he kept the garden well. He did use his wealth to pay off the interest on the outstanding mortgages but was not considered generous, even with his immediate family. His only son, Lionel, predeceased him in 1712 and on his death he was succeeded as Earl of Dysart by his grandson, also named Lionel. Lionel, 4th Earl (1727–70) Lionel Tollemache was only 18 years old when he became the 4th Earl of Dysart and head of the family in 1727. Shortly after returning from the Grand Tour in 1729 he married Grace Carteret, the 16-year-old daughter of John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, and began repairing existing furniture as well as commissioning new pieces for his properties at Ham and at Helmingham Hall in Suffolk. Ham House had been largely neglected since the death of Elizabeth; in 1730 he ordered a structural survey of the building from John James which revealed serious problems, especially on the north front. Repairs began in the 1740s. At the front of the house the "Advance", a projecting frontispiece which extended two storeys to form a porch over the main entrance, had become detached from the wall and was in danger of pulling down the roof. It was removed completely and the stone reused for repairs to the first and second floors. The canted bays on the projections at each end of the house were rebuilt as deeper three-window bays, with corresponding alterations made to the bays on the south front. Major repairs were also made to the roof, where old unfashionable red tiles on the outer pitches were replaced with slate and reused for repairs to the inner pitches where they would not be visible. Much new furniture was commissioned, but the 4th Earl seems to have also been committed to preserving existing artefacts, making repairs to fixtures from the Lauderdale period where necessary. He made three large changes to the interior of the house: the Queen's Bedchamber on the first floor became the principal drawing room with furniture and tapestries supplied by the London upholsterer and textile producer William Bradshaw; the Volury on the ground floor became another drawing room with the addition of tapestries and its distinctive X-framed seat furniture; and in the Dining Room the marble floor was replaced with marquetry, with matching gilded leather panels on the walls. By means of his extensive investment, the house would have become sumptuously furnished