Georgia Magazine - May 2013 - (Page 24)
Now is the
future
Discover the Bosch Net Zero
Home and Bosch Experience
Center at Serenbe
By Jane F Garvey
.
Photos Courtesy oF serenBe
S
teve Nygren never seems to slow down. In 1991,
he and his wife, Marie, bought the south Fulton
County farm and house that would evolve into
Serenbe. The home was an escape spot that allowed
them to leave the city and its cares behind. Nygren, at
that point, was still involved with the Peasant Corp.,
which developed and managed numerous popular
restaurants in Atlanta. For three years, they went back
and forth from the farm to their house in Ansley Park.
“[Those were] my years of values
adjustments,” he muses, reflecting
on his journey from frantic corporate life to serene country living.
Finally, he notes about their life
at the farm, “By simply being, we
found serenity, so Marie named it
Serenbe.”
Today, encompassing 1,000
acres in Chattahoochee Hills, Serenbe includes a bed-and-breakfast
inn, conference facilities, gardens
by internationally known designer
Ryan Gainey, and now a village
and real estate development. Out
of a concern about urban sprawl,
Nygren worked with neighbors and
others focused on preservation, and
in 2002, saw the passage of what
he describes as the largest land-use
regulation ordinance governing how
the area was to be developed. At
its core was the resolve to preserve
70 percent of the land in its natural
24
A cutaway of a rear elevation design reveals the placement of solar
panels unobtrusively on a home’s rear roof and, underground, a
geothermal horizontal loop system.
state. “So,” he says, “we do have a sense of community.”
He took 200 acres to demonstrate the regulations.
“Of the 200 acres,” he notes, “we did a plan that 60 acres
would become a built environment, with the remainder kept natural.” It’s patterned after the English village
system.
Styles and house sizes vary at Serenbe. Some are
Italianate, others are farmhouse-style cottages. Roof lines
are simple, not the overlaying of multiple roof lines often seen in today’s subdivisions.
Roofs are metal, so “they’ll last
forever,” he says, as he energetically leads a group up the hill.
At the crest, he instructs:
“Stop and turn around.” While
nowhere on the ramble up the
hill did any solar panels reveal
themselves, at the crest, the rear
view reveals roofs lined with
them. Yet their presence doesn’t
interfere with the aesthetic projected by the designs.
This entire community is
geared to be energy efficient,
environmentally respectful and
sustainably operable. Not only
is chemical pollution eliminated,
so is noise pollution. Stepping
from the Blue-Eyed Daisy, a
More online at www.georgiamagazine.org
The kitchen in the Bosch Net Zero
home is fitted with state-of-the-art
Bosch appliances.
GEORGIA MAGAZINE
http://www.georgiamagazine.org
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - May 2013
Georgia Magazine - May 2013
Contents
Viewpoint
Mailbox
Liberty Notes
Picture This?
Georgia News
Calendar of Events
Currents
The Family that Stays Together
The 2013 Readers' Choice Awards
In-TENT-ional Camping
in-TENT-ional Extras
Now is the Future
More Earth-Friendly Technology for the Home
Georgia Gardens
Georgia Cooks
Snapshot
More Snapshot Photos
Gardening Tips for May; Plant of the Month
May's Online Trivia Contest
Second Helping: "Pick, Cook, Keep"
Georgia Grown Spotlight
Georgia Magazine - May 2013
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