Thanks for your recommendations. I especially like the one listed on Decorati's website. It's a happy marriage between the chesterfield and the international styles for a measely $1000...a true bargain!
I googled "Chesterfield" for the history of the design. I read that the word, 'Chesterfield', was used to describe a sofa in Canada and certain parts of America. In England, a davenport with arms and back of the same height in buttoned leather may also be referred to as a chesterfield sofa. Another, view is that the fourth earl of Chesterfield - Phillip Stanhope (1694-1773) was honoured by the commissioning of a piece of Fine Furniture (a Leather Chesterfield Sofa). There are also many who believe the term Chesterfield originally referred to the style of buttoning of the leather, shape of the sofa back, and even the height of the seat.
The 1950s Florence Knoll sofa was yet another modern interpretation of the Chesterfield style. A vintage Florence Knoll three seater in the orginal black leather that is well-weather with a faded and crackled would be ideal.
I also like Josef Hoffman, the Austrian architect's 1911 interpretation of the Chesterfield style with an art deco spin.
...or I could just play safe and go with something more modern with a simple clean line, like the Bennet sofa by William Sonoma Home. What do you think?
And here is that picture, taken through the front window of Tradesmen on a sunny Sat afternoon, that planted the whole romantic notion for the Chesterfield style forever in my head :)
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Keep shopping! 
