Rug cleaning
in Belvedere.

Belvedere holds two quite different kinds of house on half a square mile. Belvedere Island and Corinthian Island were laid out by the Belvedere Land Company after 1890 as a summer retreat, and the China Cabin salvaged from the 1866 steamer PS China still stands on pilings at 52 Beach Road. The older stock is Victorian and Mediterranean, built into steep ground with long exterior stairs and rooms on three or four levels. The Belvedere Lagoon is the reverse: filling began in 1927, the finished water covers 66 acres at about five feet deep, and the first houses came to market in the late 1940s, level with the water and docked at the back. Rugs move differently in each. On the island side, a large Sarouk has to come down a stair and around a landing, which is where handling damage starts, so we bring poles, sleeves and two people rather than folding a rug on itself. Lagoon houses sit at water level, and a rug on a slab beside an open door takes up damp along one edge until the foundation weakens. We wash cold water, full immersion, twelve steps, then dry under controlled humidity, which is what settles a rug that has spent years beside the lagoon. Pickup runs across Beach Road, and we agree where the van can stand first, because the causeway has almost no curb to spare.

(650) 675-8160 reaches us by call or text between 8am and 8pm, any day. We agree a window when you book and send the confirmation roughly twenty-four hours ahead. Our own people drive, wash and return the work, so nothing is handed to a contractor at any stage. Belvedere driveways are tight and several houses are reached only on foot from the road, so tell us how many stairs are involved and we will crew the visit accordingly.