Monkton House, West Dean
Monkton House, West Dean, West Sussex is an English country house designed in 1902 by Edwin Lutyens for Willie James. It was extensively remodelled for his son, Edward James, in the 1930s. Working with Christopher Nicholson and Hugh Casson, and assisted by Salvador Dalí, James constructed what has been called "the only complete Surrealist house ever created in Britain". The collection of Surrealist art and furniture which James assembled at the house, much of it by Dalí himself, was "one of the largest and most important in the world". A private residence, Monkton is a Grade II listed building. History Willie James (1854–1912) was the third son of Daniel James (1801–1876), an American-born businessman who had made his fortune as a founder of the trading firm Phelps Dodge and moved to Liverpool to manage the English end of the firm's operations. Willie eschewed a business career, and following a youth spent travelling, established himself as a country gentleman, purchasing the West Dean estate in 1891. In 1902 he commissioned Edwin Lutyens to design Monkton House as a shooting lodge. The house acted as a trianon to the larger property. James' wife, Mrs Willie James was a noted Edwardian hostess and