Robert Taylor
Boyd’s choice of architect for his villa was not surprising. He would have known Taylor through his City connections. Taylor’s father had been a leading mason and was responsible for many of the building contracts for the Mansion House. Taylor began work as a statuary sculptor, but by the 1750s had made the shift to architecture and he went on to build town houses and villas for bankers and directors of the Bank of England, directors of the East India Company, financiers and lawyers. Other comparable villas by Taylor are Asgill House, Richmond (1761-1764) Chute Lodge, Andover, Wiltshire (1768) and Sharpham House near Totnes, Devon (1770). Larger works include the Bank of England (1765-72) and Heveningham Hall, near Yoxford, Suffolk (1780-4).