Tea light candles, bars of soap and folded towels on a wooden bench in low light

About the house

A neighbourhood bathhouse, not a spa.

No robes with logos. No upsell at the front desk. Just hot rooms, cold water, a place to lie down and people who know your name by the third visit.

Plan a first visitSee the rooms

How it started

We wanted somewhere to go on a Tuesday.

The idea came from a long winter of driving to the coast to sit in a wood fired sauna and jump in the ocean. It was the best part of every week, and it was an hour away. So we found an old print shop on North Santa Cruz Ave, gutted it, and built the room we kept driving to.

A spa is somewhere you go for a treat. A bathhouse is somewhere you go because it is Tuesday. That is the difference we care about. You do not need a reason, a booking a month out or a special outfit. You need a swimsuit and two hours.

We opened with a cedar sauna, three plunge pools and a steam room. The lounge came later, when we noticed people kept lying on the floor of the changing room between rounds.

A black teacup on a saucer on a wooden table, with a cast iron teapot behind it
Ginger and lemongrass, always on

House rules

Five rules, and we mean all of them.

They are short on purpose. Everything else is common sense and a towel under you.

  1. Swimsuits on, everywhere

    It keeps the house easy for first timers, families with teenagers and everyone in between.

  2. Silence in the heat

    No talking in the sauna or steam room. Talk all you like in the lounge, softly.

  3. Rinse before the pools

    A quick cold shower keeps the plunge water clear for the next person.

  4. Phones live in lockers

    Every locker has a charger. Nobody wants to be in your photo.

  5. Leave when you feel like it

    Dizzy, too hot, too cold: get out and sit down. There is no prize for staying.

How many at once

Thirty is the whole house.

We stop selling slots at 30 guests. That keeps a free seat in the sauna and a free pool most of the day, even on a Saturday.

  • 30guests at most
  • 22seats in the sauna
  • 3plunge pools
  • 16 hopen every day

Who you will meet

Four people run the floor.

  • Marisol

    Owner

    Built the sauna benches herself. Still opens on Sundays and pours the 7am steam.

  • Theo

    Heat side lead

    Runs the hourly pours and keeps the stones and the cedar in shape. Ask him about towel waving.

  • Ines

    Water and the cold side

    Tests the pools four times a day and leads the Saturday guided session. Calm in 45 F water.

  • Dev

    Front desk

    Answers the phone, the form and most of the nervous questions. Has a good locker story.

Come see the room we kept driving to.

Weekday mornings are the quietest. Bring a swimsuit, we have the rest.

Ask the front deskSee passes
Photo credits

Stills and loops are free stock from Pexels, used as stand ins for this demo.