 He lived quietly as tenant at Cleveland House, St James's, and at Trumpeters' House at the Old Palace, Richmond, where 'he was much resorted to by the most eminent persons of the time [and] the Royal family shewed him very particular regards' (Gilbert Burnet, 4.318).Hill inherited Hawkstone Hall in 1700 and reordered the mansion and park to his own designs.With the fortune he made from his paymastership (subsequently augmented by loans, investments and mortgages), he extended his estates at Tern Hall, Atcham, near Shrewsbury (today Attingham Park), and at Shenstone, Staffordshire, and systematically purchased estates in many counties, including Shropshire, Staffordshire and Warwickshire, thus adding to his already substantial inheritance with the aim of founding an enduring dynasty.