How to move buildings in Stardew Valley

Moving buildings in Stardew Valley is far easier than in real life.

Stardew Valley farm with crops growing, the player character, and animals.
Image via ConcernedApe

When Stardew Valley was initially released, players couldn’t move buildings. Eventually, through updates, though, the game’s developer made it possible for farmhands to move buildings once they’ve been placed, which means that careful planning of your farm is no longer needed.

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How to move buildings in Stardew Valley

In-game screenshot of getting a chicken coop
Though the buildings itself costs money to construct, moving does not cost a penny. Image by ConcernedApe

To move buildings in Stardew Valley, visit Robin’s shop and interact with the character to open the building menu and select “Construct Farm Building.” Below the image of the building you’ve selected should be a red icon that reads “Move Buildings.” If you haven’t already visited Robin, you can find her shop in North Pelican Town.

Once you’ve chosen to move your existing building, you’ll be free to move the grid layout of your home across any open area. If all grid blocks are green, then this is a perfectly acceptable area to move your building. If any boxes turn red, something is obstructing this potential destination.

Image of a grid layout in Stardew Valley showing that a house is moving.
If all blocks on your grid are green, then you’re in the clear. Screenshot by Dot Esports.

You cannot move all buildings. The beginning farmhouse, for instance, cannot be moved as well as the rooms inside it. You can also move buildings from the Wizard’s Shop once you’ve unlocked it through the same process as the Carpenter’s Shop, and it still allows you to move all the buildings on your plot.

There’s no restriction or cost to the buildings you can move, besides the fact that you can’t move any of the buildings on Ginger Island or your farmhouse. Otherwise, you can move any built structures at any time for free.

What to do before you move buildings in Stardew Valley

Clear out areas

Image of an obstruction in Stardew Valley preventing a move.
Trees or ore can be destroyed, although not all obstructions are so easily cleared. Screenshot by Dot Esports.

Although moving buildings is very easy, you’ll want to do a few things to prepare for moving them. For example, if there’s foliage, rocks, or trees in the spot where you want to move your building, you will have to go to your farm and clear it out before you can move the building there. It won’t destroy anything and will tell you you can’t put the building there.

Robin’s Shop hours in Stardew Valley

Tip:

You should note that Robin won’t be at her shop if she’s already been assigned to move another building!

You’ll also want to make sure that Robin is at her shop. Her shop won’t be open on any of the days with a special event, and she also closes her shop on Tuesdays so she can go to a weekly exercise class at Caroline’s house. Her shop is open from 9am to 5pm every other day except for Friday, when she closes the shop early at 4pm.

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Jessica Scharnagle
Jessica has been an esports and gaming journalist for just over five years. She also teaches esports journalism at Rowan University. Follow her for all things gaming, @JessScharnagle on Twitter.
Author
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Austin Ernst
Austin is an Updates Writer and Fallout Fanatic. He founded his podcast channel, Shared Screens, and his words can be found at Six One Indie and TheGamer on top of writing for Gamurs. Austin is recently married as of October 2022, and has two Aussie dogs.
Author
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Blaine Polhamus
Staff Writer for Dot Esports. Avid gamer for two decades and gaming writer for three years. I'm a lover of anything Souls-like since 2011. I cover everything from single-player RPGs to MMOs.