What’s the difference between Huxley and Monty?

One question we’re often asked by customers is – “What’s the difference between Huxley and Monty?” As you know, these two are the brothers of the S.W. James Chesterfield collection – but they’re not twins.
 
The main distinction is that Huxley is a very relaxed Chesterfield. When designing Huxley, we aimed for him to be as close to a conventional sofa comfort as possible. That’s why, as well as the premium luxury cushioning – which is totally unique to S.W. James, and now spans the whole range – he also offers the added benefit of a pocket sprung base. In the furniture world, most bases have serpentine springs that’re fixed to the frame and run back-to-front – in comparison, our design offers increased support as each portion houses its own little pocket of comfort.

The result? Huxley is a Chesterfield sofa you can really sink into – with a super comfortable feel. In addition, his high back really envelopes you as you lean into him – a unique feature across the industry that proved challenging to achieve.

In keeping with Huxley’s larger-than-life appearance, we’ve also widened the diamonds that frame the button detail from six inches on Monty, to a more generous eight inches on his big brother – giving Huxley a more relaxed, less formal finish without the tight pleats.

And where Monty’s shape is stately and square – with a slightly wider seat by around four centimetres – we’ve softened Huxley’s edges with round Cathedral arms.
 
From a general design point of view, we’ve also kept Huxley quite plain. He has piping rather than stud detail, a plain border in contrast to Monty’s single button border that includes both a top and bottom row of studs; and simple bun feet rather than castors.

However, if you’re a fan of Huxley’s comfortable characteristics, but like Monty’s refined features – such as his stud detail and heavy-duty castors – we’re happy to discuss adding the detail.

They are both beautiful handmade Chesterfield sofas. Hopefully this has helped to distinguish slightly between the two. If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Warren.