Unofficial Oblivion patch for the DLC...? Where?
I mean, safe is safe, so why not use it. But I never ran into problems like resetting chests, or other things. I played the main story once until the end, then started a new character which now also is level 18 again, and ignore the main quest completely, and I cannot complain about any serious bugs. Maybe I am just not playing it systematical enough, or am not looking close enough. I read about resetting chests, but it never happend to me - so far!
The castle is nice, btw. i have movd all my stuff there, incluing a horse, second armor and weapon set, etc. I was using two other mods like this before, a hideout in Imperial city, and a a private property on a small island south of Leyawin. All items I stored there - are still there.