What we move · Seasonal Home Closing
Emptying a Seasonal Home for the Summer
From May to November a large part of coastal Florida sits empty. The valuables inside those houses are protected by an alarm system, a neighbour who checks occasionally, and hope. Hurricane season is the reason the calendar exists, but it is not the only reason.
Tell us what, from where, and roughly when. No obligation, and no inventory list needed to start the conversation.
Unmarked
No livery, no logo, nothing that names the cargo
Two-person
Every movement. One never leaves the property
Signed
Chain of custody at every handoff, timestamped
1983
Operating the destination vault since
Why this is different
The problem worth solving
A homeowner policy will typically cover a fraction of what is actually in the house, and coverage assumptions change when a property is unoccupied for months — many policies have an unoccupancy clause that most owners have never read. The risk is not only the storm. It is the six months of nobody being there, contractors with keys, and a claim that gets argued rather than paid.
Procedure
How it is handled
- 01One scheduled collection before you leave, worked out room by room from your list.
- 02Itemised and photographed at the house, so the return is checked against the same document.
- 03Sealed and vaulted for the season under a single agreement, not a monthly negotiation.
- 04Held above the flood plain behind two 14,000-pound doors, in a structure rated well beyond a Category 5 wind load.
- 05One scheduled return when you come back, on a date fixed in advance.
- 06The same inventory countersigned on the way back in.
What to expect on the day
Book it early. Everyone in South Florida wants the same two weeks in May, and the same two weeks in October or November, and the calendar genuinely fills. Clients who have done this a few times tend to settle on a fixed list — art, jewellery, documents, a few pieces of furniture — and repeat it each year, which makes the whole exercise a phone call rather than a project.
The limit
Where we stop
This is not a household removals service. We do not empty houses, pack kitchens, or move furniture that is not going into the vault.
Common questions
- When should I book?
- For a May collection, book in March. For an October or November return, book in the summer. The season compresses into a few weeks and we would rather not turn you away.
- Can you collect from more than one property?
- Yes, as separate collections with separate inventories. They are not combined in the vehicle or on the paperwork.
- What if a storm is forecast and I have not booked?
- Call, but be realistic. When a cone is on the map everyone calls at once, and the honest answer is often that there is not time. This is a service that works when it is planned.
- Is anything left in the house?
- Whatever you decide. Most clients leave the furniture and take the art, the jewellery, the documents and the metal.
Statewide
Routes we run
45–75 min
Brickell & Downtown Miami
High-rise collections, which means the loading dock and the service elevator decide the schedule rather than the traffic. Most Brickell towers require a certificate of insurance filed with building management days in advance and will only release the service lift in a booked window — we handle that paperwork, but it is why a Brickell collection is booked a week out and a house is not.
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50–80 min
Coral Gables
Older single-family houses on narrow, banyan-shaded streets with strict tree and parking rules. A vehicle cannot always get close to the door, so a Gables collection is planned around where we can legally stand, and that is worth a phone call before the day rather than a surprise on it.
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50–80 min
Coconut Grove
A mix of waterfront estates and 1920s houses, several of them with art collections that have never been condition-reported. The Grove sits low, and clients here move things out ahead of the season more often than anywhere else in Miami-Dade.
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60–90 min
Key Biscayne
One causeway on and off the island, with a toll and a single point of failure. When a storm is forecast the Rickenbacker is exactly where everyone is at once, so Key Biscayne is the one market where we insist on booking well ahead of a cone rather than during it.
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45–75 min
Miami Beach & Surfside
Causeway-dependent and, from Surfside north, largely mid-rise condominium. Since 2021 the building-access rules here have tightened considerably, and management offices are noticeably more careful about who is allowed a service lift — expect to be asked for documentation that a house never requires.
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30–50 min
Aventura
Dense high-rise on the Dade line and the shortest big-building run we make. Loading docks here are generally well organised and bookable, which makes Aventura one of the few tower markets where a same-week collection is realistic.
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Tell us what needs to move.
What, from where, and roughly when. You do not need an inventory to start the conversation, and if the job belongs with an armored carrier we will say so on the call.