 In between his Parliamentary work , Coke and his wife had been maintaining and improving his estates since they took possession of it in April 1776 . The cornerstone was Holkham House , a " temple to the arts " built by Coke 's great uncle . Knowing that he did not have the same understanding of classical architecture and art , Coke mainly left it alone , instead focusing on the park and gardens . The grounds had been laid out during the 1720s and 1730s , in a design which quickly became seen as old @-@ fashioned . Coke had the lake massively expanded , shifting a total of 36 @,@ 000 cubic yards of earth , and employed the gardener John Sandys from 1781 . Sandys created several large pieces of woodland , planting over 7 @,@ 000 trees in 22 acres near the Eastern Lodge , another ten acres near the lake , and four acres on marshland . In 1784 a further woodland expansion was undertaken , with 40 acres and 11 @,@ 000 trees , and between 1785 and 1789 396 @,@ 750 trees were planted on a further 179 acres . He retired in 1805 and was replaced a year later by James Loose , but continued to advise Coke on forestry matters . The library was also expanded , through the work of William Roscoe , who bought books including the Mainz Psalter for Coke between 1814 and 1842 . 
