A case study in engineered thatch residential architecture.
Overview
Engineered thatch rarely appears in residential architecture at this scale. At The Pendry Residence on the wooded shores of Lake Keowee, South Carolina, it does, and the result is a richly layered Eclectic European Manor, designed by architect Jeremy Driskell, where the material reads not as ornament but as character.
Endureed Premium Kilimanjaro was specified on two flanking turret structures, providing a warm, organic counterpoint to the home’s slate main roof, stone masonry, and stucco facade. The application is deliberate and architecturally precise: thatch as accent, scaled to history, engineered for permanence.
Project at a Glance
Location: Lake Keowee, South Carolina
Architectural Style: Eclectic European Manor
Architect: Jeremy Driskell
Product Specified: Endureed Premium Kilimanjaro
Application: Flanking turret structures (accent roofs)
Project Type: Custom Private Residence
The Design Vision
The clients came to this project with two histories. One was a life built through decades of international travel, particularly across Europe, with its centuries of layered architecture and unhurried craft. The other was a quieter memory: a rural Canadian upbringing, wood stacked for winter, livestock tended in the early morning, a life connected to land and season.
As retirement arrived, they wanted a home that held both. Not a replica of any single style, but something that felt genuinely accumulated, as if it had always been there at the water’s edge.
Architect Jeremy Driskell describes the brief as a request for nostalgia within modern comfort, a structure that drew from historical European forms without mimicking any single one. The result was an Eclectic European Manor: a home assembled from memory rather than catalog.
The Thatch Decision
Accent, Not Statement
From the beginning, the design team’s intent was specific: thatch as a contextual accent, not a dominant material. Driskell notes that historically, most thatched residences were of modest proportions. Placing large-scale thatch across an estate of this size would have been architecturally inconsistent with the history the design was drawing from.
The two flanking turret structures offered the correct scale for the material. Their conical hip roofs, covered in Endureed Premium Kilimanjaro, which were supplied by the strategic partners at Stonewood Company, provide warmth and texture against the cooler tones of the slate main roof and the rugged geometry of the stone facade. The visual effect is one of quiet deliberateness: a home where every material has been considered.
Navigating the Approval Process
The design decision carried a regulatory challenge. The Architectural Board of Review governing the Lake Keowee community did not permit reed thatch under its standard guidelines, requiring the team to seek a variance for approval.
Endureed’s documented material specifications were central to that case. The product’s Class A fire rating, wind resistance, warranty terms, and pest-resistant composition gave the design team the technical evidence needed to demonstrate that engineered thatch was not simply a stylistic choice but a responsibly specified building material. The ABR approved the variance.
Why Endureed
The product specified was Endureed Premium Kilimanjaro, a high-end engineered thatch designed for architectural applications that demand both visual authenticity and certified performance. For a project of this ambition, aesthetics alone were not sufficient. Driskell and his team required a product that could satisfy the owners, the bank, and the insurer simultaneously. Endureed Premium Kilimanjaro met each requirement:
Class A Fire Rating: Critical for both insurability and community approval.
Wind Resistance: Engineered for performance in demanding conditions.
Up to 30-Year No-Maintenance Warranty: Long-term assurance for owners and lenders.
Pest Resistance: No ongoing treatment or infestation risk.
Aesthetic Fidelity: The exposed fascia finish, in particular, drew specific admiration from the architect for its depth and authenticity.
In the Architect’s Words
“I really liked the exposed/thick finish on the fascia.”
Jeremy Driskell, Architect
“They love it.”
Jeremy Driskell, on the clients’ reaction
About the Architect
Jeremy Driskell | Studio Director, MHK Architecture & Planning, Greenville
Jeremy Driskell brings more than 21 years of design experience across multiple markets throughout the Southeast. As Studio Director of MHK’s Greenville office, he leads a team built around the belief that great design is never a single-minded act, but a collaborative effort of talented, humble individuals. That philosophy shows in the Pendry Residence: a project that required historical sensitivity, regulatory navigation, and material precision all at once.
MHK’s approach to residential design is shaped by a boutique sensibility applied at scale, translating the firm’s deep luxury residential experience into work that is genuinely human-centered. For Driskoll, that means a home should offer its owners something beyond architecture: refuge, peace, and pride of place.
Driskell is also a practicing artist, known for sharing his sketches, drafts, and design studies on social media, a window into a creative process that moves fluidly between the architectural and the hand-made. Having physically built two homes himself, he brings a craftsman’s instinct to his specifications: he knows what materials do in the real world, not just on the drawings.
A Home Built from Memory
The Pendry Residence is a demonstration of what engineered thatch can accomplish when specified with architectural intention. It does not announce itself. It participates in a larger composition, providing warmth, texture, and historical resonance in a form that will endure the seasons, the climate, and the decades ahead.
For the clients, the home is the culmination of a life well-traveled and a life well-lived. For the specification community, it is proof that engineered thatch belongs at the highest levels of residential architecture.
