After all, her Persian rug was her pride and joy and not even this monster was going to devour her prized possession.

CNN: E-mail from an inferno: Taking back our house

Her old furniture came back: a cloth-covered green couch with a dog pillow, a Persian rug that would cover part of the carpet, a shelf of books, a Yankees baseball cap, and pictures of Babe Ruth, Keith Richards, and E.

NEWYORKER: Changing Times

His personal study, which was designed to house a 17-by-28-foot Persian rug from the late 1800s, is filled from floor to ceiling with valuables, ranging from gilded fore-edge books to war memorabilia, a brandy bottle left in his guest house by Kennedy Onassis, and even what he says is Sitting Bull's pipe.

NPR: 'I Love Mysteries,' Says Man Claiming Hidden Gold

Persian artisans supposedly wove imperfections into every rug, so as not to tempt the gods.

WSJ: The Green Machine | John Paul Newport on the Masters