who we are
Nygren Placemaking is a global consultancy that collaborates with developers, builders and dreamers in order to define, refine and accelerate their development ideas, turning them into reality.
Our offerings bring people together to learn and explore ideas about the environment, thoughtful development, and new ways of thinking and planning for a resilient future. We model beneficial ways to both preserve and develop land by focusing on the 12 Biophilic Development Principles that are implemented in the Serenbe community.
Serenbe is the leading model for wellness and biophilic communities, demonstrating common sense approaches to integrate development and living systems with land preservation. This innovative approach illustrates water and energy conservation, regenerative agriculture activities, and arts integrated with a range of housing choices mixed with commercial vitality of shops, restaurants and a luxury destination Inn. Serenbe is built in accord with nature rather than at its expense that results in economic returns and increased personal wellbeing.
The Nygren Placemaking team shares valuable lessons to integrate the environment, technology, arts and biophilia to build resilient wellness communities either in the green field or retrofit development.
Our Team
Steve Nygren
Serenbe Founder, Steve Nygren, believes that if you want to change the world, start in your own backyard. The vision for the wellness community of Serenbe was born in an effort to protect the beautiful rural land and farm his family owned and had retired on, after a successful career in the hospitality industry.
After selling his corporation of 36 restaurants in the mid 1990's, Steve and his wife Marie retired to a farm outside Atlanta, with their three daughters. Six years later, he became concerned about urban sprawl invading their adopted country paradise and in 2000 led the effort to create the Chattahoochee Hill Country Alliance to bring together landowners, developers, and conservationists to find a mutually agreed upon solution for balanced growth. Through two years of community consensus building, a land use plan was adopted to preserve 70% of the 40,000 acres on the edge of Atlanta (land that is now the city of Chattahoochee Hills), while providing 20% more housing than the yields from traditional suburban sprawl.
In 2004, the Nygren’s began the development of Serenbe interlacing agriculture and preserved land with a range of housing choices mixed with shops, galleries, restaurants and a destination luxury Inn. The result is reminiscent of century-old communities where many of your everyday needs are within a walkable distance and neighbors know and care for each other. Today, Steve serves as the Managing Partner of Serenbe and serves on numerous boards focused on nature, wellness and biophilia. He lives in the community full-time along with his three daughters, their husbands and four grandchildren.
Steve Nygren has won numerous awards (link to awards page) including the Southface Argon Award for individuals leading the way in advancing sustainability, “Leader in Innovation” award from the Global Wellness Summit and Georgia Trend magazine put him on their cover as the Most Respected Business Leader in 2019.
Garnie Nygren
Garnie Nygren is the eldest daughter of Serenbe founders Steve and Marie Nygren and is currently Managing Partner of Serenbe. Garnie graduated from Cornell University’s Hotel School and returned home in 2005 to see what her father was up to in the woods. While she had a fellowship at the Georgia Governor’s office focusing on environmental, economic, and transportation policy she spent her weekends at the real estate office at Serenbe. By January 2006, she had opened Serenbe Real Estate.
Garnie also oversees Serenbe Hospitality that includes The Inn at Serenbe and multiple restaurants, is co-owner of cold-pressed Bamboo Juices and multiple other small businesses at Serenbe. Garnie has served on multiple boards, including IGEL (Institute for Georgia Environmental Leadership), Cornell Hotel Society and Wholesome Wave Georgia. She also served on Woodward Academy’s Alumni Association Board of Directors for several years as Secretary, Treasurer, and Vice President. Most recently, she was a guest speaker on the Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series for Cornell University, and was also awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award at the President’s Circle Dinner for her highschool alma mater Woodward Academy. She lives in Serenbe with her husband and two sons.
Steve Dray
Steve Dray is a principal with Planning & Design at Serenbe. He has designed hundreds of residential projects for over his career. He is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology with a degree in architecture and building construction management and a member of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art. He enjoys traveling and being involved with his home neighborhood of Serenbe including sitting on the Serenbe Design Review Board (DRB).
Cecilia Winston
Cecilia Winston is a principal with Planning & Design at Serenbe and also graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology in the area of Industrial and Systems Management and also earned an Architecture degree from Auburn University. She worked as a Senior Regional Designer for John Wieland Homes until 1997, when she came together with her husband, Steve Dray to form Winston-Dray. A long time resident of Serenbe, she is also a member of the American Institute of Building Designers, the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art and the Serenbe DRB.
Dr. Phill Tabb
Phillip James Tabb is Professor Emeritus of Architecture at Texas A&M University. He served as Head of the Department from 2001-2005 and retired from teaching in 2017. He is author of five books and is a licensed architect in Colorado and Georgia, and has been the Serenbe master planner beginning in 2001. He received his Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Cincinnati, Master of Architecture from the University of Colorado, and Ph.D. from the Architectural Association in London.
Our Partners
We work with and bring to the table an extensive array of partners that help with your project from civil engineering to energy tech, from regenerative agriculture to K-12 education. Our partners are also experts in brand strategy, arts and culture programming, and town association structures.
