At the centre of this façade of one story is a porch of two stories with a tall attic and a gable of ogee outline flanked by finials. This porch has an order of fluted Ionic pilasters in the ground story, an order of Corinthian columns above, and a small order of Corinthian columns in the attic. The pilasters and columns of the first and second stories respectively, are in pairs on each side of an opening, and the entablature in each of these stories has a ressaut over each pair. The pilasters of the ground story are raised on a panelled podium, while the columns of the upper story, and of the attic, are carried on consoles. The attic has no openings, and the columns of the small order here are equally spaced, with narrow intercolumniations, and an entablature block over each column in place of a continuous entablature. The ground story opening has a plain, round arch, while that of the upper story which is arched also, is framed with a stilted order, and crowned with a broken pediment of curved outline. The scheme is a variation of Lescot’s Louvre pavilions, and thus appears to show further that its designer had either studied in France, or had borrowed ideas from the plates of Du Cerceau’s book. [Illustration: FIG. 129.--Gable of Kirby Hall.] The southwest angle, with its curved bays, in two stories and attic, is more English in character. No neo-classic elements occur here, except the entablature bands which crown the stories. The gables (Fig. 129) of fantastic outline with strap-work scrolls, are, I suppose, of Flemish, or Dutch, origin; but they became common features of the more showy Elizabethan architecture. Longford Castle,[151] another design by John Thorpe, is triangular on plan with a round tower at each angle. Though the building has been more or less altered in some of its details, the main features tally with Thorpe’s elevation, preserved in the Soane collection, and reproduced by Gotch (vol. 1, p. 20). French influence is marked here in the general disposition of the principal façade, and in some of the more conspicuous details. This façade, in the relation of the central block to the angle towers, bears a striking resemblance to the east front of Chambord. The towers have nearly the same form and proportions, but the central block is longer in Longford than in Chambord. The architectural scheme of this block, though not a reproduction of that of Chambord, has enough similarity to provoke comparison. Both are divided into three stories, and both have open arcades framed with orders. But in Longford the arcades are confined to the centre of the block, and to the first two stories, while in Chambord, above the ground story, they are differently disposed, and occur in all three stories. The long block of Longford has two projecting pavilions which are connected by the arcades, while the front of Chambord is all in one plane; but in a general front view the effect is not greatly different. In the orders of his pavilions Thorpe