Night and Day, Monk’s House, Rodmell (AW9)

Royalties from Virginia Woolf’s second novel, Night and Day, published in 1919, contributed in large part to the £700 purchase price of this picturesque seventeenth century cottage in the Sussex village of Rodmell, near Lewes. Monk’s House was bought as a weekend retreat from the hectic pace of London life but with the passing of the years Virginia and her husband Leonard found themselves spending more and more time here. Improvements were gradually made to the cottage, which originally had no electricity or running water, and the garden was a source of pride to both and a haven for visitors.