sauna (6)

Travis Skinner’s Unique Anglerfish Sauna

Travis Skinner, whose 400-square-foot small home was featured in our book Small Homes (pp. 52–53), has written a book about his unique wood-fired sauna on wheels. The book is called AnglerFish Sauna: Material Based Design & Deep-Sea Sculpture, and is available at:

amazon.com/dp/1737637502

In his introduction, Travis says: “What inspired us to make a 17-foot model of a female Anglerfish that is a wood-fired sauna on wheels? These pages will lead you on a multimedia journey through the conceptual design, the process of construction, and meaning within the sculpture.”

The sauna is beautiful, exceptional, and I’ve never seen anything quite like it. It’s also built with meticulous craftsmanship.

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Sauna on Wheels

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This immaculately built sauna on wheels rolled through town 3 weeks ago. Built by Jeremy Tuffli (shown here [in white T‑shirt] seated with Evan Kahn), and Joey Pepper. They use it for events. Stove is from Finland, roof and trim are copper. (I didn’t get a full-on shot of the roof; it’s really beautiful.) Jeremy said he was inspired by our book Tiny Homes on the Move to build a camper, then went on to building saunas. The guys are next headed to Mexico City, financed by Vans to build a skatepark.

Jeremy is among a group of young builders (like Jay Nelson, Foster Huntington, Tucker Gorman) who are carrying on in the tradition of Lloyd House, Louie Frazier, Bruno Atkey — a new wave of carpenter poets.

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Sailboat Sauna in British Columbia

About two years ago I was standing in the shower and had a vision of a sailboat turned unto a sauna. When I got out and dried off I started drawing plans. It felt like it was what I should be doing, so I just kept building it until it was done. The boat was originally called the Sea Mystic, we painted a “T” and an “M” in the name to make it Steam Mystic (my brother’s idea).

I live in Victoria BC and love designing and building things like saunas, tiny homes, surfboards, small shops. For me, it’s about more creative designs, more diversity in the world, more mystery. I like to follow my gut when it comes to design; there is an emotion that I’m trying to bring to life. Sometimes my hands can capture what I feel, and what I dream for the world; sometimes they can’t.

–Nick
Nicolas Joel Van Buren
Ontological Creative
Victoria BC, Canada

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