Thatchers Raise the Roof--for a Price

Dixie and Wes Warwick formed the ultimate cottage industry. Then they went and named it Warwick Cottage Enterprises.

For $12 to $16 per square foot, the Anaheim-based company will thatch a roof--be it cottage or otherwise--using “American labor and American materials” which, President Dixie Warwick said, “meets American codes.”

That’s a tad pricier than the 70 cents to $1.50 per installed-square-foot that one San Diego roofing company manager quoted for going up on the roof to install a shingle or wood shake covering.

But it’s still cheaper than the initial $25 to $30 per square foot estimate that the Warwicks used when they were using a pair of imported British workers and European-grown water reeds to thatch their first American roofs.

“There are people who pay one-half to three-quarters of a million dollars for a lot, and then spend $2 million to $3 million for the house,” the roofing company manager said. “So what’s a couple thousand more for a roof?”

Warwick’s husband, who serves as vice president and “master thatcher,” decided to form an American thatched roof company after falling in love with the real thing during several European visits. At the outset, “it was almost cost-prohibitive,” Warwick recalled. “We started with foreign labor and imported materials.”

The Warwicks realized that “we could only succeed if we could furnish a fire-retardant roof” to meet U.S. building codes.

For four years, her husband experimented with fire-retarding methods, finally hitting on one that led to national building code accreditation, Warwick said. “We can put up fire-retardant roofs anywhere in the United States, including the City of Los Angeles, where we have (the highest fire-retardant) rating.”

Warwick acknowledged that “thatched is the most expensive roofing product that can be purchased. . . . It takes a minimum of three or four weeks to handcraft a 12-inch-thick thatched roof, and because you’re talking about a very unique product, it’s not going to be cost-effective for a tract house.

“(Thatching) is a craft . . . you can’t go down to the labor hall, pick up a man and put him on the roof, and expect him to be able to work with this material.”

Consequently, thatching a roof will continue to be an expensive proposition.

The company’s first residential roof, on a newly built house in Rancho Santa Fe, just started going up, Warwick said. Later this month, Warwick Cottage Industries is hosting a tea, after which “master thatcher” Wes Warwick will demonstrate his thatching skills.

The company is also planning to build a model home in North San Diego County that will showcase the thatching technique, as well as provide the Warwicks with a place to live.

However, Warwick acknowledged that given the costs involved, a thatched roof is not for everyone. “This (kind of) house is really going to be for the empty-nesters, the (adults) who are ready to go into something small and unique,” Warwick explained. “It’s the American dream to have a cozy, warm, beautiful home. We’re talking about quality, not quantity.”

Homeowners who are already in their dream house can add a thatched roof if they’re willing to restructure the roof to include a 45-degree pitch and the load-bearing supports that a heavy--13 pounds per square foot--thatched roof demands, Warwick said.

“We’ve done two re-roofs and they turned out to be very expensive for the owners,” Warwick said. “But if they want the look it’s worth it.”

Warwick said several clients--including a Utah ski resort, an Arizona shopping center, and home designers in Thousand Oaks and Sacramento--have included thatched roofs in their architectural drawings. However, she acknowledged that because of the steep cost, thatched roofs could be the “first thing to go” if budgets are cut.

Although the company--which started as a limited partnership and evolved into a closely held corporation--is based in Anaheim and is building a model home in San Diego County, Warwick said she has plans to raise roofs across the nation.