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Written by Palmetto Bluff
Dec 09, 2024
Mike and Melissa Pereyo first visited Palmetto Bluff in 2010 to visit longtime friends Butch and Debbie Floyd. The Floyds built their home here when the fringes of the map beyond Wilson Village were still wild.
That first visit, excited to explore this untamed country, the Pereyos traveled up the May River to a place where the dream of Moreland Village was only then being sketched out.
A structured form emerged from the ancient tangle of trees around the river’s arc. Mike was struck. Here, deep inland at the banks of the frontier, was Moreland’s famed five-story treehouse, designed to allow the live oak at its center room to grow and flourish.
“Apart from that treehouse it was an untouched piece of land,” said Mike, “and I thought, if there’s ever an extension of this property, I wanted to build there.” As co-founder of outdoor lifestyle apparel brand OOBE, Mike had built his business on four pillars. The second of those pillars, according to him, demands “a culture of stewardship of both the environment and the process.” Almost as much as it was Moreland’s natural beauty that charmed him, it was the philosophy the treehouse represented that made Moreland a perfect fit.
“Moreland had that feel of integration between the outdoors and the look of the Lowcountry. I fell in love with it,” he said. “I love curated things. I love when you can see intentionality and approach.” In the intentional design of Moreland, Mike saw echoes of his own values. Creating his home here would require finding someone who felt the same kind of kinship.
After an introduction by their Palmetto Bluff Real Estate Company agent, the Pereyos immediately connected with Tom and Leighann Markalunas of Greenville’s Markalunas Architecture Group. “When they bought this property, they’d been entranced by Moreland and the structures there,” said Tom. “In general, they wanted the house they built to be different and unique and take advantage of what Palmetto Bluff is globally and in relation to their site.”
As they began this journey together, Mike, Melissa, Tom, and Leighann bonded over the countless decisions that went into the home’s intentional design. The early decisions were the most important—orienting outdoor spaces to balance privacy on a narrow Lot against the Pereyo’s love for glass walls that bring the outdoors in, creating larger spaces for entertaining that would also carry the careful curation that defines the couple’s style.
“The highlight to me was their willingness to be a part of the process,” said Tom. “They were involved and inspirational at times. And they just trusted us.” The dividends of that trust can be found everywhere in the home. The first greets you at the entrance. “They were willing to try some unique features. Right off the bat, you walk in through a ten-foot-tall steel front door, and there’s this open steel staircase; it creates a unique focal point as you come in,” said Tom. “It turned out to be one of the best places in the house.”
It also houses a perfect example of the purposefully designed balancing act found throughout the home’s interior design. Beneath the stairs, tucked away to evoke a classic dorm room hangout spot, a throwback mid-century console table allows for listening parties beneath an array of vintage sketches and artwork. Just steps away, the living room’s arrestingly modern concrete wall poses a striking juxtaposition.
“We love old things and things that are lasting,” said Mike. “As we went room by room, we really just paused and looked at where we could implement vintage items, like textile fire doors, inspired the design. “We wanted to create custom pieces—the steel pantry door, the bourbon rack… It was fun to implement that alongside elements like cement walls. Why wouldn’t we swing the bat on that?”
Sketched out in dozens of collaborative designs, the house’s forms took shape gradually as the two couples molded the clay of their collaboration into art. “That was another thing about these clients—they would ask questions, and it would always lead to cool ideas,” added Leighann. She points to elements like the color blocking that invigorated the home’s indoor spaces, the wall behind the outdoor kitchen whose waves mimic a commercial building in Moreland, and the wood-paneled walls crafted from old bourbon rackhouses.
“They were always into the story behind things. Any time you can give a client a story, it’s more meaningful.
The outdoor spaces speak to this collaboration, pushing and pulling between vintage and modern, intimate spaces, and room for entertaining. “When you look at the courtyard and swimming pool, that space just feels like a spa,” said Tom. Blending a wide grassy area for cocktail hours with a bar for after-hours conversation, the design flows in perfect accordance with the team’s philosophy. “You have your own mini resort, and I think those green elements and the textural elements Leighann brought in livens up that space.”
The pillar of OOBE’s design that drew Mike and Melissa Pereyo into Moreland was their culture of stewardship. What brought them together with Tom and Leighann Markalunas, and helped foster a collaboration that resulted in this beautiful home, was another. It’s the pillar they list first: apparel design that is relational. “We’re in the relationship business, not the transaction business. We’re in the love and serve business,” said Mike. In that, they found kindred spirits in their architecture and interior design team. “People talk about it, but to see it come to life, and for us to have a seat at the table—that platform and good foundation of trust is what set this project apart.
Like the treehouse at the water’s edge, the faith forged between these two couples created a platform and an inspiring example of the beauty that drives design.
The Pereyo home was built by Resort Custom Homes.
GO INSIDE: Discover how two couples bonded over a shared love of home design and Palmetto Bluff.
Learn about the Palmetto Bluff Conservancy and how we keep the vision of our land in place.
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