Minneapolis, MN, April 20, 2017 — William P. Cahill is teaming up with four-time National Contractor of the Year, Mom’s Design Build, to offer his acclaimed thatched roofs in Minnesota.

Mom’s Design Build founder Jim Sweeney and his sons, Alex and Owen,  show William some local support at the 2015 Minnesota Irish Fair. Mom’s sponsored his exhibit at the Fair.

The Shakopee, MN, landscape design and remodeling company sponsored William’s thatching exhibit at the 2015 Irish Fair of Minnesota on Harriet Island in St. Paul. Now clients can work with Mom’s Design Build to design thatched roof structures into their one-of-a-kind landscapes. This month, the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) named Mom’s its National Contractor of the Year (CotY) in three outdoor categories: Landscape Design/Outdoor Living Over $60,000, Landscape Design/Outdoor Living Under $60,000 and Residential Exteriors $100,000 to $200,000. That was the most national titles awarded to any contractor nationwide.

“I can’t create a thatched roof without a structure and that structure should be part of a larger landscape environment that suits the theme,” William explained. “I am partnering with Mom’s Design Build in Minnesota because Jim and his award-winning team take an artistic approach to landscape design. With Mom’s Design Build as general contractor, we can offer the complete package.”

William travels throughout the United States and the Islands to thatch roofs for private estates, public venues and resorts. His work can be seen on outdoor kitchens, gazebos, sheds, pool houses, playhouses, historic structures and natural habitats.

Thatched Tulip Tree House

Count on Mom’s Design Build to make your backyard a magical place

If there is a sameness to Mom’s clients it’s that they want something different. It doesn’t matter if the project is large or small. Mom’s family appreciates personalized artistic expression that will transport them without leaving home. Colors, textures, shapes, and even the occasional seasonal palm (the mother of all annuals) combine to create dramatic backdrops for Minnesota’s richest outdoor experiences.

Mom’s Design Build Founder Jim Sweeney said that after getting to know William and his thatch creations in 2015, he understood that Mom’s could offer remarkable craftsmanship and storybook structures with an unrivaled back-story. William began his thatching career on Irish patriot Padraig Pierse’s cottage in Ros Muc and the cottage attached to poet W. B. Yeats’ castle in Gort, both in County Galway. The Smithsonian Institute sponsored him to help thatch the famous Jamestown Church in historic Jamestown Settlement in Virginia. Later he would work on projects for the likes of Martha Stewart, Tom Monaghan and the Chicago Botanical Gardens. William has been featured in national magazines, leading newspapers and television shows for three decades and still does most of the handwork himself. Now he is ready for his first Mom’s collaboration right here in Minnesota.

Cordwood Thatched Potting Shed with Rabbit Hutch

Every Thatched Roof Holds a Story

Every William Cahill roof comes with a story. It starts with William harvesting and bundling American Phragmite reeds along the East Coast in winter for the next season. By the time he secures and dresses the bundles and sculpts his signature decorative ridge, a roof could require up to a million reeds. Somewhere among the thick honeycomb field, he’ll hide a small pouch of Irish coins for the next thatcher who returns, usually in 15 to 20 years.

For the full experience, brew a pot of tea and settle in for a chat about Irish history and William’s remarkable journey thatching structures from coast to coast and in the islands for private estates, public places and resorts.

Thatched Roofs’ Personal Appeal in Minnesota

Jim said he believes thatched roofs will appeal to Mom’s clients who cherish memories of cottages they saw when traveling in Ireland or the European countryside. Others may simply covet a conversation piece that none of their friends can match. And everyone will appreciate the unmatched beauty and old-world craftsmanship that a reed roof provides.

Thatch can be installed over solid decking with a continuous waterproof membrane or atop open rafters and spaced battens so the reeds can be enjoyed from below. Either way, the thick overlapping reeds will efficiently direct water from the ridge to the eaves. A steep pitch (at least 45 degrees) is essential for Minnesota’s snowy winters.

To explore a thatch roof for your Minnesota property, Contact Mom’s Design Build at (952) 277-6667.

William and Mary

Himself

You might wonder why anyone would spend five years apprenticing as a traditional roof thatcher in his native Ireland and then emigrate to the United States to pursue his craft in a land that favors asphalt shingles. Simple. In William’s case it was love. He met his Mary, a beautiful, kind-hearted schoolteacher from Southeast Ohio, at the Middletown (Ohio) Irish Festival where he was demonstrating the ancient roofing technique in the cultural area. There was no going back. They were married the next year and started a family with twins that were anxious to join them.

The best career is one you truly love and that suits your natural talents. William’s brothers and sisters have enjoyed rewarding careers in healthcare, law, finance, and technology. His own calling was roof thatching. He thanks his late parent, Teresa and Billy Cahill, for setting him on this course after graduating from a Jesuit high school back in County Galway on Ireland’s scenic west coast.

Roof thatching’s golden side

William says it’s a lovely feeling to know you are preserving an ancient building craft, using sustainable/green materials and creating a unique custom product with each handmade roof: Handcrafted construction at its best. When you enjoy the outdoors, a choice view and meeting interesting people as he does, it’s better still.

William’s thatch clients are mostly wealthy estate owners, living museums, resorts and zoos. Architects for the private clients are after something old world or whimsical that their friends can’t match. Public clients want authentic recreations of a lost art or distant habitat whether it is crafted from palm fronds or water reeds.

Thatching is hard work

For all its personal rewards and natural beauty, thatching is hard, physical work that begins with harvesting acres of water reeds over the winter when the stalks are dry and the wetlands frozen. It was an unseasonably warm and wet East Coast harvest season this year, but William remember others when he couldn’t feel his fingers and his socks nearly froze in his wellies. Once cut, reeds must be tied into tight bundles and left to dry in stokes for several months awaiting transport to anywhere from Maine to California. Finally comes the actual thatching. Since you can’t stand on thatch, all of the rooftop work must be done from long ladders laid flat against the surface to distribute one’s weight.

Installing a thatch roof requires hundreds of hours placing the bundles of reeds and securing each course with steel rods, wire and screws. Then the layers must be feathered to create a uniform plane. Finally, the eaves are trimmed and shaped and a decorative ridge is installed at the top. William says he has never taken the time to count one, but he estimates the average bundle that covers one-square foot of roof contains about 1,000 reeds. That’s 100,000 reeds for a 10×10 ft. “square.” So a large roof would require millions of reeds.

Nature’s original reed instrument

Thatching is a solitary building art that gives one lots of time to reflect. However, he has met some of the country’s most gifted architects and landscape designers and their exclusive clientele. There’s something to be said for the opportunity to have a simple cup of tea with a celebrity or top CEO as well as gardeners who are passionate about roof thatch and aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty. Multi-cultural harmony from nature’s original reed instrument? The world could do with a bit more of that!