Therapeutic Refuge

Ten years ago, Doug and Cheryl Linder called David Dussair, architect and builder of Design Build Team (DBT) — who also originally built their contemporary 26-year-old home — to update their interiors, including a hot tub room addition that overlooks the rustic backyard. Last November, Doug finally got the space he’d always wanted: a sauna haus.

Originally slated to attach to the home, the modern Scandinavian-inspired sauna haus (Doug’s ancestors are from Sweden) is a stand-alone building in a part of the uninhabited timber just a few stepping stones behind the Linders’ home. Design Build Team hand dug level ground for a solid foundation for the modern-style cabin. “It’s very much a retreat instead of it being a part of the home,” Doug says. “It’s separate and charming and offers peacefulness.” Because Doug is 6-foot, 5-inches tall, he wanted a space with high ceilings, as well as unobstructed views of nature, a sitting room to relax and read, and a separate space for a sauna and shower. “I like a hot sauna and cold shower to get the juices going,” he says.

Dussair fulfilled that wish list.

Illustrating functional architecture at its best, the doweled wooden steps leading into the sauna haus were designed to help snow/ice melt faster, reducing the risk of slipping. Once inside, a nine-foot-tall rough fir plywood ceiling — typically an exterior finish — with skylight meets triple-hung windows, allowing unobstructed views and natural light to flood in. White pine walls exude a feeling of warmth as do the radiant-heated cork floors.

A sliding barn door, just one of Dussair’s sculptural endeavors, separates the lounge and sauna. The tile in the sauna/shower space mimics that from inside the house, along with brighter orange tiled walls, a color that’s integrated into the slate flooring, too. “I wanted  something that jumps out a bit,” he says of the orange color. The sauna, which Doug admits to using every Thursday, on Sunday evenings and in between if it’s not taken over by his daughters and their friends, seats about four to six people. “It’s a great place to get away from daily buzz,” says Doug, who’s a law professor at UMKC’s School of Law.

The interiors call attention to a Swedish abstract tree that stands next to one of his daughter’s paintings and a modern red chair, while the building’s exterior is the same material as the main home, making it look as though it has aged with the home. To complement and enhance the connection between the two, landscape architect Joann Schwarberg designed beds of plants to surround the retreat, along with a cozy sitting/patio area.

Using a vacant piece of land, recycled materials, and help from a friend/builder/ neighbor, Doug can enjoy his sauna-then-shower ritual that invigorates the mind, body and soul — while reveling in the surrounding privacy and peacefulness his new haus provides.

Architect/Builder: Design Build Team Inc. • Skylights:  Sunglo Skylights • Radient Heat:  Becklin Inc. • Windows, Interior Siding:  Pacific Mutual Door • Painting:  A&L Painting • Ceramic Tile:  Mike Brown Contractors • Plumbing Fixtures:  Ferguson Enterprises • Interior Sliding Barn Door:  Andy Pfannes, Design Build Team Inc. • Shower Surround & Door:  Olathe Glass • Ceramic Tile Material:  International Materials of Design • Cork Floor:  Expanko • Sauna Kkit:  McCoy Sauna & Steam