A Perfect Match for Thatch

A Perfect Match for Thatch

Story and photos by Vicky Moon

It’s mid-morning on a brilliant and soon to be sweltering summer morning. The gracious gardens, pool expanse and nearby courtyard are abuzz as gardeners, and a thatcher are immersed in sustaining the perfection created and designed by Jean Perin, the owner of Edgewood near Upperville. Wait a minute…a thatcher? Yes, that would be the one and only Colin McGee, a devoted artisan I first wrote about twenty years ago in Town and Country magazine when he did a run-in shed at Over The Grass Farm near The Plains. We did several other stories, including one that ran in The Washington Post, and photo shoots together and then, we each moved along in our careers.

A British native now living in southern Virginia, Colin has since traveled the world to do his wonderful work. It was a delight to meet up again.

“I’d rather work on thatching than have a day off,” he said. His unique craft has taken him to Florida, New York, Iowa and California and beyond. And oh yes, the Bronx Zoo and the Jacksonville Zoo. In addition, he creates playhouses, dog houses, mailboxes and bird houses. See www. thethatchers.com.

Meanwhile, Ms. Perin exudes an edited British inspired style in her garden. She hired McGee in September, 2005 to create a thatched garden cottage…”a folly,” she said, adding that it will be utilized for garden storage. “The old beams used for the interior support and a reclaimed Victorian window were also used.”

Ms. Perin had Mr. McGee return this summer to do some renovation after a critter got in and munched on some of the water-reed thatch. As co-chair of the Piedmont Environmental Council, she is not only passionate about her garden but also has equal enthusiasm for conservation, land and farmland preservation. www.pecva.org.

Colin McGhee

Thatcher McGhee is at work on the renovation of the garden cottage with a fine example of Ms. Perin’s boxwood spiral topiary nearby.

The old beams inside the cottage provide attractive interior support.