Serenbe Stories

This week, we’re talking about a very exciting new endeavor here at Serenbe: the Wildflower Meadow Restoration Project. Over the next 18 months, the iconic meadow connecting the Inn at Serenbe to the wider community is set to undergo an incredible transformation into a permanent community of native plants that will serve as a protected pollinator and wildlife habitat. Guiding us through it all are...

Lindsey Epperly Sulek and her husband Jeremy first visited Serenbe in March 2022, tagging along with a pair of friends who were interested in a possible move. Of course, Jeremy and Lindsey (who had no plans to move) ended up here instead. Lindsey describes Serenbe as a place where her family immediately knew they belonged, particularly following a period of difficulty and transition.  Lindsey is t...

It’s safe to say that if you’re a regular Serenbe Stories listener, you’ve heard many guests mention Halsa’s now-legendary trivia Thursdays. Trivia at Halsa is highly competitive, with regular teams like Rushmore, Crushmore, Slushmore, and the Scrappy Scraps. If you haven’t already attended, you should definitely plan to check out the next one - if you can get a table, that is.  On this episode of...

A few years ago, television producer, writer, and director Randy Zisk and his family moved from Malibu California to the East Coast. After a brief stint in Decatur, they discovered Serenbe and were instantly drawn in by the distinctive architecture and easy access to nature. However, as it so often happens, once they officially made the move, they realized that the community itself is what really...

Sheri Salata was living in Napa Valley with no plans to move when a Serenbe resident just so happened to send her a link to the website, thinking it would be the perfect place to lead a retreat. After reading about Serenbe’s commitment to nature, the arts, and community, it didn't take Sheri long to realize that she not only wanted to lead a retreat here, she also wanted to move and plant her...

Even though Edgar Guillory has worked for the Inn at Serenbe for less than two years, it’s almost impossible to imagine a time before him. As Director of Guest Experience, Edgar kickstarted The Inn’s concierge program, bringing an already high standard of service to an entirely new level of hospitality. In fact, he is so overwhelmingly popular with our guests that he’s mentioned by name in pages o...

As we kick off the 10th season of this podcast, Serenbe is hitting a major milestone - 2024 marks 20 years since Serenbe’s groundbreaking, when the very first homes were being built and the first residents were taking a chance on a very new and evolving type of neighborhood development. In this episode, Monica and Steve take a trip down memory lane, discussing what the world looked like in 2004, t...

Serenbe Stories will be back on Monday, March 18th  for our milestone TENTH season and we couldn’t be more excited. In this upcoming season, we’re sharing more stories about the people that make Serenbe such a lively, interesting, and dynamic community. Hear from Steve Nygren about how Serenbe has grown in the 20 years since breaking ground, from residents who have uprooted their busy lives to mov...

Serenbe had been on Frank and Christine Egan’s radar for years before they eventually uprooted their busy lives on Long Island and moved all the way down to rural Georgia. However, when you hear their full story, it’s not all that surprising that this is where they landed. In addition to running a successful orthodontics practice, Frank and Christine have been longtime advocates for local food, su...

Juliann West first heard about Serenbe in 2014 when her brother and sister-in-law tried convincing her to move here; however, at the time, she didn’t think she would ever leave her adopted home of Seattle or the Pacific Northwest. Flash forward to 2018 and Juliann found herself back in Serenbe’s orbit, this time as the newly appointed General Manager at the Inn and Farmhouse, a demanding role that...

George Cohen was just starting out in the mortgage business in 2013 when a family friend connected him with Serenbe Real Estate. However, his journey to becoming a full-fledged resident didn't happen overnight. It was a few years later, after overcoming personal challenges and embracing sobriety, that George immediately connected with key members of the community who played a pivotal role on...

On this week’s episode of Serenbe Stories, we’re sharing an interview that Steve Nygren gave on the Glowing Older podcast, alongside their host Nancy Griffin. Serenbe has big plans to  break ground on a state of the art aging-in-place campus, designed to take down the barriers that often leave older generations siloed away from the greater community. This campus will have no gates, no locked away...

Serenbe’s HR Director Stephanie Coyne is BACK for her first official Serenbe Stories takeover, where we’re putting the spotlight on our amazing employees. In today’s episode, Stephanie is catching up with Serenbe’s CFO Gil Mathis, who lives and works in the community. Gil and his wife Jeny - both longtime and beloved fixtures in the community -  first discovered Serenbe while looking for a way to...

You might recognize today’s guest, Vern Yip, from shows like Trading Spaces, HGTV’s Design Star, and Deserving Design. He also runs his own design studio in Atlanta, designs a line of dog and kid-friendly furniture, has published multiple books on how to maximize your home - and he still has more TV and book projects in the works. Vern actually wrote his master’s thesis on New Urbanism, so Serenbe...

If you’ve listened to Serenbe Stories for a while, then our guest today, Phill Tabb, will need no introduction. For those who need a refresher, Phill Tabb is Professor Emeritus of Architecture at Texas A&M University and has been involved with Serenbe since its earliest days, creating the community’s masterplan using the principles of sacred geometry. He is the author of numerous publications...

Giff Beaton and Allie Kelly moved to Serenbe from Atlanta six years ago, motivated by a desire to raise their twin boys closer to nature and to escape the city’s urban sprawl. By day, Giff works as a Delta pilot - but he is also an accomplished naturalist & nature photographer, authoring or co-authoring multiple books  like Birds of Georgia , Dragonflies & Damselflies , and Tiger Beetles o...

Thomas Jackson is an environmental artist and photographer known for his abstract photographs that combine landscapes, sculpture, and kinetic art. Last Spring, he installed and photographed three incredible pieces in Serenbe during an artist residency with the Art Farm, in partnership with Jackson Fine Art, an Atlanta-based and world-renowned gallery with a 33-year history of supporting artists an...

Since 2014, Serenbe has partnered with Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles Magazine for our annual designer Showhouse. Every year, a selection of Atlanta’s top interior designers take over a new home within the community and we open up the space for tours. For the past ten years, every home has been absolutely breathtaking - and the best part? Each one is completely different from the last. Our guests...

Serenbe Stories will be back for its 9th Season on Monday, September 18th! This season, we’re continuing to explore the people and places that make Serenbe such a dynamic and thriving community. Tune in for a behind the scenes look at our 10th annual Designer Showhouse, hear from renowned installation artist Thomas Jackson who created a stunning photography series in our woods, dive deep into the...

In this special bonus episode of Serenbe Stories, Garnie Nygren and Monica Olsen sit down with marketing expert Tony Triumph for a conversation all about building the Serenbe brand. Tony is the founder and CEO of the Triumphant Group, a New York based marketing agency that has worked with major brands such as Nordstrom, Kettle Vodka, and Hyatt Hotels just to name a few. Before visiting Serenbe, To...

For the final episode of Season 8, Steve and Monica are turning the mics over to two of Serenbe’s amazing team members, HR Director Stephanie Coyne and Director of Community Operations Amy Peterson. Hear from Stephanie and Amy as they give listeners a rundown of living, working, and playing in the community - from learning on the job, new resident onboarding, trivia nights at Halsa, and the suppor...

Anne and Walter Henegar started making regular visits to Serenbe in 2008 and purchased their Mado townhome ten years later, becoming beloved part-time residents. So beloved, in fact, that many neighbors don’t even realize that they aren’t here full-time. When the Henegars aren’t in Serenbe, they’re up in Atlanta running Westside Presbyterian Church - Walter as Senior Pastor and Anne as Director of...

Lisa (aka Woody) and Jim Challenger were looking to move away from the freezing Chicago weather but finding little success - until Lisa stumbled across a TikTok of Serenbe that showed off the distinctive architecture, farm-to-table meals, and easy access to nature. They first visited in June of last year and were full-time residents by August. Lisa played a central role getting Serenbe holiday-rea...

Glen Slater grew up riding bikes everywhere and later worked in a bike shop in college, where he realized that his interest in building and machinery connected nicely with his love of cycling. He opened his own shop, Pro Bike Repair, in 2012 and moved it to Serenbe in 2019. In the intervening years, PBR has become the unofficial Welcome center due to its location in the Crossroads, just past the S...

When the world shut down in the Spring of 2020, Amy Mass and her husband Jared hit pause on their busy lives in Hollywood. Later that year, they piled into an RV with a few friends for what they imagined would be a relaxing Fall break in Serenbe - but like so many before them, they ended up under a contract for a house.  Now, it’s almost impossible to imagine Serenbe without the hilarious - and fe...