Little is known for certain of his life, but he seems to have been based in Richmond, then in Surrey, and nearby London, perhaps also spending a period based in Bristol. He also worked in Ireland. Few buildings can certainly be ascribed to him, and no major ones; then and now his main importance lies in his books, which were often reprinted, and copied by other authors. They reached British North America and were also influential there. He wrote and probably built in collaboration with his son John Halfpenny in the later years of his career. Several of his later books are on architecture in the "Gothick" and "Chinese taste", as are several of the buildings attributed to him.