The Gold Coast is home to some of the most significant private rug collections in the Midwest. The neighborhood’s Gilded Age mansions on Astor Street, the grand pre-war buildings along Lake Shore Drive, and the landmarked townhouses off Dearborn Parkway contain rugs that were acquired over generations — Tabriz city carpets, 19th-century Sultanabad pieces, Qum silks, and formal Isfahans that have been in families longer than the buildings they furnish.
These pieces don’t belong in the hands of a franchise carpet cleaner. They require a conservator’s understanding of dye chemistry, fiber structure, and the specific vulnerabilities of aged pile — the kind of knowledge that comes from working on museum-grade textiles, not from a weekend certification course.
Museum conservation work, applied to your home
Ahmadi Rug was founded in 1984. Ghorban Ahmadi, our master conservator, spent nearly a decade performing conservation work for the State Hermitage Museum, the Musée du Louvre, and the British Museum — three institutions whose collections include some of the most valuable Oriental rugs in the world. The conservation principles he applied there are the same ones governing every cleaning that leaves our Skokie workshop: dye stability testing before any treatment, cold-water or controlled-temperature washing only, pH-managed chemistry appropriate to the specific fiber, and controlled flat drying with no forced heat.
For Gold Coast clients with irreplaceable or high-value pieces we also provide formal written documentation of condition on intake and at completion — the same chain-of-custody documentation used in institutional textile conservation. This documentation is accepted by insurance companies for coverage purposes and by appraisers for estate valuations.
Discreet, insured service for high-value pieces
We understand that Gold Coast clients have specific expectations around discretion, scheduling, and the handling of high-value property. Our pickup process involves photographing each piece on intake — including any existing damage, repairs, or condition notes — to ensure complete transparency before any work begins. All rugs in our care are fully insured during transport and while in our workshop. Nothing leaves our facility without a final quality inspection by a senior conservator.