Georgia Trend

2019 Most Respected Business Leader

After a successful career as a restauranteur, Steve Nigren retired to the country and found new purpose

Georgia Trend

2019 Most Respected Business Leader

After a successful career as a restauranteur, Steve Nigren retired to the country and found new purpose

By Susan Percy 

Photo by Jennifer Stalcup 

Serenbe, the lust green community Steve Nygren and his wife, Marie, have created in the hill country of South Fulton County, has been called a wellness sanctuary, and environmental prototype, and agrihood, even a utopia. “We’re a little bit of all those things,” Nygren stays, “but more than that, we see ourselves as a biophilic community,” which he defines as a place encompassing a love for all living systems and a respect for the past. “Eighty years ago we just naturally understood that connectivity - with nature, each other. We had a healthier diet and lifestyle.”