Sofas & Stuff to do list...
The search for the perfect sofa may not be
everybody's cup of tea, but Fittleworth where our showroom is, in
gorgeous West Sussex, has lots to offer. Make shopping only part of
the fun.
Fittleworth is a beautiful drive about an hour
and a half from central London. We love it, which is why we're
here.
The locale is the antique centre of England.
There are more antique shops in Petworth than you can shake a
hand-carved silver-topped Georgian walking cane at.
And art galleries, stately homes, (Petworth
House with its Capability Brown gardens), great pubs, Pallant House
Art Gallery in Chichester, and Salvador Dali artwork.
From priceless sofas (not ours, Salvador
Dali's) to priceless cars at Goodwood, you couldn't ask for
more.
Weald & Downland Open Air Museum www.wealddown.co.uk
Loads of things for children. An extraordinary
collection of nearly 50 historic buildings dating from the 13th to
the 19th century, many with period gardens, farm animals, woodland
walks and a picturesque lake.
The West Dean Estate and gardens www.westdean.org.uk
One of the finest collections of surrealist art
in the world, particularly of Salvador Dali. The collector Edward
James, was a catalyst and mentor for Dali in his early years. He
collaborated with the artist on the 'Lobster Telephone', and most
interestingly for us at Sofas & Stuff, the fantastical sofa in
the shape of Mae West's' lips, which is still at West Dean, one of
only five ever made.
Petworth House www.nationaltrust.org.uk/places/petworth
A magnificent country house with intricate
wooden carvings by Grinling Gibbons, set in a Capability Brown
landscaped deer park. Petworth has an internationally important art
collection, the largest owned by the National Trust with numerous
works by Turner, who used Petworth as a subject of his paintings.
The house has a fascinating servants' quarters with a 'state of the
art' Victorian kitchen.
Pallant House Gallery www.pallant.org.uk
A world class gallery in Chichester with a
collection of 20th century art and pop art by Peter Blake, Richard
Hamilton and David Hockney, There are more surrealist fantasies, by
Man Ray, Magritte and Dali, and post-war modernism by Freud, Howard
Hodgkin and Henry Moore.
Glorious Goodwood www.goodwood.co.uk
Cowdray Park www.cowdray.co.uk
Arundel Castle www.arundelcastle.org
Chichester Festival Theatre www.cft.org.uk
Cass Sculpture Foundation www.sculpture.org.uk