Matt Ruth’s reputation as a builder of quality homes started in his own neighborhood.
“Augusta Road was an accidental focus area,” says Ruth, who founded Mobius Construction in his hometown of Greenville, South Carolina, after working in project management for a local contractor. “We started building there in 2007, renovating old houses, and that turned into larger renovations, and then knocking down houses and building new houses.”
His projects included the Sunset Drive house where he lives with his wife, Wendi Ruth, a Realtor and interior designer, and their two sons. The airy, welcoming homes Mobius built in the area drew a lot of attention in the Augusta Road neighborhood and beyond.
Trehel, a successful and respected general contracting firm headquartered in Greenville, took notice of Ruth’s expertise, too. After more than 40 years providing construction management, general contracting, and design-build services in the Carolinas and Georgia, Trehel has expanded into high-end custom residential building. Ruth is now the team leader of Trehel Tailored Homes, a new division of the company launched after the acquisition of Mobius Construction earlier this year.
Collaborating with Trehel CEO Will Huss and President and COO Keith Poole, Ruth and Trehel Tailored Homes already have projects underway in the Augusta Road and Lake Keowee areas, and the push is on to start more builds. The move to a larger organization has taken a lot of the back-end work off of Ruth’s back.
“The first thing is, it gives me time,” he says. “As a small-business owner, you find yourself doing everything from designing houses to managing job sites to doing payroll and tax preparation. When Will and Keith approached me about this opportunity, it gave me the chance to grow the business in their environment.”
Circular System
The new division brings Trehel’s company story “full-circle,” according to Huss. Founded in Oconee County by Neal Workman in 1982 (the name comes from Workman’s two children, Tres and Helen), Trehel’s early projects evolved from a more residential focus into new commercial construction, completing more than 1,600 projects valued at over $2 billion over the years.
Trehel Tailored Homes also fits into what Ruth describes as a “circular system” that benefits both commercial and residential builders.
“Trehel does work for business owners who want to build houses,” he says. “And in the custom home market, we build houses for people who own businesses that need buildings. Trehel has been requested to do residential work over the years, and we have, in many cases, just point-blank said, ‘We don’t do that.’ So now we’re serving that need.”
Most importantly, though, Trehel Tailored Homes seeks to serve the needs of all of its customers.
“This business is very personal,” Ruth says. “Somebody’s trusting me to build, in most cases, the largest investment they’ll ever make in their life. We’re caring for them through the process, keeping it from being stressful and overwhelming, and on the back end we’re producing a product that exceeds expectations and creates a lifestyle that they can enjoy for the rest of their life.”
Trehel Tailored Homes
A few trends Matt Ruth is keeping an eye on for Trehel Tailored Homes projects:
- Outside/Inside: “In the post-COVID world, people want to enjoy the inside and outside of their houses, integrating screened porches as a way to expand the living space.”
- Extra Spaces: “We’re taking the spaces in a home that would normally be empty space and turning them into a unique living experience. In one home, we’ve made the area under the stairs into a little dog hotel, and in another, we’re turning the dead space at the stairwell into a little reading loft for a child.”
- Kitchen Trends: “One of the things I see in kitchens in general is putting enough storage in there. Once you have a place for everything, it’s easy to have a very clean and crisp-looking kitchen without clutter everywhere. And solid-surface backsplashes, versus tile, and flat-face cabinetry with minimalistic hardware cleans up the look a lot.”
