Great Food, Lifelong Friendships, and Sustainable Living with Stephanie Walsh & Brandon Blanchard

Eleven years ago, a fateful Google search of ‘eco-conscious communities near Atlanta’ led Stephanie Walsh & Brandon Blanchard to Serenbe. In the intervening years, they’ve become integral members of the community. They’ve both worked here - Brandon in hospitality and Stephanie as an agent with Serenbe Real Estate - built a home here, lived in every hamlet in the community, and built lifelong friendships. In this episode, Steve and Monica catch up with Brandon and Stephanie to discuss their mutual love of the outdoors, the new home they’re planning to build using the Living Building Challenge as a guideline, and how residents of all ages bond over a shared love of great food & a good old-fashioned tailgate party. 

Show Notes & Further Reading 

• Serenbe Real Estate
• Heritage Supper Club
• Living Building Challenge
• Kendeda Building at Georgia Tech

Key Words: Nature, Biophilia, Biophilic Design, Sustainability, Regenerative, Living Building Challenge, Hospitality, Culinary, Real Estate, Yoga, Serenbe, Serenbe Real Estate

Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!

Serenbe Stories is a podcast about making an impact, building a better life, and the extraordinary power of nature and community. Follow Serenbe on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Transcript

1 (14s):
Stephanie Walsh and Brandon Blanchard first came Toby 11 years ago after a fateful Google search eco-conscious communities near Atlanta. In the intervening years, they've become integral members of the community, and they both worked at Serenbe. Brandon worked in hospitality for a while, and Stephanie is a sales agent with Serenbe Real Estate. They built a custom home here, renovated. Another one, moved and lived and into every hamlet in the community and in fashion have made lifelong friends. In this episode, Steve and I catch up with Brandon and Stephanie to discuss their mutual love of the outdoors, the new home they're planning to build, using the living building challenges, the guidelines, and how residents of all ages bond over a shared love of food and organized sports.

2 (58s):
So we go and we meet people and we start talking, and then we run into Steve and he takes us out on the balcony and he says, just look up. And we look up and every star, literally, I was like on cue, but every star was out. Just beautiful. Sky is clear, as you can see in the middle of the night, and we both kind of looked at each other and were like, this can't be real.

1 (1m 22s):
Welcome back to season eight of Cby Stories. I've got Steve Negron here, and this is Monica Olson. Hey Steve, how are you?

3 (1m 30s):
I can't believe it's season eight. How fast this time has rolled by.

1 (1m 36s):
I know. And today we have a duo with us. We have Stephanie Walsh and Brandon Blanchard, who are married and have lived in the neighborhood for a ton of years, and we thought that they would be a wonderful kickoff to the season. How you guys, how are you? Hey, we're good to see and hear you. Yeah, I know. We started really doing everything virtually during Covid, and we've sort of kept it up, as I've said to Steve, we're aspiring to our own podcast studio at some point, but this is always, always fun. So, so excited to have you guys both on, and one of the things we always ask, which I'll ask you guys and you guys can decide who wants to go first, but tell us your story of how you discovered Seren B and why did you originally move?

1 (2m 23s):
I'll let Brandon start.

2 (2m 25s):
I think I will probably give you the two minute overview and then let Stephanie go into some of the detail. So we've been here a little over 11 years. We lived in Athens, Georgia prior to moving to Saray. And my work took me into the Atlanta area. We were looking for a place to live mostly in the Atlanta, Virginia Highlands area. I needed to be close to an airport and needed to be kind of central ish into the new territory that I was taking over. So we spent a few months looking at properties in the Atlanta market, and I got a, a call from Stephanie, and I think I was in Alabama at the time.

2 (3m 10s):
That whole time period was kind of a blur, but Stephanie called me and said, Hey, I found this place. It's pretty awesome. I would love for you to, to come home now and see it. And I said, okay, well let me finish my meetings and I'll see what I can do. And she scheduled us. She actually sent me a link and we looked on the website, and this was 11 years ago and the website's a little different now. So I was like, okay, this is really cool looking, but I'm, I'm not sure, I'm not sure where it is or what it is. So she said, we gotta see it. So she booked us a New Year's Eve stay for two nights to check it out. And I think this is probably a good, a good segue to Stephanie and I let her take it from here.

4 (3m 52s):
Well, the funny thing is that I, we, like Brandon said, I wasn't finding what I wanted in town. I was really looking in town because I wanted to be in the walkable community. That was so important to me. What's interesting too, about a walkable community in town Atlanta is you don't always have everything that you need there. And so you do have to end up driving a lot in Atlanta. Anyways, and one day I sat down to the computer and I googled eco-friendly communities near Atlanta. And of course it was the shortest Google search that I'd ever seen because only one thing popped up and that was Seren. And when I immediately clicked on that, I fell in love. I mean, I was done looking.

4 (4m 33s):
I looked at the website probably three times a day every day for about two months. And the funny thing, looking back now, being an agent myself, which I'm sure we'll talk about a little bit, but we told our agents, I was with them on a trip in Atlanta, and I said, I found this place called Samy, and I want to go look at it. And they said to me, there's nothing for you there. And I said, oh, okay. So I went by myself, like Brandon said, I came down, it was a very cold two weeks before, it was a week before Christmas. It was very cold, very rainy. But the moment I drove in, I knew that we had to be here. You feel different when you drive in.

4 (5m 14s):
It looks different than anything you've ever seen before. I spent about two hours with the sales office, and then like Brandon said, scheduled us for a New Year's Eve trip. I told them, I said, I'm coming back in two weeks with my husband and we are going to buy something. And they said, okay. And we've spent two, two nights here. They took us to parties, they told, we went to the farmhouse for dinner. They told us to go to the hill and ring in the new year. I mean, we got lost on the trails.

2 (5m 42s):
We actually, on New Year's Eve, our agent actually said, Hey, you guys need to go to this party. And we're like, what party? Oh, it's at this couple's house. I'm like, well, we don't know them. Like, it's okay. You're gonna love them. They're gonna love you. Go. So we go and we meet people and we start talking, and then we run into Steve and he takes us out on the balcony and he says, just look up. And we look up and every star, literally, I was like on cue, but every star was out. Just beautiful. Sky is clear, as you can see in the middle of the night. And we both kind of looked at each other and we're like, this can't be real. And it was,

4 (6m 18s):
And I remember Brandon said on January 2nd, like, we got up and we went back to the office and Reina Newell, who's been here for 17 years and works in the office, she literally pointed on a map, how about this lot? What do you think about this one? We went out there and we wrote our check for that lot before we drove home on January 2nd. And we looked at each other and we said, are we doing this? And we said, yes, of course, of course. Why wouldn't we do this? And we, we knew from the moment we wrote that check that our life was never gonna be the same.

3 (6m 50s):
And isn't it amazing the stars and just connect nature and you say, can this be real? Yep. And yet it's real for everybody, but we have caused so many things to happen that they don't have access to it. I mean, that's

2 (7m 4s):
Right.

3 (7m 5s):
That's exactly,

4 (7m 6s):
That's why you feel so different so quickly when you drive in because you can feel it.

3 (7m 11s):
I just read an article on the Netherlands and why they are rated the happiest people in the world. And one of the six things was access to nature.

5 (7m 23s):
Oh, yeah, that makes sense.

3 (7m 26s):
Yeah. But I checked a corresponding article then, and we are next to the highest country with depression, and yet we've been building places that forget about stars, forget about trails, trees,

2 (7m 41s):
And trails,

3 (7m 43s):
You know, nature, which kind of was the final hook, it sounds like. Yeah,

2 (7m 48s):
A hundred percent.

3 (7m 49s):
Yeah. The community. But you find the happy people because they have nature. Yeah, yeah.

2 (7m 55s):
I got lost on the trails on New Year's Day, you know, I woke up with, with maybe a touch too much alcohol in my system and said, all right, I'm, I'm gonna go for a jog on these trails. We walked 'em very briefly, I wanna see what they're all about. And I took a left turn in Albuquerque and wasn't sure where I was. And, but you know, usually that, that makes me a little stressful, a little anxious. But it was honestly so beautiful. I just, it's like, okay, well let's just keep running and see where I wind up. And I turned a three mile run into a, almost a seven mile run, but, but had a great time and came out by the end and then had this, a very slow walk back to where we were staying.

2 (8m 36s):
But I felt so at ease and so comfortable in a place that I'd never been before. And again, as Stephanie mentioned, kind of one of those little boxes that we checked were like, yeah, this, this has to be our place.

1 (8m 51s):
And so you guys built that home as your first home, built it from scratch. Will you just, this is like, I know this little detail about it because we did a story on it. Can you share with the listeners kind of the fun thing that you did when you built the house?

4 (9m 9s):
I think you're talking about our bedroom, what we did in our bedroom? Yes, yes. Well, I also,

1 (9m 13s):
Let's clarify quickly now. G G-rated. G-rated the

4 (9m 16s):
G-rated version. No, no, no. So we were very fortunate to have the building experience and go through that whole step-by-step process. And we ended up coming here and renting while we were building. So we were here on site, which was wonderful. And we wrote our vows, our wedding vows on the wall behind our primary bedroom with a drywall, a bed where a headboard would go. And we had one of our amazingly talented neighbors, Allie Harper, which she goes by for her photography work, shoot us while we were writing our vows on the wall, we did it on the drywall under the paint. So it was very special for us.

4 (9m 57s):
But one thing we forgot to mention, which is our claim to fame, is that we have lived in every Hamlet and fact, we've lived in one of them twice. We've lived in Grange twice. We do move around a little bit. But yeah, that was really special in that house and we had a lot of fun building it. It was a really unique experience to make every choice and finishes, and we really built it for like our lifestyle. But you know, lives change. And again, that's the beauty of Serenity. You get to move through the stages of your life. And we realize we didn't need a house at large. So now we are downsized into a town home that we love too, that we've also kind of made our own.

3 (10m 34s):
Now that first house, did you disclose that your wedding vows were back behind the sheet rock?

4 (10m 40s):
Yes, that's what we were just saying. Yep. It is one of our little special touches.

1 (10m 45s):
Well, and you guys have become known, and maybe I'll set you aside a little bit, Brandon, but Stephanie has, people will pull her into renovating their places for her and doing work on any kind of subtle remodels and stuff. So tell us a little bit about that. Like, that's sort of like a side passion of yours.

4 (11m 2s):
It is. I obviously, there's very talented people in the community who are designers and can do, and, and there's some amazing people. I don't, I, I don't claim to be that, but I do love to see something really ugly and make it beautiful. I think there's something about that that envisioned something from one way to the next, and it kind of has become a little bit of a habitual problem for me. My poor husband has lived through some of those remodels while we were in the home, so, so we've done that. But I have helped a few people remodel some of their older properties. And like I said, we've lived in every Hamlet, but we've also had a couple of investment properties that we have remodeled.

4 (11m 42s):
And it's always been fun. I kind of learned to speak contractor language and that's always unique.

1 (11m 49s):
And let's use that as a good segue into real estate. So you now you work for c b real estate as an agent, but when you came here, that wasn't just sort of like myself, everybody's like, did Steve find you when you moved? Or did you live here? And I'm like, no, you move in and then somehow the

4 (12m 8s):
Things find you,

1 (12m 9s):
Finds a place for you. So tell us a little bit about real estate, because you know, that sort of renovation work, that sort of having the vision and eye of what could be done on a home Yeah. I think is, is it really rare?

4 (12m 21s):
Yeah, well it's definitely, you know, it's everything that I do is in that realm. Now. I started out, when I came to San B, my background was in nonprofit. My entire career had been in nonprofit work and it was where all my passion was. But what, what's interesting about working Sam b real estate is that we are real estate agents. We're trained and qualified agents, but we feel much more like ambassadors. We truly are ambassadors to the community. And I think that's what happens is the team sees someone in the community that is so in love with Serenity and speaks so much to the ethos of what we do in this community. And then they recruit them to be a part of the team.

4 (13m 2s):
And it's such a wonderful opportunity to walk, to work every day, to take people on tours and golf carts and really all day long, all you do is spend time talking about something that you love so much and you're outdoors, you're outdoors, you're in nature, you're surrounded by nature during that job. So I feel sorry for all the other real estate agents in the world. And I,

1 (13m 25s):
I think

4 (13m 26s):
We, we truly have a really wonderful experience here. I actually started with Sammy Real Estate in 2014 and spent two and a half, almost three years there, and then took a little sabbatical to grow into my position a little better. I actually took a year off for myself during that time. And then I returned to be a part of the team in 2021. And it is one of the best, most wonderful experiences of my life.

1 (13m 52s):
I mean, I think that the sort of idea that the team has of like everybody needs to live here, live in the community is sort of a unique one. Not that agent expertise, say in Virginia Highland, they obviously have a deep bench in that area, but they might live in a different neighborhood. And so I think being able to really share why and how and have an honest pro and con conversation with somebody is, is pretty rare.

4 (14m 18s):
Yeah.

1 (14m 19s):
And so one of the things I think is I do love the golf cart. I I, you know, I don't do real estates, but I see everybody out on the weekends and, you know, in the, in the golf cart. And I just like get so excited. Cause I'm like, who, who are they taking now? Who's coming in? Who's gonna be my new neighbor? Okay, so Brandon, tell us about you. You came outta hospitality, you're still in hospitality, you were in Athens. Tell us a little bit about that and then I really wanna talk about Heritage Supper Club, what you're doing now. Oh, sure. Cause I'm a big fan as well, so give us your whole background and Sure,

2 (14m 51s):
Sure. Well, thank you for saying that. So yeah, I spent almost 20 years in the corporate hospitality world. We were in Athens, Georgia for s for almost seven years, transitioned into, into Cby and left the corporate world. I was working with Outback Steakhouse as a regional director of operations, left that to join a startup company called Grub Berger, which I worked with for about three years as a market partner there. I loved Outback, I learned so much from that company. They were an incredible leader in the industry when it came to culture and training and leadership development. And, and really that's what I focused a lot of my career path towards is how can I affect change and, and how can I help elevate people to hopefully help them achieve their dreams.

2 (15m 40s):
As in any case, you, you reach a, a summit and you were looking for something else. And I was working with Grub Berger and traveling probably close to 200 days a year. And I miss my wife, love my wife, love our pets, love our small family. And it was not the quality of life that I was looking for. And certainly one of the reasons we moved to Saray was because of that quality of life that you felt right when you came onto property. And I had another compelling issue that was itching at me, and that was, you know, although the company, the startup company was, had great intentions. We were feeding unhealthy food to an unhealthy nation.

2 (16m 21s):
And that really started eating at me in the more and more that I lived here. The more I understood the importance of having a healthy mind, a healthy body, and, and really doing things to put yourself into a frame of mind where, where you felt happy, right? And a happy person is a more helpful person. So I decided to resign from that position. And I remember calling Stephanie from Tallahassee, Florida and saying, Hey honey, I'm, I'm coming home tomorrow. And she said, oh, great. And I said, well, I quit my job. And she's like, you what? I was like, I'm sorry you're breaking up. I've got bad reception. I'll, I'll I'll call you on the way home. And of course, stopped at the florist.

2 (17m 3s):
And of course as soon as I got home she was, you know, extremely supportive. And we said, okay, well we'll figure out what the next steps are. And then, you know, within a matter of weeks, Garney reached out to me and said, Hey, would you like to get involved in hospitality here? And I said, yeah, of course. I take a stroll to work, take a golf cart to work instead of a plane or a, an automobile. Absolutely. And it was such an amazing experience. I, I think, you know, what I appreciated most was the closeness to a true mission and vision that I felt working with Steve and with Garney, when you work in the corporate world, you're a little bit separated from what the owners or the visionaries were trying to conceive.

2 (17m 47s):
Right? And here you are completely immersed in it. And I felt that from day one. I felt the support from day one. And, and so it was a really influential time in my life to be able to work with people who knew exactly where they wanted to go, why they were doing it, and how they were gonna get there. So I spent three years working here running hospitality. I think we made some strong headways and grew some people into roles that I think they never thought they were capable of. And created a, an environment where everyone felt comfortable and welcomed and appreciated and valued. And that's really what I, I cared about most because I think if you hire the right people and you train 'em the right way and treat 'em the right way, everyone's gonna find success.

2 (18m 35s):
Right? So I did that for three years and after 30 years in the industry, and I think Steve can probably attest to this, there's a little bit of crazy in your head and you need to step away a little bit. So I, like Stephanie did, took a, a sabbatical to clear the mind and determine what the next stage in my life was gonna look like. And honestly, no, no better place to do it than in Cy. So I did that and three months into that sabbatical, I had a couple friends reach out that were investors in a restaurant that needed some help. And so my consulting practice started about nine months early and I had a, a great time working with small businesses, individual chefs that were looking to open their first restaurants and really creating some strategic plans, some, some cultural tenants that needed to be in place to allow those businesses and those people to be successful.

2 (19m 28s):
Then obviously Covid hit and I was able to take the rest of my sabbatical.

1 (19m 31s):
Cool. Yeah, yeah,

2 (19m 33s):
That's right. That's right. We, we all have a couple of great stories that align with Covid, but coming out of it now, I've started working with a young chef named Demetrius Brown and Heritage Supper Club. So he is my most recent client. He's a phenomenal young African American chef who is really changing the scope of elevated cuisine in, in the southeast. And he is taking an approach where he is fusing dishes and flavors from the African diaspora and the Caribbean and fusing it with new American cuisine. So we're getting these really elevated takes on what is commonly known as street food or casual dining food, and really bringing awareness to the amazing flavors of the Caribbean and of Africa, Latin America.

2 (20m 25s):
And we are hopefully closing in on our first brick and mortar this summer. So very, very excited. That's,

1 (20m 31s):
That's amazing. Amazing. Yeah. And I've had the great pleasure of dining on his incredible food, not only as a popup that you've been doing, so like people should definitely, we'll put all in the show note. People should look for any, any upcoming popups, if you have any. But then also I was able to hire him for my brother's birthday here, which was That's right. So fun. And he such a professional. I mean, I was so shocked. Like he kind of brings everything down to the linens, which That's right. I can't wait to go to the restaurant. Can you share it all where you're looking? I know it never

2 (21m 4s):
Negotiation. I can tell you where we're looking. Okay. We are looking in the Inman Park area, obviously for, for the first concept, we want a very densely populated, well-established area. Definitely. And we're identifying some spots there and, and hopefully we'll get something closed soon. But one thing I will share also that's again, unique and is kind of the kismet effect of Cy, is I originally worked with Demetrius at the Hill. So when I was running hospitality, I hired him at the Hill to be the executive sous chef to Patty, who was the chef to cuisine when we reopened and years later, my first consulting client was the Pinewood.

2 (21m 44s):
And Demetrius had applied for the executive chef position there, came in and cooked for the investor and, and one of the managers. And I said, you know, w we can probably forego this because he's extremely talented, you're gonna want him on the team. And so we hired him on and he immediately turned that kitchen into a high performing, incredible place to work and eat. And then, you know, obviously after Covid, he reached out to me and said, Hey, you know, I wanna start my own business. I wanna have my first restaurant opened of several, would you want to go into into business with me? And I said, absolutely.

2 (22m 25s):
When you find somebody young and driven and passionate, you wanna do everything you can to support that person. And I'm fortunate to be in a position to do that and wouldn't have been if it wasn't for this wonderful community.

1 (22m 38s):
I love all of the weaving of people together because that's exactly the kind of part of the joy of it.

3 (22m 46s):
Yeah. But I, but I love the connections. You know, there's something about the hospital, you know, you're working odd hours and families sort of subfamilies happen and that's a big story of that. Yeah. You know, I I I, I get stories still on the peasant restaurants, the relationship, the businesses, the romances. I think it's a little more unique in the hospitality than than other places. Love that.

2 (23m 7s):
That's very true.

4 (23m 8s):
Brandon and I actually met at Outback Steakhouse. That's, that's right. That's your story. Yep. On a whim in a very random location in, in Florida.

2 (23m 20s):
Yeah. She, she actually picked Jacksonville, Florida out of a hat one night with her cousin and her aunt and then put it back in and said, can I do best two outta three? And and her aunt, her aunt, who I love to this day will love forever said, Nope, that's what you picked. That's where you gotta go. And that's where we met.

1 (23m 38s):
God. That's so fun. Yeah.

4 (23m 40s):
I was headed to Florida for a summer getaway between my post postcollege work and heading into my master's program. And I was only supposed to be there for a few months and it turned into four years because I met Brandon.

1 (23m 54s):
Oh, I love that. So one of the things that is super exciting is you guys are once again in the process of building a house. I think very, very early stages.

4 (24m 6s):
Very early. Tell

1 (24m 7s):
Us about that. And I think one of the sort of visions for that is really trying to optimize for like a healthy, healthy home. Maybe a net zero, net positive home. And I believe that's sort of part of the inspiration to build again. But whoever wants to start first, I really wanna dig into this cuz this is also something fascinated by Yeah,

4 (24m 31s):
I'll start. It's something we're very passionate about. I mean obviously since the, one of the main ways I found Sammy was Googling, you know, eco-friendly communities, it's always been really important to us to live as sustainably as possible. And I think every stage of your life you're looking at ways that you can improve on that. And of course we wanna think about that in the way that we live. And one thing that happened when we sold our other home and downsized is that we realized how much we liked living in a smaller space. And so that is something we're gonna replicate. We bought what is called a farm, which is basically some acreage that is connected to part of that. You actually go through a trail system to access it.

4 (25m 13s):
And part of it is thinking about the future of wanting to be able to grow some of additional food for ourselves too, but also to have a very sustainable home. We've actually always lived in geothermal since we've moved here, used geothermal heating and cooling. And we love that we will add solar panels. We will have no gas in our home. It'll be, which I love,

1 (25m 36s):
I, we have an old house that has lots of gas in it, but I would love to figure out how to get rid of it all.

4 (25m 43s):
Yeah. And it's definitely something that we talked about and it's hard because we're all as people who love to cook and love your ranges and how the gas works and you get fireplace. Yep, yep, yep. And we actually wanna have a wood burning stove instead of a traditional fireplace cuz it's much more efficient. And then we've been looking into additional ways to handle water, things that we can do with recycling water. Cuz one of the things I love about Samy is the gray water system, the recycling waste system. So hoping that there's a way that we can incorporate that, the living building challenge, which is something that the school is doing and is a little bit, I mean it's hard no matter what, but it seems like it works better for commercial.

4 (26m 26s):
So I don't know if we'll go full for residential, but we will definitely pull pieces of that. And that to me, the investigating and research that I've done into that is, it's even further than your EarthCraft, it's even further than your lead certification. And it's really getting into where everything comes from, who builds your home,

2 (26m 48s):
What's in the materials.

4 (26m 50s):
Yep. What's in the materials. And that's really important to us to end waste. Like I really wanna think about the waste that's used for our build. So we still have land, which is why we haven't broken ground yet. It gets a little stressful as you start to think about all of those different things, but I think we're both very excited. We are actually in design process starting that in the next couple of months. Okay.

2 (27m 14s):
I think in seeing what the Acton model is doing as far as the build out of the school, we were extremely fascinated by that. Both Stephanie and I have taken trips to the Candida building at Georgia Tech from a living building challenge perspective and want to use that as a template. Right. There are obviously seven pedals to the living building challenge for a a zero or net positive carbon footprint. And you know, as we've grown our values and what's important to us have changed. And this is one of, if not the most important thing that we both feel we can effect and hopefully be a model for other people who build their homes and doing some of that dirty work to determine what can we source locally, what can be used that is, you know, has the structural integrity to support a home for a long period of time because homes used to be built to last a long, long time.

2 (28m 10s):
We want to be able to capture that, but also do that using resources that are nearby. So obviously reducing that carbon footprint even more.

4 (28m 20s):
And we know like it's a privilege to even be thinking about these things, to have the opportunity to think about this stuff. So we also wanna make sure that we do it in a very economical way too. Like we don't wanna spend a ton of ton of money to make, we wanna show how this can be done in a very economical way too, because it is a privilege to have this, but we wanna be able to help people replicate that process.

1 (28m 46s):
I think I, I mean I've sort of volunteered myself or you know, to marketing to sort of help document because I think it's so important. You really do sometimes need really passionate people to see a little bit further out before more people are comfortable with it because they need proof of concept. And obviously the candida building is incredible and we've all visited, but

4 (29m 8s):
It's next

1 (29m 9s):
Level very, it's next level. Yeah.

2 (29m 11s):
It's next level.

3 (29m 12s):
Well with Keni you found out it was more expensive because of where they had to do right in the center of the city. Were that many things required? That's right. Already standard practice at, have you read the summary filled in on biophilic design for the school for one of the pedals?

2 (29m 30s):
I have not. No,

4 (29m 32s):
No. I would love during that.

1 (29m 34s):
We'll share that with you guys. Okay. It's incredible

3 (29m 37s):
Because what most of that is just standard things that are already at Serenbe and you could pull that, your house would fit that. The other thing remind me, we have someone who's developing the hemp blocks for houses and they're coming to Seren, they're set scheduling a time. So send me a note and I'll make sure that when they come, we bring you in. I don't know if you've read or done some work on the hemp blocks.

4 (30m 4s):
Yeah, I ha I have looked into that quite a bit. That's the thing that I think is holding us back a little bit, is just thinking about materials. Cuz there's so many options. And one thing may fit this need, but it may not, it may be from far away, but it may be more sustainable or it may be better to keep your house tighter, but it might not be as really sustainable for the environment. So those are the things that are, you know, you kind of start digging down and you go down these rabbit holes and you are like, everything I'm, I'm not sure I'm gonna be able to do it all. Like, and, and what is the right answer? And sometimes it's more than one answer really. And you just have to pick the option that works best for you. We wanna have a low impact, be able to build a home and have a lower impact.

4 (30m 47s):
But also I secretly have a dream of, I'd like to build it myself. And I mean, technically Brandon, you know, I've said this brand's face

1 (30m 57s):
Is looking very confused.

4 (30m 60s):
I like

1 (31m 1s):
This home,

4 (31m 1s):
Have a builder, but I would love to work with every contractor at each stage and do some part of it with my own hands. Like, I would like to do some of the framing with my own hands. I would like to do some of the plumbing with my own hands. I wanna experience each, I, I wish I was good enough to be able to build my own home, but I'm not. But I would like to be a part of it.

1 (31m 20s):
I love that. So Switching it up just a tiny bit, because one of the things that, you know, when you guys moved here, when we moved here, there really wasn't any organized sports or teams or groups. I mean, we had tennis courts and we have a field, we have a dog park, we have a basketball court. You know, we, you know, Steve put in these amenities bocci, but not to say that they were dormant, you know, but you would be up there maybe with a couple people now you could go up to the field on a Saturday and there's 80 people and another 40 kids. Yep. Tell us a little bit about your sports.

4 (31m 54s):
Yeah. Are you, wait, close.

1 (31m 57s):
Wait,

4 (31m 57s):
I'm sorry. Are you talking about how my husband letters in every sport in Serenity?

2 (32m 2s):
Oh my goodness.

4 (32m 3s):
I'm gonna get, I've been joking about this forever that I'm gonna get him a Letterman jacket, put like jacket

1 (32m 9s):
A big,

2 (32m 10s):
Big S on

4 (32m 10s):
It and put a big S on it and get him like the football one, the soccer, you get

1 (32m 15s):
All the Yeah, the, the stripes. Go ahead. I just ordered my son flutter, so I have a resource for you. Nice,

4 (32m 21s):
Nice. I'll, I'll be getting in that.

2 (32m 25s):
Yeah. You know, it's, it's such a great topic though because when we moved here 11 years ago, it wasn't very common to find people to go throw the football with or kick a soccer ball with or play basketball with.

4 (32m 38s):
And well, you could, you just wouldn't have enough to make a team.

2 (32m 41s):
That's right. That's right. And so as the community has grown, which was the original intention, that's why those amenities were there and now people are using them. And I think it's a, a wonderful way to connect with community and connect with neighbors that maybe you wouldn't see on a regular basis. So playing football on Saturday mornings or soccer on Sunday mornings or basketball at very random times throughout the week or tennis, you're connecting with community members that you wouldn't otherwise see or spend time with. And so to me that's a great way to fill myself with joy and, and hopefully them too.

2 (33m 22s):
Maybe in some cases not so much, but to create this kind of bond over something, right. Besides where we live, right. And where we live is amazing, but there are other ways to meet and connect. And to me, this is one that I haven't had, and, and Steve can attest to this, when you work in hospitality, your hours are very strange. They're long. So when you have some downtime, you're typically resting or spending it with your closest friends and family. Having this network of folks that are into these types of activities allows me to meet people and make new friends that I haven't really done in decades.

2 (34m 2s):
So that, that to me is the biggest win is I get to hang out with people that normally I wouldn't have time to get involved with. And it's fun. I mean that at the end of the day, it's, it's a lot of fun and maybe we think we're younger than we are, that may be the case in some cases, but hey, who doesn't wanna live those memories out a little bit.

4 (34m 24s):
Santa brought a gift certificate to the physical therapist to brander. That's right. Stalking this year. Yeah.

2 (34m 31s):
Yeah.

4 (34m 31s):
Unfortunately it's not easy, unfortunately.

2 (34m 33s):
I'm gonna need several more.

4 (34m 35s):
It's not easy to get in with that physical therapist. They're in such demand these days because of these guys out there on the field thanks

2 (34m 42s):
To the c b athletic fields.

4 (34m 44s):
That's right. That's right. That's right. And these are

3 (34m 46s):
Just spontaneous games. I mean, this has gotten kind of organized.

2 (34m 50s):
Absolutely. So, so obviously right now we have organized softball and kickball and then we have text threads with groups of people that play basketball or football or soccer. And we're constantly adding people to those threads. In fact, I think with soccer there was so much interest that we had to create a WhatsApp, because on an iPhone you can only do 27 people or something like that to a text thread. So not so funny. We can do a WhatsApp thread so that we can get everybody on there and keep adding people. And so just in as example, we started playing soccer a couple, few months ago, a little, I, I think I came in a couple months after they started and we were four on four, five on five, six on six.

2 (35m 34s):
This past Sunday. It was 1111, we had a, a full squad on both sides and had a, a substitute for each team. That's how much interest there is now, right? And it's just, it's really neat to see how that grows or has grown over time and continues to grow.

4 (35m 49s):
But it also highlights something about Sammy that's really unique is that all different, it particularly in this, and you see it in other things that people are a part of, but all different groups are a part of this. So you're playing soccer with somebody that's 10, 15 years younger than you,

2 (36m 6s):
2020

4 (36m 8s):
In some, okay, okay. We're not that old, but you know that people that are, have kids that are young, we do not have children. But that was one thing, and this highlights it. That was one thing that we were very attracted to when we first moved to Sereni that we found so different than other communities that we had lived in, is that you could be friends with people across different parts of their life, different interests, because Cy doesn't separate you. It brings you together instead of pulling you apart because it doesn't silo you into these different groups. And I think this is one way that it happens other ways that it happens or with the art farm events, with the dinner, culinary events, with all, I mean, yes, of course if you're a mother and you have young children, there are plenty of mom groups here that are gonna support you.

4 (36m 57s):
But I've got friends who have young kids, I have friends whose kids are going off to college. It's just, it's so lovely because it helps you have people in your life that you may not have originally been able to have in your life. And I think it's gives you a well-rounded experience.

2 (37m 14s):
Just to quickly add on to that, because that was something that when I think about Seren and what I'm most grateful for, obviously this sense of community and this sense of place is so, so prevalent and at least it's hit Stephanie and I very hard and we're just embracing it with both arms. But I never in my life would've thought I would have close connections with people 20 to 30 years older than me and 20 to 30 years younger than me. So when I play sports, yeah, there's a lot of guys in their early thirties, if not late twenties. And I'll also go golfing with a couple of guys that are in their mid seventies. And I have very close connections with both groups and never in my life had I had access to that before.

2 (37m 57s):
Right. And it has allowed me to learn and grow as a person, share stories, learn. It's just a wonderful experience that I don't think people find very often in their lives, let alone in a community every day.

3 (38m 11s):
Well, about the golf cart tailgating culture that also happens at these

4 (38m 19s):
That's true. That's very

2 (38m 20s):
True. That's

4 (38m 20s):
Very true. That's at the Turkey ball, the football,

2 (38m 23s):
We started the Turkey Bowl, gosh, 11 years ago. Rob Pride, a former resident that anyone who knows that name has several stories to share, but we started the Turkey Bowl, I believe it was 11 years ago, and it started with anyone who is willing to go on the field can play. And so I think we had 16 people the first year, men, women, children, and everyone was involved. And then it grew to 20, 30, 40 people grew into four teams. But I think what's most fun is this tailgate contest slash party that, that has evolved from it. Where a group of us will go and collect some gifts from the lovely retail spaces in Sereni who donate them.

2 (39m 8s):
And we have a party and whoever has the best tailgate golf cart wins X, Y, and Z from the Daisy or the Hill or Creek Retreat or Hamlin. I'm sure there's several, I'm forgetting and I apologize, but such a unique experience. And then it, it's also involved into a, a national anthem being played and a halftime show. Halftime, we've, we've kind of, you know, done it up pretty well, that's for sure. Yeah,

4 (39m 36s):
It's fun. Everyone looks forward to it.

2 (39m 38s):
How many

3 (39m 39s):
Were on the field this last year? I mean, a lot of people,

2 (39m 42s):
Yeah, last year was actually four games we, four teams, excuse me. Because so many people were interested. And I would say we probably had close to 200 people on the field if you include all of the spectators and the tailgaters. I mean, it was pretty remarkable, especially to see where it came from.

1 (39m 60s):
Well, that's a good lead up into what is usually our final question is somebody's visiting San B for the first time. What would you tell them to do? Where would you have them go besides, of course, buy a house, Stephanie,

4 (40m 14s):
Of

1 (40m 14s):
Course. What's sort of that thing that you guys love or you think is sort of an undiscovered great thing to go do?

4 (40m 22s):
Well, I mean this is not undiscovered, but this is what I tell people to do all the time, is to sit at the bars at the restaurant and to walk the streets and talk to people. Because we as community members are so happy being a part of this community that we're gonna talk to everybody. And it takes people a little while to get used to that. But I think to really understand what it means to live here, you have to talk to the people that are a part of it because there are so many things. I mean, technically the thing that Brandon and I love, really what attracted us, one of the number one things that attracted us and what we love the most is nature. And we love that access to be in the woods.

4 (41m 4s):
And we're, I know for sure I'm in the woods every day. Brandon's probably in the woods almost every day. And I always want people to go out on the trails and experience that because you just don't have that in your backyard anywhere else. But I think having that interaction with the community members, because everything that makes up samy is what makes it wonderful. But the community members are truly the heart and soul of Serenity. That's what keeps it beating. So I think if you can talk to everybody and find out what, what it's really like to be a part of it, then that's where you'll fall in love the most. And then of course I tell 'em to walk the labyrinth and think about what house they wanna buy.

2 (41m 44s):
Yeah. So having worked in hospitality here and having worked at the wine shop on several occasions, you meet so many folks that aren't seren B residents, and they're always enamored by how happy everyone seems to be. Everyone seems to wave and there's just this energy here that people can't explain and, and it's all because of who we are as a people and how comfortable we all feel. And to me that is one of the more remarkable things about the community is it's not about who you are or what you do. It's, hey, we're, we're a community. We're here together, let's help each other in any way possible. And I've never felt that sense of community anywhere before as far as what somebody has to do.

2 (42m 29s):
It's, to me it's the trails, it's the trail system. It's not a unique thing. But there are so many different aspects of the trails, whether it's grandfather tree or the waterfall or the ruins. I mean, I can name several more. Every route you take is different and brings a different outlook. And there's such a sense of peace and belonging when you're there, when you're inside the trees and the nature encompasses you that makes you feel real. And you know, to me that's great. That's something that you just can't get access to. I've always liked hiking, but I've never been able to just walk out my door and take 20 steps and be in a trail system.

2 (43m 11s):
And so to me that's, that's just remarkable. And anybody who's looking at buying here, I, I would, or, or coming here to visit here, you gotta go on the trails gotta go on, whether it's by horse or by foot.

4 (43m 21s):
Yeah. I love it. That's good. Love

3 (43m 24s):
The conversation and love having you all as part of Sarah, your energy and, and your fingerprints that are on various parts of it through the years. So thanks for sharing your voice this morning and sharing what Seren means to you.

4 (43m 38s):
Thanks for having us. Thanks.

2 (43m 39s):
Yeah, thank you. Thanks Monica.