Serenbe Stories

As you wander through Serenbe’s hamlets, taking in the details, the architecture, and feeling nature all around you, you can’t help but feel a true sense of place. Placemaking is the process of building high-quality spaces that encourage learning, play, happiness, and health - it’s the intentionality that’s been built into Serenbe’s model from day one. In this special episode of Serenbe Stories, join Steve Nygren for a walking tour of the community and learn all about how he designed the public areas and community at large in order to promote connection to nature, wellness, and a sense of community.  We’ll start at the Blue Eyed Daisy, move through Selborne and Grange, and end in Mado. Whether you’re listening at home, in your car, or joining us for a walk through Serenbe, we hope you enjoy this placemaking tour!

Show Notes

• Nygren Placemaking
• Blue Eyed Daisy
• Ryan Gainey
• Creating Art Out of the Ordinary with Ryan Gainey (Serenbe Stories)
• Land Planning and Sacred Geometry’s Influence with Phil Tabb (Serenbe Stories)
• Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
• Shannon Lake
• Peter Block
• Gordon Chandler
• Serenbe Planning and Design
• Aspen Institute

The new book, Start In Your Own Backyard, is out and available for ordering. 

Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!

Learn more about Serenbe and see our Events Calendar. Order your copy of Start In Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where You Live with Radical Common Sense by Serenbe founder Steve Nygren. 

In the second edition of our Serenbe Kids series, host Reese sits down with college-bound Kate, who has spent the majority of her childhood here in Serenbe. Kate explains how the community rallied around her throughout her adolescence - whether that meant fostering her love of nature and independence or droves of neighbors coming out to support her high school theatrical performances. Kate and Reese also discuss how their educations have prepared them for big transitions, what it’s like to grow up in Serenbe, and having the freedom to be creative.

Show Notes

• Woodward Academy
• Acton Academy at Serenbe
• Children & Nature Network
• The Art Farm at Serenbe

The new book, Start In Your Own Backyard, is out and available for ordering. 

Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!

Learn more about Serenbe and see our Events Calendar. Order your copy of Start In Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where You Live with Radical Common Sense by Serenbe founder Steve Nygren. 

Acton Academy at Serenbe takes a unique approach to education. The curriculum is totally learner-driven, empowering students to take charge of their education with teachers acting more like guides to ensure that young learners meet their goals. In just a couple of years, the school has blossomed from 34 students to over 200 as of Fall 2022. Construction for the new campus in Mado - which will include an organic farm and artist studio open to the entire community - has already broken ground. This incredible growth would not be possible without our guest today - John Mattis, a Serenbe resident and Board Chair at Acton Academy. Today, Steve and Monica chat with John about how he and his family first discovered Serenbe, Acton’s student driven model, and what’s next for our community school.

Show Notes

• Acton Academy at Serenbe
• Acton at Serenbe Approach
• Apogee Scholarship Fund
• Practical Education with Dr. Eden Hinds (Serenbe Stories)
• Learning to Learn (Life at Serenbe Blog, 2018)
• Living Building Challenge
• Children & Nature Network 

The new book, Start In Your Own Backyard, is out and available for ordering. 

Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!

Learn more about Serenbe and see our Events Calendar. Order your copy of Start In Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where You Live with Radical Common Sense by Serenbe founder Steve Nygren. 

This week, Monica and Steve sit down and have a frank discussion about Serenbe’s roadmap to achieving net zero carbon emissions. From land conservation and stormwater management to our organic farm, which provides fresh, local food for our residents and restaurants. 

sustainability has been built into Serenbe’s community model from the very beginning. Looking ahead, solar energy, transportation, and EV charging are at the forefront of Steve’s mind. In this episode, we explore the human benefits of environmentally friendly practices (ahem, noise pollution and air quality) as well as the challenges. 

Show Notes

• Community Model: Building for a Net Zero Future by Steve Nygren (Drawdown GA)
• Healthy Soil, Healthy Food, Healthy People (Life at Serenbe Blog)
• The Water Beneath Us (Life at Serenbe Blog)
• LEED rating system (U.S. Green Building System)
• EarthCraft Certification 
• Southface Institute
• Geothermal Heating and Cooling (EPA)
• How Does Solar Work? (US Department of Energy)
• How Georgia Became A Surprising Bright Spot In The U.S. Solar Industry (NPR)

The new book, Start In Your Own Backyard, is out and available for ordering. 

Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!

Learn more about Serenbe and see our Events Calendar. Order your copy of Start In Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where You Live with Radical Common Sense by Serenbe founder Steve Nygren. 

Serenbe is a place where connections between people, nature, and the arts are nourished. Here, we believe that art has the power to shift perspectives and open both hearts and minds. On today’s episode of Serenbe Stories, we are speaking with arts writer and Serenbe resident Gail O’ Neill and artist Curtis Patterson about Curtis’ new permanent installation in Serenbe, Serenity for Shango. This gorgeous piece sits near the entrance to Serenbe and was designed to pay homage to the lineage of African American culture. In this episode, we chat with Gail and Curtis about their backgrounds in the arts, the meaning behind Curtis’ new piece, and why visual art is such an enduring and powerful medium. 

Show Notes & Further Reading 

• Curtis Patterson 
• Gail O’ Neill 
• ArtsATL
• Curtis Patterson: A Monument Maker Gets His Due (Art Papers)
• The Yoruba people 
• Shango
• The Significance of Stools in Asante Culture
• Art Farm at Serenbe
• Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre
• Clark Atlanta University Art Museum 
• Spelman College Museum of Fine Art
• Cutis Patterson: A Journey Through (Visual Arts Center of Richmond)
• Art Basel Miami 

The new book, Start In Your Own Backyard, is out and available for ordering. 

Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!

Learn more about Serenbe and see our Events Calendar. Order your copy of Start In Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where You Live with Radical Common Sense by Serenbe founder Steve Nygren. 

This week we’re chatting with Serenbe resident Faith McCoy Scriven and her longtime friend James Austin Smith about Tertulia Chamber Music, a dinner & music series that combines some of our favorite things: great wine, conversation, and beautiful classical music from world-class performers. Faith is a classically trained musician in her own right and she now co-owns and operates True Glory Brands Co, a portfolio of leading brands in the African American hair care and beauty industry, and she continues to teach piano to students of all ages. As Executive Director of Tertulia, James Austin Smith has made a career of breaking down the barriers around classical music and bringing it a wider audience. In this episode we chat about Faith’s fateful first trip to Serenbe, why Tertulia is such a perfect fit, and which classical pieces James and Faith are most drawn to. 

Show Notes

• Tertulia Sunset Serenade at Serenbe
• Tertulia Happy Hour at Halsa
• Tertulia Cupcake Concert 
• Tertulia Wine Dinner at Serenbe
• Tertulia Chamber Music
• The Art Farm at Serenbe
• James Austin Smith
• True Glory Brands Co. 
• Palo Alto Music Group

The new book, Start In Your Own Backyard, is out and available for ordering. 

Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!

Learn more about Serenbe and see our Events Calendar. Order your copy of Start In Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where You Live with Radical Common Sense by Serenbe founder Steve Nygren. 

On this special episode of Serenbe Stories, we’re passing the mic to Serenbe’s youngest residents to talk all about life in Serenbe from their perspective: from school and friendships to adventures in the woods and everything in between. Reese, a middle schooler living in Serenbe with her family, takes the reins from Monica and Steve and sits down with Maddy, who has lived in Serenbe since 2018. Maddy and Reese chat all about their love for Acton Academy where they both go to school, the major differences between life in Serenbe and life in the city, and the one business we’re missing (hint: it’s pizza related). 

Show Notes

• Acton Academy at Serenbe
• Practical Education with Dr. Eden Hinds (Serenbe Stories Season 5 Episode 7)
• GW Harper Designs (Miss Gigi)
• StudioSwan (Gail Foster & Tom Swanston)
• Playing in the Woods (Life at Serenbe Blog)

The new book, Start In Your Own Backyard, is out and available for ordering. 

Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!

Learn more about Serenbe and see our Events Calendar. Order your copy of Start In Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where You Live with Radical Common Sense by Serenbe founder Steve Nygren. 

This week on Serenbe Stories, Monica and Steve catch up with longtime Serenbe resident and Chair of the Art Farm Board, Janice Barton. Janice’s Serenbe story begins in the early days of Serenbe and in her time here, she has played a central role in bringing the arts to Serenbe’s residents and visitors. In this episode, we chat all about Janice’s own artistic expression (she is a highly talented quilter), the creativity she finds while walking the woods, and all of the exciting programming that the Art Farm has in store. 

Show Notes

• Art Farm at Serenbe
• Arts & Crafting (Life at Serenbe blog)
• Curtis Patterson
• Kristine Mays
• Tertulia Chamber Music
• Alliance Theatre
• Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre
• Dad’s Garage
• America the Beautiful Challenge (National Wildlife Foundation)
• Rodale Institute
• Rural Studio

The new book, Start In Your Own Backyard, is out and available for ordering. 

Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!

Learn more about Serenbe and see our Events Calendar. Order your copy of Start In Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where You Live with Radical Common Sense by Serenbe founder Steve Nygren. 

Have you ever wondered why Serenbe feels special or different from the vast majority of large developments? Or why there’s a certain feeling of calm in Serenbe that you can’t quite put your finger on? It all comes down to the details. From street signs, lamp posts, and trash cans, to front lawns (or lack thereof) and a very intentional street layout, Steve Nygren shares the small details that make all the difference when it comes to achieving a sense of place, a sense of community, and perfect imperfection.

Show Notes & Further Reading

• The Well-Placed Weed: The Bountiful Garden of Ryan Gainey by Ryan Gainey
• Welcome to the Porch Capital of America (Southern Living)
• Serenbe Planning & Design
• Serene Urbanism: A biophilic theory and practice of sustainable placemaking by Phillip James Tabb
• Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv
• Children & Nature Network 

The new book, Start In Your Own Backyard, is out and available for ordering. 

Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!

Learn more about Serenbe and see our Events Calendar. Order your copy of Start In Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where You Live with Radical Common Sense by Serenbe founder Steve Nygren. 

Serenbe Stories will be BACK for its 7th season on August 22nd. This new season is all about looking ahead - from Serenbe’s long-term sustainability goals to interviews with the residents, visiting artists, and friends who all make Serenbe a thriving wellness community. We even have a few episodes hosted by the kids who call Serenbe home. Make sure to follow & subscribe so you never miss an episode.  

The new book, Start In Your Own Backyard, is out and available for ordering. 

Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!

Learn more about Serenbe and see our Events Calendar. Order your copy of Start In Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where You Live with Radical Common Sense by Serenbe founder Steve Nygren.