Spacious porches for relaxing and dining, plus an expansive alfresco room, epitomize the pursuit of outdoor living
It took 15 years and three moves, but Mark and Rebecca Ferrer finally found their ideal spot on Isle of Palms’ Ocean Boulevard. Their new house, completed in 2024, sits one block back from the Atlantic on a corner lot across from a beach access path. The surf is close enough to provide a soundtrack, yet the home is protected from some of Mother Nature’s harsher elements.
Built as a generational gathering place, the 4,400-square-foot house features a reverse floor plan, with three guest rooms and a den on the first floor and an open-plan living area with a private bedroom suite on the second. The indoor spaces are complemented by plenty of porches to enjoy the ocean breezes, along with a rooftop deck. With an extensive outdoor living room under the house that merges with garden rooms and a pool, the home represents the Ferrers’ journey from vacationers to part-time islanders.
That journey began during a 25th wedding anniversary trip to Charleston in 2011. The Virginia-based couple and their three children had regularly vacationed on Hilton Head. With their kids now grown, the Ferrers wanted to find a locale that better suited their needs. “We wanted somewhere with more of a city—more accessible, more sophisticated,” says Mark, a retired software executive. “We’d never even visited Charleston before that trip,” adds Rebecca. “But we bought a place before we left.”
That house, also on Isle of Palms, served as a rental and a vacation retreat for the family. They quickly fell in love with the island’s charms, and a few years later, bought a second property even closer to the beach. Then, in 2020 during the pandemic, when the entire family descended on the home, the couple realized they needed something larger. “We decided to sell both houses and build something that could grow with our family,” says Mark.
Sitting Pretty: (Left to right) Anchored by a “chat table” by Doorman Designs, the second floor’s main living area features swivel chairs from Jessica Charles covered in a Thibaut performance fabric. Blues and greens pop against soft sand tones, including sheer drapes from Harwood House. In the dining room, designer Allison Elebash incorporated a vintage table and chairs reupholstered in Quadrille’s “Palm Garden” fabric.
They hired architect Beau Clowney, whose talent for meshing the indoors with the outdoors appealed to Mark. “That was always my vision, to have the outside space easily incorporated into the inside space,” he notes. With Sheppard Construction and interior designer Allison Elebash on board, the team set about bringing the couple’s vision to life. “We knew we wanted a reverse floor plan to maximize the view, a bunk room for future grandchildren, and separate spaces so people could be together but not on top of each other,” explains Mark.
The Ferrers, who live full-time just outside Washington, DC, with their two Cavanese, Cooper and Finley, wanted the house to be more than a getaway. “We built this to be a legacy house,” says Mark. “Somewhere our kids, who live in Charlotte, Virginia, and LA—will visit and happily return to over time.”
The home’s footprint makes the most of a narrow lot, and Clowney’s design includes several porches and breezeways that extend the living areas outward. A lush, layered garden crafted by Cindy Cline of Wertimer + Cline Landscape Architects expands the outdoor space. “There wasn’t much here originally, just some oaks and a little borrowed landscaping from a neighbor,” Cline says. “We brought in palms to create a natural screen, giving the garden a sense of enclosure.”
The grounds unfold in rooms: a quiet side pathway, an extension of the poolside patio, and a parterre at the front, all echoing the classic style of Charleston green spaces. Camellias, agapanthus, olive trees, and sasanquas add subtle form and seasonal color. “It’s one of my favorite spaces,” Mark notes. “That and my office.”
Inside, Elebash brought the Ferrers’ ideas to life with layered textures; soft blues and greens; and an easy, casual feel. “They wanted it to be beachy but not themed,” says Elebash. “Grasscloth, natural wood, and organic materials helped us strike that balance.”
The entry sets the tone with whitewashed wood walls and a rustic Visual Comfort light fixture, paired with an antique chest and a whimsical blue bench. “We wanted it to feel almost like you’re still outside,” says Rebecca. A long corridor with painted shiplap walls leads to the guest rooms and the bunk room, which has a nautical feel and twinkling star lights. The hall bath, which serves as the pool bathroom, similarly nods to the coast, with curved lines and a playful palm wallpaper.
Guest Quarters: A long, white shiplap-lined hallway leads from the main entry to the three guest rooms, each designed for one of the Ferrers’ children. A colorful bunk room across the hall feels both whimsical and cozy thanks to privacy curtains in Rebecca Atwood “Leaves in Ice/Marine” fabric, built-in cubbies, twinkling star lights, and a vintage rug.
Each bedroom has its own vibe: bright greens and pretty patterns, bold blues and wicker accents, and a fern motif mixed with grasscloth wall coverings to mimic the landscape beyond. A small nook in one guessuite serves as a makeshift office, designed to entice their son and daughter-in-law to extend their visits.
At the center of the first floor is a spacious den, flanked by two porches, one of which leads down to the pool. “We designed this floor for our kids,” says Mark. “We wanted them to have their own space, where they can relax and not worry about bothering us.”
A curved stairway leads to the second floor, where Mark and Rebecca spend most of their time. At the front of the house, a large, open-plan space incorporates a kitchen, dining room, and living area that spills out onto a porch with panoramic views of the Atlantic. There, a large swing anchors a bump-out designed to catch the afternoon sun. “We’re up in the treetops,” says Rebecca. “It feels peaceful up here.”
The butler’s pantry, lacquered in a deep blue, contrasts beautifully with the light, bright kitchen that features a custom plaster hood and Urban Electric lighting. A window over the sink opens to the dining porch, enabling easy entertaining, and in the middle of it all, is the “chat table.”
A lap pool adjoins a welcoming outdoor living room.
“This is where everyone ends up,” says Mark of the seating area in the center of the living space. Four custom swivel chairs surround a low, brass-accented table by Doorman Designs. “We really honed the dimensions to make sure it fit perfectly,” says Elebash. The dining room—anchored by a vintage table from one of their earlier homes, updated with freshly upholstered chairs—sits in a sunlit sliver between the kitchen and porch, proportioned for conversation and ocean views.
Performance fabrics, durable finishes, and a play between pattern and color create a home that is equal parts easygoing and elegant. “People can be doing different activities, be in their own spaces without being right on top of each other, and then all gather in the central area,” says Elebash.
At the back of the house, the couple’s primary suite is nestled in the treetops. The interior design aligns with nature with vaulted, wood ceilings and grasscloth wall coverings, and a palette of blues, beiges, and greens to create a calming vibe. A reeded oak vanity in the bath, along with soft, coastal textures, carries the aesthetic throughout. “It feels like our own little wing,” Rebecca notes. One floor above, in a sort of crow’s nest, Mark’s office—featuring a custom coffee table designed around an antique Charleston map—opens to a rooftop deck. “It’s the best spot to watch the fireworks,” he says.
For the Ferrers, this is much more than a beach house; “It’s where we come to reset,” says Rebecca. “And hopefully, where our kids and their kids will come back to, year after year.” They may have arrived on the island almost by accident, but they stayed with intention and built with legacy in mind.
