SP RI NG/ SUMMER 2020
The best reason to live here is the life here.
Serenbe Stories
Flipping The Script
Holistically Well
Shelf Awareness
Modern, Sophisticated Farmhouse
Leading A Balanced Life
Serenbe’s Recommended Reads
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Photo by Patrick Heagney
Podcast Chronicling Life In Serenbe
CONNECT WITH NATURE & EACH OTHER A 15th Anniversary Letter from Steve Nygren
W
hen the first residents moved in 15 years ago, we had a master community design on paper and only a few houses built, yet I could already see what Serenbe would look like once completed. I could see how the winding country roads would connect our family’s first home in Chatt Hills – now The Inn and Farmhouse restaurant – to all the neighborhoods. I could see the varied styles of homes with welcoming porches clustered closely together among the woods and how we would preserve as much of the land as possible. I could imagine the restaurants and retailers connected by those trails, all coexisting as if they’d been here as long as the trees themselves. I realize now that my years in hospitality running the Pleasant Peasant Group – where I brought people together over good food in beautiful spaces - informs my current work and
what many now call community placemaking. Food and hospitality have always been at the forefront of everything I do – our country home became a bed and breakfast then an Inn, and we offered guests dinner then fried chicken lunches that turned into The Farmhouse restaurant. We built The Blue Eyed Daisy in the middle of the woods to give Serenbe’s residents and our guests a place to gather for coffee, a communal meal, or catching up with neighbors. Growing fresh local food is an integral part of the vision. “Agrihood” wasn’t a term when we planned an organic farm in the community, but we believed in farmers and connecting people to the natural food systems. We even integrated edible and medicinal landscapes into the neighborhoods so you’ll find blueberry bushes at the crosswalks. The