Nancy Mitford on the home of the real 'Lord Merlin'
"This article is a tribute to an artist, musician, wit and kindly host." When Mr. Wood of Bath built Faringdon House, about the middle of the 18th century, his customer was Poet Laureate Pye (generally supposed to have been the worst poet laureate England has ever had and described as eminently respectable in everything but his poetry' by Lord Byron who, of course, knew all about respectability). Pye ordered the house to be built, and Pye paid the bill, established himself there, wrote reams of dreary long-forgotten verse in praise of his master George III, and brought up his dreary long-for...
Source: houseandgarden.co.uk