Written by Amelie Greeven
If you were to design an antidote to anonymous city life and barren, sprawling suburbs, what would it include? A lush village. It has winding, leafy streets for walking and cycling. An attractive home with a front porch that neighbors will want to stop by. A centralized spot where you can go to get your mail or coffee, or run into a friend of a friend. A weekly farmers market and even an organic farm in the village for his CSA boxes.
Perhaps we might add top-notch schools, restaurants serving local farm-to-table cuisine and great wine, and a variety of arts and cultural offerings to add magic to warm summer nights. These lifestyle pleasures are a reality for residents of Serenbe, a “biophilic wellness community” located in the lush Chattahoochee Hills about 30 minutes south of Atlanta. Since its founding 20 years ago, this purposeful development has made the sophisticated, slow-paced village life aspirational, and the fact that nature, good food, and genuine connections with other people create an isolated McMansion. I’ve been betting on it. Life is completely out of touch.
The gamble paid off. Serenbe’s popularity has soared in recent years as exclusivity and the temptation to hide behind hedges have overshadowed the quest for a “rich life.” Immigrants from Los Angeles and New York left the rat race and headed south to discover what their grandparents had taken for granted. It’s the nourishment that comes from belonging more deeply to a place, the physical and mental balance you return to when you leave the concrete behind. The jungle, the neighborhood kids building forts before dinner, and the sweetness of knowing that the ingredients you forgot to buy are just a knock on the door.
When entrepreneur Tirza Shirai moved from Los Angeles to Serenbe with her young son, she experienced a deep sensory detox. “I never knew such tranquility was possible, without sirens, car alarms, or billboards. Living with lush green trees, chirping insects, and seasonally changing plants, my entire nervous system… started to relax.”
At Serenbe, the concept of ‘biophilia’, a love of the living world, is woven into every aspect of the larger design. The village-like residential complexes are connected by forest roads and roads with ample footpaths, and edible landscapes such as blueberry bushes are placed near the crosswalks to encourage walking. The beautifully crafted homes are all built to Serenbe design and sustainability standards, and are not laid out in monotonous straight lines or cubes, but built with the land rather than against it. (Seventy percent of Serenbe’s land is a nature reserve.) Residents live in small adjoining cottages or spacious Scandinavian-style homes with sophisticated linings, white Victorian homes, or southern “shotgun” style homes. You might choose the latest version of the house. Design your home using natural materials. A welcoming front porch is a must-have feature. (“Age in Place” campuses designed specifically for seniors allow residents to adapt their lifestyles as they age without leaving “home.”) Mold in the natural world Just as there is no rigid sameness, so too is the diversity of Serenbe home designs. Differences come together to create something exciting and pleasing to the eye.
Across the country, new “agrihoods” being developed follow similar principles, fusing nature, community, and food production with compact neighborhood living. Serenbe’s thoughtful place-making ethos has inspired new developments such as his Bell Farm in Madison, Wisconsin, and Bellfield, New York’s historic Hyde Park. Perhaps all the evidence points to the walls and gates of the old American dream being crumbling, and in their place a more fluid vision of well-being, rich in renewal and connection, is emerging. serenbe.com
