As noted in my last post, HGTV’s 2012 Green Home is located in the bucolic and “sustainable” community of Serenbe, Georgia. I find the idea of building a “sustainable community” from scratch to be quite intriguing, so I read a bit about Serenbe on HGTV’s site and on the community’s own web page.
An Overview: The 900-acre community is located in one of the “last undeveloped stretches of land in the Atlanta area” and emphasizes “balanced growth, a mix of architectural styles, sustainability and land preservation.” For stormwater, they use vegetated strips instead of concrete spillways. They re-use graywater for irrigation. They have a big community vegetable garden.
Sweet! Go Serenbe! It’s all very positive and utopian, right?
So why does the place creep me out so much? Take a look at these photos from HGTV and see what I mean: