 Inside the house , the Palladian form reaches a height and grandeur seldom seen in any other house in England . It has , in fact , been described as " The finest Palladian interior in England . " The grandeur of the interior is obtained with an absence of excessive ornament , and reflects Kent 's career @-@ long taste for " the eloquence of a plain surface " . Work on the interiors ran from 1739 to 1773 . The first habitable rooms were in the family wing and were in use from 1740 , the Long Library being the first major interior completed in 1741 . Among the last to be completed and entirely under Lady Leicester 's supervision is the Chapel with its alabaster reredos . The house is entered through the Marble Hall ( though the chief building fabric is in fact pink Derbyshire alabaster ) , modelled by Kent on a Roman basilica . The room is over 50 feet ( 15 m ) from floor to ceiling and is dominated by the broad white marble flight of steps leading to the surrounding gallery , or peristyle : here alabaster Ionic columns support the coffered , gilded ceiling , copied from a design by Inigo Jones , inspired by the Pantheon in Rome . The fluted columns are thought to be replicas of those in the Temple of Fortuna Virilis , also in Rome . Around the hall are statues in niches ; these are predominantly plaster copies of classical deities . 
