Walker's carpenter was William Monday. Mercer settled with Monday in March 1748 for a total bill of £126 16s. 2-1/2d., but with a protest addressed to himself in the ledger: "By work done about my House which is not near the value as by Maj^r Walker's Estimate below, yet to avoid Disputes & as he is worth nothing I give him Credit to make a full Ballance."
Meanwhile, William Bromley, a joiner, had gone to work on the interior finish. Like Minitree and Walker, Bromley represented the highest caliber of artisanship in the colony. Eighteen years later Mercer referred to Bromley, "who," he said, "I believe was the best architect that ever was in America."[96] Bromley employed several apprentices, among them an Irishman named Patterson.[97] For the interval from July 9, 1748, to December 25, 1750, Bromley was paid £140 1s. 1/2d., almost entirely for wages. The payment included "3 p^r hollows & rounds / 6 plane irons / 1 gallon Brandy." For the same period Andrew Beaty, also a joiner, received £113 5s. 1-1/2d. On June 19, 1749, Mercer noted in his journal, "Beaty's apprentice came to work." These men were specialists in framing woodwork and in making paneling, doors, wainscoting, and exterior architectural elements of wood.
The opulence of the building's finish is indicated by a charge on Walker's account for "his Carver's work 69 days at 5/, £17. 15...." Previously, while Minitree was still working on the house, an item had been entered in August 1747, "To Cash paid for cutting the Chimneypiece ... 6.3." A chimneypiece was usually the ornamental trim or facing around a fireplace opening, although in this instance the overpanel may have been meant.
Jacob Williams, a plasterer, worked 142-1/2 days for a total of £22 4s. 4d., while his helper Joseph Burges was employed 43 days for £5 7s. 6d. Walker charged £3 8s. 11d. for "his Painters work about my house," and a purchase of "42 gallons of Linseed Oyl" was recorded in the general charges account. Three books of goldleaf, which Mercer had obtained from George Gilmer, the Williamsburg apothecary, were charged, together with paint, to Walker.
In May 1750, a charge by George Elliot, "Turner, Stafford," was recorded, "By turning 162 Ballusters at 6^d, £4.1...." Another item, for supplying "341-1/2 feet Walnut Plank at 2^d," settled in October, may have been for the wood of which the balusters were made.