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Mani Station? Champagne? Count us.

Above: At the home of actress Marisa Berenson in Marrakech, natural light shines on the steaming indoor swimming pool, perfect for isolating and restoring emotions.

Remember in the 1990s, putting a steam shower in the bathroom seemed like a luxury? This is tantamount to installing a phone in your car. Those days are long gone, and now, building a beautifully decorated quasi-medical-grade family spa is becoming a standard requirement for designers. “In the past, we would design two to three projects every year, in these projects, there would be a great spa in the basement or terrace level of the home,” said Atlanta’s kitchen and bathroom master Matthew Quinn. but now? "It must have doubled."

Quinn is currently working at another family spa in Los Angeles and Dallas, where the owner requested a spray booth. "They want a nail station and a hairdresser station," he said. Each spa is designed for a group of friends, with two to four stations, plus an effervescent feel: “There is always a champagne bar as part of it,” Quinn said.

"There is always a champagne bar as part of it."

According to Andrew Kline, design director of the New York studio/APD, people are indeed looking for "private sheltered spaces." "People are now entering a healthy state in a more experiential way," he said. Some of his clients limit their home gym to the necessities—a Peloton, a mirror, a set of dumbbells—so they can budget for the extra expenses and area of ​​the sauna, soaking tub, and steam room. "Fitness is more than just exercise, it also includes moments of relaxation and contemplation," he said.

Hidden in the closet of the already quiet master bedroom Kline, recently designed on Nantucket, a spiral staircase leads to an underground restoration sanctuary with a personal hammam, massage room and spa shower. In his other Nantucket project, you go straight down the stairs into the hot tub and into the spa. After the bath, you will enter the adjacent dry space, where there is a sauna and steam room. This spa magic requires high-level technical interventions, such as HVAC systems for humid air and pool consultants, to ensure that the marble you choose for your walls does not change color on the water level.

In the Palm Beach home of the former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, StoneFox, a New York architecture and design company, set up an entire floor, dedicated to health and beauty, with a gym, a hair salon, a nail station and two "body wrappers". The treatment room is "or mud-wrapped," said architect David Fox. In addition to the client's marble steam room and infrared teak sauna, since the refrigerated pipe is set at 52 degrees, the cold water pool is waiting for them to enter this moment. The client has the "extraordinary" Personality, so she hopes this place is very bold and interesting," Fox said. "When you walk in, it is full of flamingo wallpaper. In the corner there is a sculptural Ico Parisi sofa, covered with pink Velvet. "

In fact, the designer says, one thing that distinguishes home spas from public spas—aside from not having to tilt for the best sofas—is the lack of government regulations. "You don't have all the handrails and signs you need in a commercial environment," Quinn said, as he replaced the customer garage in Vero Beach, Florida with a spa salon inspired by the Fana Hotel in Miami Beach, with black and white squares. Floors, cross-textured and butterfly walnut cabinets, sparkling golden light fixtures and hidden LED lights.

"This is what we are really trying to promote to our customers."

If all this feels too much, you can still find a way to be you. Customers of West Coast company Pulp Design Studios are stuffing beverage centers and refrigerator drawers into their bathroom cabinets; the latter keeps various creams and jade rollers refrigerated. In addition to heated towel bars and floor heating, the MrSteam steam shower with Kohler Chromotherapy and Aromatherapy is one of their most common bathroom upgrade requirements. "This is something we are really trying to promote to our customers," said Carolina V. Gentry, the co-founder of Pulp, citing health benefits such as stress reduction. In other words, the family spa may be exactly what the doctor asked for. 

Without proper cloth to wick away sweat, any home spa is incomplete. This is an expert’s suggestion.

Leontine Linens "These towels are very luxurious. You can customize them with monograms or beautiful embroidery-or both."-Carolina v. Gentleman

Matouk "The quality is very good. These towels do not deform. They also have simple details on the periphery. A white towel with a little decoration is always good."-David Fox

Peacock Alley "The extra-long thread makes them very soft. In summer, I use their Turkish towels because they dry faster." —Matthew Quinn

This story first appeared in ELLE DECOR magazine in November 2021. subscription