South of Atlanta, this Pastoral Community with a Rural Feel is Internationally Known and Lauded for its Urban Land Planning Practices

If you’ve lived in Atlanta for some time, your all-time favorites hit list for the city surely includes some Steve Nygren-led pursuits. The Pleasant Peasant, the iconic casual fine dining restaurant—and its brethren Dailey’s, Mick’s, Peasant Uptown, etc.—was founded by Nygren in the 1970s and flourished until he sold all 36 of his company’s restaurants in the early 1990s. Today, he’s best known for founding Serenbe, the community in the hill country just southwest of Atlanta that has captured the hearts of nature lovers, thought leaders, foodies, Hollywood transplants, new urbanists, artists and their patrons, and casual visitors who love a fun field trip to the country.

History

Steve and his wife and eventual co-founder, Marie Lupo Nygren (whose mother was Margaret Lupo, longtime owner of Mary Mac’s Tea Room), took their three girls down to the country for a day away from their previous Ansley Park home. As the Nygrens tell the tale, they drove up to a farmhouse that was listed for sale, where deer were bounding in the rolling hills, bunnies were nibbling in the yard, the air felt fresher—and they soon bought that farm. Fast forward to 2004, the Nygrens had built a community as a model for a way to preserve the majority of countryside, while also accommodating inevitable development (you can compare Chattahoochee Hills to the rest of the suburbs around Atlanta and see that the plan worked). “Many of our residents never thought they would live in the rural part of the South, and yet have fallen in love with small-town living, which can be felt in every corner of the community,” says Steve, who still lives in Serenbe, along with his now-grown daughters and their spouses, who returned home to raise their kids.

1000+

Serenbe residents among 515 households

$1.2M

Median home price

$475

Average price per square foot for spec homes

57%

Amount of Serenbe residents who are age 40–60, with nearly 60% of residents having moved from Atlanta

Future

Future offerings include a concierge healthcare concept opening in early 2025, which will anchor a planned aging-in-place wellness campus. The next neighborhood hamlet, Spela, has broken ground, and phase one will offer 83 homes starting this fall, which is part of a total build-out of 350 units set around a 4-acre park. Longer-term plans include a 110-key boutique hotel and 40,000-square-foot office building that will include street-level retail and three additional hospitality concepts. Joining the 40-plus independent retailers and businesses in the community are 12 new retail and culinary concepts, including Radical Dough, Austin’s restaurant and cocktail bar, and Nigel’s Bananas of 30A fame. Also opening this year: new coffee and pizza offerings, two furniture stores, pottery space, martial arts studio, art gallery, biophilic pharmacy, local artist studio, acupuncture practice, golf cart shop, and cosmetic dentist office, plus 10 new office suites and a podcast studio.

“Serenbe has matured into an eclectic mix of modern and traditional cottages and homes inspired by international architecture. It’s as diverse as the residents it attracts.” —Serenbe Resident Patrick Sharp of Mister + Mrs Sharp

IF YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW

Sculptures, murals, and artful architectural marvels dot the community. The street lamps and lights throughout Serenbe were designed by Robert Rausch, internationally renowned founder and creative director at GAS Design Center. Nygren commissioned Rausch to create a streetlight for Serenbe’s first hamlet, Selborne, that would honor the arts and nature. The two collaborated together to come up with a design that evokes the white oak, symbolizing a seed of new thought growing into a sturdy tree. Each streetlight in Serenbe also marks the entrance to a nature trail.

BIG BRAG

Serenbe has won numerous awards, including the Urban Land Institute Inaugural Sustainability Award, the Atlanta Regional Commission Development of Excellence, and EarthCraft’s Development of the Year.

NOTABLE ARCHITECTS

At Serenbe, you’ll see homes from those including Keith Summerour, Bill Ingram, Peter Block, ai3, Kemp Hall Studio, and J. Ryan Duffey.

RESIDENT PERKS

The community attracts visitors daily, but there are certain traditions and events that the residents hold dear to themselves: Halloween costume parties, the July 4th Parade, Adult Big Wheel Race, and Fall Porchfest.

IF THERE WERE A MASCOT

A yoga-loving, organic grass-munching, happy goat.