 In the 1950s, the Corporation began to collect suitable contents for the house, aiming in particular to restore the 18th century State Rooms.These efforts were much helped in 1955 when some good furniture arrived on loan from the National Art Collections Fund, part of the E. E. Cook bequest.During the 1960s Lord Bolingbroke loaned several St John family portraits to the house and later sold them to the Corporation.