HALFPENNY, WILLIAM (fl. 5;52), English 18th cen tury architectural designer, was also known as Michael Hoare. He published about 20 books dealing almost entirely with domestic architecture and especially with country houses in the Gothic and Chinese fashions of his period. His most influential works were New Designs for Chinese Temples (1750-52) ; Rural Architec ture in the Gothic Taste (1752); Chinese and Gothic Architecture Properly Ornamented (1752); and Rural Architecture in the Chinese Taste (1750-52). The first of these books disproves the statement that Thomas Chippendale and Sir Thomas Chambers introduced the Chinese taste into England. John Halfpenny, said to have been his son, was associated with William in the produc tion of the above-mentioned works.