nginx.conf

server {
    listen          80 default;

    access_log     /var/www/sagan/logs/nginx.access.log;
    error_log      /var/www/sagan/logs/nginx.error.log;

    location / {
        root  /var/www/sagan/static/;
        try_files $uri $uri/index.html @proxy;
    }

    location @proxy {
        proxy_set_header    Host            $host;
        proxy_set_header    X-Real-IP       $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header    X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_pass          http://127.0.0.1:8000;
    }

    location /media {
        alias   /var/www/sagan/media;
    }

    location /google2e84deffb90c47c8.html {
        alias   /var/www/sagan/static/google2e84deffb90c47c8.html;
    }
}

is it the fact that you've used location = / {...} rather than just location / {...} ? (Cursory glance only. not delved too far into nginx, so I am probably wrong)

Here is a template I use for generating nginx vhosts - https://github.com/pyrat/deployment_recipiez/blob/master/recipes/templates/nginx_vhost.erb

Found the solution to creating a static home-page at / in the Nginx forum.