + 5 copper bars). Build one or two early if you plan animals.

Stable

Unlocks a horse (fast travel, extra inventory) for 10,000g + 100 hardwood + 5 iron bars. Also obtainable free via the Community Center Bulletin Board. The horse is a huge quality-of-life win for a large farm.

Mill

Grinds wheat into flour and beets into sugar (2,500g + 150 wood + 50 stone + 4 cloth). Minor use, but needed for some cooking and a Community Center bundle.

Slime Hutch

Houses slimes that produce slime and occasional eggs (10,000g + 500 stone + 10 refined quartz + 1 iridium bar). Niche — good for slime-needed crafting and a Slime Egg incubator path. Skip unless you need slime.

Late-game Wizard buildings

After you retrieve the Wizard’s Magic Ink, he sells magical buildings through the book in his tower:

These are endgame conveniences, not necessities.

A sensible build order

  1. House Tier 1 (kitchen) early spring, year 1.
  2. Coop + Silo once you have spare gold, for mayo income.
  3. Shed as soon as you start kegging.
  4. Stable for mobility.
  5. Barn + Big Coop mid-game for animal products.
  6. House Tier 2/3 and Deluxe Shed late.
  7. Obelisks / Gold Clock at perfection push.

Space planning

Buildings take footprint on your map, so leave room. On the farm layout guide we recommend clustering animal buildings in one pasture and processing in one shed zone. On the Beach or Riverland maps, every tile is precious, so delay non-essential buildings.

Where the materials come from

Buildings eat a lot of wood, stone, hardwood, and bars. Wood comes from trees and tappers; stone from rocks and the Quarry; hardwood from stumps (Forest Farm or the Secret Woods) and Mahogany trees; iron and gold from the mines; iridium from the Skull Cavern. Early game, keep a stockpile: you will burn hundreds of wood on the first coop and shed. A Mill or two and a few tappers turn idle land into a steady material drip so big builds do not stall.

Moving and demolishing

Robin can move or demolish a building for a fee (demolish refunds half the gold, not the materials). If you placed a coop badly, do not suffer it — pay to relocate once rather than fight the layout for a year. This flexibility means your first layout is not permanent, which takes pressure off the early game.

Buildings in co-op

On a shared farm, any player can commission buildings if they can pay, but the host has final say over placement. On the Four Corners map, each player’s quadrant already contains a resource, so spread buildings across quadrants to use the space fairly. Agree on a plan before building to avoid a cluttered home base.

Cost summary

Approximate early costs: Coop 4,000g, Barn 6,000g, Shed 15,000g (Big Shed 20,000g), Stable 10,000g, Mill 2,500g, Silo 100g, Slime Hutch 10,000g, House T1 10,000g / T2 50,000g / T3 100,000g. Late Wizard buildings: Obelisks 500k-1M gold plus Iridium Bars; Gold Clock 10M gold. Budget around these so a needed upgrade never sits unfunded.

A note on sequencing

A common mistake is building the deluxe everything at once and going broke. Spend in this order instead: kitchen first (cooks buffs for the mines), then a coop and silo for steady mayo, then a shed for your first kegs, then the stable for mobility. The barn, deluxe upgrades, and Wizard buildings come once gold is flowing from processed goods. Buildings are tools, not trophies; build the one that unblocks your next bottleneck.

Next

With buildings up, the money guide shows how animal and processing income compounds, and the sprinkler guide frees you from hand-watering so you can manage all of it.

Sources & verification