Looking back, I’m astonished how much work I put into this room. Completely bare, the plaster had been hacked back to the stonework. The walls therefore had to be battened to take the joinery. This was my first library room. Naïve and ambitious I declared my confidence and capability.
The client said he would like the style to be Gothic. I argued with him. The house was a classic mid-Georgian Manse – it would be wrong. The library should be true to the period but as a concession I would pay lip service to the Gothic style in the wall panelling and capitals. Stating that he would be away for several months and giving permission to my intentions (all verbal, no drawings) his confidence in me was profound, almost unnerving.
It was an enormous task, constructed in Old American Yellow Pine by way of panelling, bookcasing, cabinets, columned pilasters etc. – I left no stone unturned. On his return, with the work almost completed, he said he was very pleased. His only remark was that in his absence I had ‘gone to town’ with the whole project, with a wing and a prayer. Being proud of what I had done but somewhat nervous of what his reaction might be, this was music to my ears.