The tale of a sauna yurt, slowly appearing in the woodland garden - locally soured and handmade in Scotland from steam-bent timber.
Woodland Sauna Yurt
Inspired by the Finnish art of sauna (usually seen in sauna tents on frozen lakes with ice holes cut as plunge pools!) we decided to investigate a Scottish version. We thought it should be as intrinsically linked to the landscape as these small Finnish tents were - surrounded by nature and heated with wood.
We were lucky to stumble upon a wee company in Callander making and building yurts in Scotland. Inspired by travels to the Middle East, Paul set up Red Kite Yurts. Paul's partner (who lived in Finland) inspired the sauna and so the magical chimera "sauna yurt" was born.
The structure
The structure itself is a work of art; the wood all sourced locally. It is predominantly made from larch to give the 'sauna aroma', while the crown is made from steam-bent ash wood. The canvas is made in England and stitched in Perthshire and the wool insulation comes from Scottish hillsides. The whole ensemble feels as if part of the landscape - nestling beneath the West Kip summit.
Steam sauna
Paul, the creator, is the best person to talk to about sauna. He tells stories of standing on the benches to get a "swirling sauna experience" as the air moves in a spiral around the yurt cone, or how to harvest birch branches - used to stimulate the skin the Finnish way (through mild flagellation!).
The yurt offers a steam sauna with lower temperatures than might be seen in conventional saunas. It is possible achieve temperatures or 70° or even 80° in the yurt but we generally heat it to around 60° - adding water to the stones then to generated steam, humidity, and the impression of greater heat. This allows you to stay in the sauna for longer, dipping in and out of the spring water plunge pool and is a wonderfully relaxed experience.
Wood fired
The only piece of the structure to come from afar is the sauna stove from Finland. The stove is used to generate heat by burning our own pine wood harvested on the farm as part of our sustainable woodland management plan.
Private use
While the sauna is shared between the Eastside guests, each cottage enjoys their own private sauna time. Bookings can be made on arrival and the sauna will be lit and stoked up to temperature - ready to go for your personal sauna session.
A wee shout out
We'd like to take this opportunity to do a wee shout out for Paul and the whole team at Red Kite Yurts. If you need to hire or buy a yurt for weddings, festivals, saunas, or accommodation then we can't recommend them enough. Real craftsmen that genuinely care about sourcing - and old fashioned things like customer service.
They're also just lovely people.
Read more about the finished sauna in use and how to experience it for yourself...