Cleaning homes in West Portal
Logistics stop being the hard part out here, and the buildings become it. These are detached houses on real lots, built for a 1920s idea of comfort: a formal entry hall, a living room with a fireplace under a beamed or coffered ceiling, a separate dining room with a plate rail, and small original bathrooms tiled to shoulder height. All of that is surface, and most of it sits at an awkward height.
The terraces around St. Francis Wood and Monterey Heights push it further, with bigger houses, more formal rooms and more woodwork. Closer to West Portal Avenue the homes shrink to two-bedroom cottages on tighter side streets. Between the two extremes the constant is dark stained trim, which shows dust and shows streaks, and wants a dry pass before anything damp comes near it.
West Portal homes, structurally
Detached and semi-detached single-family homes dominate, mostly 1,600 to 3,000 square feet built between the mid-1920s and 1940. Period-revival styling means leaded casement windows with many small panes, arched doorways, troweled plaster, beamed ceilings and stained trim throughout. Oak floors are usual, with tile in kitchens and original colored tile in bathrooms. Garages are attached with an internal door and rear gardens are deep. Street trees drop heavily in autumn and it walks indoors.