Over the past two decades, Serenbe has evolved from rolling farmland and piney woods into a fully functioning modern society with an agricultural bent. But it’s never seen a human habitation quite like this.
Scheduled to break ground today is a “Hidden Library” project, tucked like a Hobbit House into a hillside, that’s designed to foster a connection to both books and the natural world for kids in the south metro Atlanta region and beyond.
With its screened porch, high ceilings, and wall of windows facing woods, the modern-style library will be part of Serenbe’s Terra School campus in the health-and-wellness focused Mado section.
Terra School was initially established as a one-room schoolhouse that served Chattahoochee Hills and nearby cities; but in 2023 it opened a state-of-the-art campus with airy pre-K to 12 classrooms connected to a large greenspace, streams, and woods for students to explore.
Courtesy of Serenbe; designs, William Hunter
Overview of Terra School today. Courtesy of Serenbe
The solar-topped, STEAM-school campus today counts more that 200 students from 19 cities across Georgia, according to Serenbe officials.
Like a planned standalone high school with a gym, the Hidden Library aims to expand the Terra campus in thoughtful ways.
Designed by architect William Hunter—a Chattahoochee Hills resident, via Los Angeles, and a Terra parent—the $550,000 library project will count two separate spaces: one for Terra’s Montessori students and another for its Upper School. Those zones will be linked by a screened, airy porch.
Shelves will be stocked with a variety of books for kids of all ages, with spaces meant to cultivate an appreciation for reading and socializing (shhh) where architecture meets nature.
The Serenbe Hidden Library upper room, a screened porch, and the lower room. Courtesy of Serenbe; designs, William Hunter
Courtesy of Serenbe; designs, William Hunter
Nearby, Serenbe’s expansion plans are much more ambitious.
A multi-year expansion calls for blending retail shopping, hotel and medical uses, and potentially 1,100 more residential units with Scandinavian influences is in the pipeline, Serenbe officials said late last year. That’s part of a $1.7-billion expansion goal that’s received Development Authority of Fulton County tax breaks to help finance the aging-in-place and hotel component.
Described as a master-planned, New Urbanism pioneer in Georgia, Serenbe has been transforming its property 35 minutes southwest of Atlanta into a variety of neighborhoods and walkable districts, or hamlets, for more than two decades.
The first Serenbe home was finished in 2004, and the community now counts about 1,200 residents and more than 600 housing units.
Terra School debuted in 2023 and counts more than 200 students today. Courtesy of Serenbe
[CLARIFICATION: 4:21 p.m., Jan. 9. This article has been updated to reflect Hunter's place of residence and Serenbe's current expansion outlook.]
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