DC · NOVA · MARYLAND PRIVATE & COUNTRY CLUBS

Discretion first. Match-to-existing. Period-correct.

Private and country club furniture lives a strange life — it is heirloom-grade in age and pedigree, but it sits in a building that gets used eight nights a week. The members notice immediately when a club chair is wrong; they notice equally fast when one is too obviously new. Our club work — for the library reading rooms and member-room sofas of the city clubs, and for the dining rooms, locker rooms, and mixed grills of the country clubs alike — begins with NDA, runs on match-to-existing materials and methods, and never appears in our portfolio. Pickup is after-hours; staging is room-by-room; documentation is for the house committee, not our website.

Direct Line — Antonio About the Workshop
Private gentleman's club library with leather Chesterfield chairs flanking a marble fireplace
From the workshop

II. COUNTRY CLUBS

More than 30 country clubs within 50 miles of Colvin Street.

The DC metro carries one of the densest country-club footprints in the country — Belle Haven, Mount Vernon, Army Navy, Washington Golf & Country Club, Congressional, Burning Tree, Chevy Chase, Columbia, Kenwood, Bethesda Country Club, Manor, Norbeck, Woodmont, Lakewood, Westwood, River Bend, Trump National, Robert Trent Jones, Lansdowne, River Creek, Goose Creek, Raspberry Falls, TPC Potomac, Whiskey Creek, Hidden Creek, Reston National, Springfield Golf, International, Stonewall, 1757 Golf Club, Lowes Island, and more. Every one of them periodically refurbishes dining-room chair sets (often 8 to 24 matching chairs), library club chairs and member-room Chesterfields, ballroom seating for member events, and locker-room benches that take heavy daily wear. We work directly with house managers and general managers on multi-year refurbishment programs that rotate scope across rooms while the club stays open for member use.

Private gentlemen's-club library reading room at late evening lit by a single brass desk lamp and a low hearth — writing-table arranged with a wax-sealed NDA envelope, leather-bound scope ledger, brass loupe on chamois, pewter inkwell with quill, oxblood-leather Chesterfields flanking the marble hearth, mahogany bookcases to coffered ceiling with brass library ladder, moss-green silk-damask drapery
From the workshop

I. DISCRETION + NDA

NDA signed before the first pickup. No client names. Ever.

Bergerie does not name private clubs as clients in any public or marketing context. NDAs are signed before the first pickup; subcontractors involved in transport are bound by the same terms. We do not photograph club property for our own files unless the house committee explicitly authorizes it for a specific scope. Antonio handles all club inquiries personally — pickup coordination, scope discussions, scheduling. Member-confidential operations stay that way; the house committee is the only contact point.

Private gentlemen's-club library reading room at late evening lit by a single brass desk lamp and a low hearth — writing-table arranged with a wax-sealed NDA envelope, leather-bound scope ledger, brass loupe on chamois, pewter inkwell with quill, oxblood-leather Chesterfields flanking the marble hearth, mahogany bookcases to coffered ceiling with brass library ladder, moss-green silk-damask drapery
From the workshop

III. MATCH-TO-EXISTING

The members notice if a club chair is wrong.

Most private-club furniture is part of a long-standing set — a dozen Windsor side chairs in a dining room, a pair of leather Chesterfields in the library, a row of barstools in the men's grill. The restoration job is not to refurbish one piece; it is to refurbish one piece so that it disappears back into the set. We document existing finish color (with formal color match against the unaltered pieces in the set), stitching pattern, edge-roll height, leather type and tannage where applicable, and original spring and stuffing construction. Match-to-existing is the discipline; surprise-free reintegration is the deliverable.

Private-club dining room illustrating match-to-existing discipline — long mahogany hunt-table with a row of twelve identical bow-back Windsor side chairs, eleven aged forty-years and one freshly restored sitting indistinguishable in the row, color-match card with brushed-out finish samples on aged maple swatches, jar of shellac, dish of pigment, brass loupe, Sheraton sideboard with tarnished silver candelabrum
From the workshop

IV. PERIOD-CORRECT METHODS

Hide glue. Hand-stitched edges. Eight-way hand-tied.

Club libraries, reading rooms, and members' lounges typically have furniture that is genuinely period — Federal-period side chairs, Chippendale wing chairs, Sheraton sideboards, Camelback sofas, Chesterfields from the 1920s to 1940s. Period-correct restoration is the only appropriate discipline: hide-glue frame stabilization, horsehair stuffing, hand-stitched edge rolls, eight-way hand-tied jute springs, French polish on the exposed wood, original hardware preserved or hand-forged replacements. Antique furniture restoration is documented in our hub page; the antique restoration discipline applies fully to club work.

Bergerie workshop bench with three iconic club pieces simultaneously mid period-correct restoration — 1920s oxblood-leather Chesterfield club sofa being rebuilt with visible eight-way hand-tied jute springs, Chippendale wing chair on a turntable with mortise-and-tenon joints being re-glued in hide-glue and front edge-roll hand-stitched, Federal Sheraton side chair with fresh horsehair stuffing under half-tacked muslin
From the workshop

V. AFTER-HOURS PICKUP + STAGING

In and out between dinner service and breakfast.

Member-occupied buildings cannot accommodate daytime pickup and staging. We work after hours — typically between dinner service close (10 or 11 p.m.) and breakfast prep (6 or 7 a.m.). Single-night pickups for matched sets where same-evening removal is required; phased pickups for multi-room scopes where 2 to 4 pieces are rotated through the workshop while the rest of the set stays in service. Transport vehicles are unmarked; the pickup team operates with the same discretion as the work itself.

Private-club service entrance at 1 a.m. lit by a single coach lantern and winter moonlight — unmarked wooden cargo dolly inside the threshold holding a blanket-wrapped Chesterfield club sofa and a wrapped wing chair tagged with discreet jute, Federal-period brick rear-of-house with paneled green door ajar, wrought-iron rear-garden gate with climbing ivy
From the workshop

VI. LEAD TIMES + CAPACITY

6 to 14 weeks per phase. Calendar coordinated with the house.

Lead times for private-club work run 6 to 14 weeks per phase depending on scope, materials sourcing (for leather or specific fabrics held by the house), and the house calendar. We coordinate with the house manager or general manager on member-event blackout dates, hunt-season scheduling for clubs with country properties, and end-of-fiscal-year financial cycles. Multi-year refurbishment programs are common — for example, dining-room chair frames refurbished in year one, library and reading-room sofas in year two, men's grill in year three.

Bergerie private-club coordination alcove for house-calendar planning — partners' desk with a hand-drawn three-year phased refurbishment plan pinned above (Year 1 dining-room chairs, Year 2 library, Year 3 men's grill — illegible specifics), hunt-season schedule and end-of-fiscal-year cycle pinned beside, ledger of scope per phase, antique brass timepiece with cracked face, blanket-wrapped wing chairs ready for next phase
From the workshop

VII. PRICING STRUCTURE

Per-piece quotes. Set discounts. Annual contracts available.

Standard quoting is per piece — frame stabilization, refoam, reupholstery, finish restoration each priced separately so the house committee can phase scope and budget. Set discounts on matched-set work (dining-room chair pairs of 8 or 12; library sofas with companion wing chairs). Annual refurbishment contracts for ongoing programs — a set fee per quarter with allocated pieces, predictable cash flow on the house side, reserved workshop capacity on our side. Insurance documentation provided as deliverables on request.

Bergerie private-club pricing desk for a house-committee bid review — leather-topped partners' desk with an open leather-bound pricing ledger of per-piece line items (frame stabilization, re-foam, reupholstery, finish restoration), letterpress set-discount schedule for matched chair sets of 8 and 12, annual-contract draft on linen paper with wax-seal corner, dark-leather insurance portfolio, row of three identical blanket-wrapped Windsor chairs
From the workshop

VIII. DIRECT LINE TO ANTONIO

Antonio takes club inquiries personally.

All private-club inquiries — initial scope conversations, scheduling, pickup logistics — go through Antonio directly. House committees and general managers can reach Antonio at the workshop on Colvin Street; references from established club relationships are available on a name-redacted basis (we can describe scope and outcome without disclosing the club). Jose Rugerio handles administrative coordination once the engagement is established; Antonio remains the named contact for the work itself.

Antonio's private Colvin Street workshop office for direct club-inquiry calls — small leather-topped Federal writing desk with an antique brass-and-bakelite candlestick rotary telephone, leather-bound inquiry ledger open to a hand-written call log, fountain pen on a leather blotter, leather portfolio of name-redacted references with discreet black-redaction blocks, brass workshop bell on the wall, Federal-period DC-metro map
From the workshop

Frequently asked

Will you publicly disclose that our club works with you?

No. Bergerie does not name private clubs as clients in any public or marketing context. NDAs are signed before the first pickup; subcontractors involved in transport are bound by the same terms. References are available on a name-redacted basis — we can describe scope and outcome without disclosing the club. Member-confidential operations remain confidential.

How do you match to the existing furniture set?

Formal documentation at the consultation: existing finish color matched against unaltered pieces in the set (often with formal color-card matching), stitching pattern and edge-roll height transcribed, leather type and tannage identified, original spring and stuffing construction documented. The match-to-existing discipline is the entire point of club restoration — the refurbished piece should disappear back into the set.

Can you work after hours so members are not affected?

Yes — standard for club work. Pickup typically runs between dinner-service close (10-11 p.m.) and breakfast prep (6-7 a.m.). Transport vehicles are unmarked. For multi-room scopes we phase pickups so 2-4 pieces rotate through the workshop while the rest of the set stays in service. Single-night pickups for matched sets that must be removed in one evening.

What lead times should we plan around?

6 to 14 weeks per phase depending on scope and materials sourcing. For multi-year refurbishment programs we coordinate against the house calendar — member-event blackout dates, hunt-season scheduling for clubs with country properties, fiscal-year cycles. Annual refurbishment contracts with reserved capacity are available for clubs running ongoing programs.

Period-correct restoration on antique club furniture?

Our discipline. Hide-glue frame stabilization, horsehair stuffing, hand-stitched edge rolls, eight-way hand-tied jute springs, French polish on the exposed wood, original hardware preserved. We do not chemical-strip, substitute modern adhesives, or use aftermarket reproduction hardware. The antique furniture restoration hub documents methods in detail.

Pricing structure for a multi-room engagement?

Per-piece quotes so scope and budget can be phased — frame stabilization, refoam, reupholstery, finish restoration each priced separately. Set discounts on matched-set work. Annual refurbishment contracts (set fee per quarter with allocated pieces) for ongoing programs — predictable cash flow on the house side, reserved capacity on ours. Insurance documentation provided as deliverables on request.

References from other private clubs?

Yes — name-redacted. We can describe scope, scale, methods, and outcomes from established club relationships without disclosing the club's name. The house committee that wants to verify the workflow before engaging can have a phone call with Antonio and references in that format.

How do we start a conversation?

Direct line to Antonio at the workshop. Initial conversations cover scope, urgency, member-event calendar, and NDA terms. First pickup is scheduled after NDA is in place. Phone or written contact through Jose Rugerio's email at jarugerio@bergerieupholstery.com — Jose handles administrative coordination; Antonio remains the named contact for the work.