How this young family made space to slow down with their family on Madeline Island
PROJECT DETAILS:
- Project Type: Residential, Model 5 Outdoor Sauna
- Location: Madeline Island, Wisconsin
- Overall Size: 8′ x 11′
- Capacity: 5 people
- Finishes & Features: Arbor Wood Co. thermally-modified burned & brushed pine exterior cladding, cedar rainscreen, cedar decking, Huum Wi-Fi Enabled Hive Stove, two rows of benches for varying levels of heat, underbench LED lighting, Floor to ceiling picture window from H Window Company, matte black hardware
Project Story
Not every sauna takes a ferry to get home. But this one did.
Built in Duluth and delivered fully assembled in one day, Kyle and Liz’s Model 5 made its way across Lake Superior by flatbed and ferry. Not to their primary home, but to the place they truly wanted to slow down: their family cabin on Madeline Island.
“The first thing I noticed was how beautiful it was…it was just a piece of art by itself.”
With three young boys, their life is loud and full in the best way. But the island gives them space to enjoy that fullness. As Liz puts it, “They’re loud, they’re active… and this is a place where they can still be loud and active, but we get to actually enjoy it.” The sauna was a way to lean even further into that rhythm. Something that would make cold swims more enjoyable, quiet evenings more meaningful, and family time more grounded.
They had their first experience with a Cedar & Stone sauna after running a trail marathon with friends. “We went back to their house and sauna’d,” Liz shared. “The first thing I noticed was how beautiful it was…it was just a piece of art by itself.” That visit stuck with them. So when they started imagining a sauna for their own family, they already knew what they wanted and who to build it with.
What surprised them most was how supported they felt throughout the entire process.
“It was so wonderful to feel like we were being taken care of right away.”
“It was so wonderful to feel like we were being taken care of right away,” Liz shared. “You have a team in place and a step-by-step process that was easy to follow. We never felt out of touch — you helped us with the design, how to set things up, everything. It was really seamless.”
From the early design conversations to delivery day on the island, the process was built for clarity, not stress. The result is a space that feels intentional and already at home in the life they’re building together.
Sauna Details
Set near the southern shoreline, the Model 5 they chose is simple and timeless.
Wrapped in thermally-modified burned and brushed pine from Arbor Wood Co., it feels like it belongs in this place. Inside, two levels of cedar benches line the wall, the layout open and generous without taking up more space than needed. A large picture window frames the southern shoreline, filling the hot room with natural light and offering a clear view out to the lake. They chose a HUUM Wi-Fi-enabled electric stove, so they’ll be able to heat it from their phones before ever stepping outside. A small feature that makes spontaneous sessions all the more doable.
But more than the features, it’s about the vision. “At home, we’d love to have a sauna,” Liz said, “but here, it’s part of slowing down. It’s just part of the culture of wanting to be out here and slow down together.” She talked about what it means to give their boys early memories of this place — running from the lake, into the sauna, back to the lake again.
It’s just part of the culture of wanting to be out here and slow down together.”
“When they go back to school in Duluth and talk to their friends, we want them to be like, ‘Yeah, when we go to the lakehouse, we sauna. That’s what we do.’”
It’s more than a seasonal feature. It’s a tradition in the making.
They imagine their kids growing up with this ritual. Bringing their own friends someday. Maybe even their future spouses. “It would be such a beautiful thing if they could come back here and enjoy the same experience,” Liz said.
And when they look at it now, it already feels like part of the landscape. “I look out here and I see the sauna and it’s hard to believe it’s actually here,” she said. “But in a year, five years, ten years from now, we’ll say, ‘Do you remember when we didn’t have the sauna?’ It already feels like it’s always been here.”
That’s the beauty of a Cedar & Stone sauna. It’s not just for this season. It’s built to be part of your life for decades. For lake days now and cold plunges years from now. For growing kids, returning college students, old friends, and future family. It’s a space that weathers time right alongside you. Holding memories, rituals, and connection through every season ahead.
Bring Beauty to Your Backyard
Whether it’s quiet evenings at the cabin, a weekday ritual in the backyard, or an addition to your business, a sauna changes how you (and your guests) move through the seasons. It becomes a rhythm. A refuge. A place to reconnect with yourself and the people you love.
Our standard models are designed to bring that experience home, beautifully, intentionally, and without compromise.
Each one is crafted with the same materials, care, and design principles you’ve seen here.
Make this the season you stop dreaming and start planning.
Bring the beauty home.
PROJECT GALLERY:
