HOMEOWNERS WHO PRIORITIZE HOLISTIC HEALTH IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS ARE LOOKING TO THE SOUTH—WHERE WELLNESS COMMUNITIES AND AGRIHOODS ARE RISING FAST. W R I T T E N B Y K AT H R Y N O ’ S H E A- E VA N S
It’s not often that a kid’s birthday party will change your life. But for Monica Olsen, who hosted her son’s fourth fête at Serenbe, a wellness community 32 miles from her then-home in Atlanta, it was a transformative experience. “We had a pony party at the gorgeous stables which were designed by architect Peter Block and it was this magical day,” she recalls. “We thought, ‘Maybe we should just stop at the real estate office while we’re here…’ They pointed out a house, we bought it and basically never left!”
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Founded in 2005, Serenbe is tailormade to help residents live their best lives. It’s outfitted with a new 3,000-squarefoot spa, yoga studio, swim club, artist in residence program, lush hiking trails and many more wellness-geared elements that make it idyllic to say the least. And, it’s gaining traction: The community had around 100 residents when Olsen purchased her home in 2009, and boasts 1,000 today. All properties there—including townhouses, cottages and estates, most of which look more like
they’re in Scandinavia than Georgia— are EarthCraft certified. (Translation: they’re energy and water efficient, saving 30 percent of the energy costs of a typical home.) And Serenbe is not the only Southern community that epitomizes the notion that health is wealth. “Agrihood”—planned developments that mingle sustainablybuilt real estate and farm-to-your-owntable amenities—is booming. Just miles from downtown Asheville, North Carolina, 346-acre community Olivette Riverside
photo: courtesy of the respective community.
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