 The plans for Holkham were of a large central block of two floors only , containing on the piano nobile level a series of symmetrically balanced state rooms situated around two courtyards . No hint of these courtyards is given externally ; they are intended for lighting rather than recreation or architectural value . This great central block is flanked by four smaller , rectangular blocks , or wings , and at each corners is linked to the main house not by long colonnades — as would have been the norm in Palladian architecture — but by short two @-@ storey wings of only one bay . 
