“As the duty of architect devolved entirely on me, I had fallen to drawing plans, designing elevations, &c., and after much labour—for I believe I drew at least twenty plans in all—my work being in a sufficiently forward state, a builder was applied to for an estimate; but the amount he named being too large for our means, I had gone to work a second time, and formed, after many attempts at economy, an entirely new set of plans, which considerably lowered the estimate; and on the more moderate expense we resolved to venture. “It was in the summer of 1818 that the building began. My father having found that, with but slight deviation from the line of road, the house might be made to stand in exact coincidence with the cardinal points, would, I believe, from that moment, have been almost more willing to abandon the scheme than to lose such an opportunity of gratifying his taste. For this purpose astronomical observations were necessary; and my father, my brother Frederic, and I, sat up the whole of one night (July 3rd) to determine the meridian. Of course the middle part of the night was unoccupied, but excitement kept us awake; and my brother Frederic, then a lad of fifteen, no more sleepy than the rest, passed the time in ascertaining by measurement and mental calculation the number of bricks already on the ground. Such calculations occupying the restless hours of the night were too common with more than one member of our family, and most of all, I believe, with myself. One night, some time after this, when the building was completed, I passed a sleepless period in reckoning up mentally the total payment to be made for painting, colouring, and whitewashing the house from top to bottom. Having made the plans, I had all the dimensions in memory; but the number of rooms being large, their dimensions exceedingly various, and the charge per square yard differing also in respect of the description of paint used, number of coats, &c., there was of course a good deal of complication. The calculation was, however, completed. On the presentation of the bill I found that the amount somewhat exceeded my calculation, but I soon detected certain charges made contrary to agreement; and this error being admitted by the contractor, the excess above my estimate became so trifling that the bill was paid without further examination.