connected to the project, but his initial and later designs show his preferred Wilton-style towers, as published by him in Vitruvivs Britannicus in 1725. However, the final design of the tower domes was undertaken by James Gibbs, with: the south-west tower dated 1725; the south-east 1727; and the others dated from 1729. Both the interior and exterior were extravagant, later estimated by Walpole himself to have cost over £200,000; he admitted to burning most of the receipts, adding further to the difficulty of verifying the architecture timeline. The best materials and designers were employed, including William Kent who designed the ceilings for the reception areas and ground floor, as well as some furniture. In the context of the day, Campbell, Gibbs and Kent were not just rivals, but very much disliked each other. Ripley's own records show that he took a larger role in the project during the later stages of construction of the external edifices, with his drawings showing him greatly altering the earlier works of both Cambell and Gibbs. Ownership Walpole was an extravagant host; hunting parties with local Norfolk gentry would last for weeks at a time. Visits from Royalty were common and his fellow politicians, particularly members of his Cabinet, held their meetings each spring over a three-week period in the rooms at Houghton. These meetings were known as the Norfolk Congress. A grand Palladian pile, Houghton was intended to be the permanent home for more than 400 of his Old Master paintings, including works by Van Dyck, Poussin, Rubens, Rembrandt and Velázquez. Sir Robert Walpole became the 1st Earl of Orford in 1742. Ownership passed to his son and grandson, the second and third earls. On the death of the third earl in 1791, it reverted to his uncle the 4th Earl of Orford, better known as Horace Walpole. Sir Robert and his successors as Earls of Orford are buried in St Martin's Church nearby. On his death in 1797, possession passed to the family of his sister, Lady Mary, Countess of Cholmondeley, who had died aged just 26 more than 65 years earlier in 1731. She had married George Cholmondeley, 3rd Earl of Cholmondeley and Houghton Hall has been modified and maintained by her Cholmondeley family descendants to the present day. Colonel Robert Walpole borrowed a book about the Archbishop of Bremen from the Sidney Sussex College library in 1667 or 1668. The overdue