The family sauna we built in a Chanhassen back yard
Our Chanhassen project was a custom build for a family that wanted a place to slow down without crowding the benches. The hot room is 7x10, which leaves enough space to stretch out. Outside it has vertical board siding, a natural wood soffit with recessed lighting and a cedar door with a glass panel, so it looks at home in a residential yard.
Inside, every surface is tongue-and-groove cedar: walls, ceiling, floor and benches. The heater is an IKI Pillar on WiFi controls, so the room can be hot before anyone walks outside. The detail we like best is the oversized window. It pulls daylight in and gives you a view of the back yard from the bench.
Lake lots north of Highway 5, subdivision lots all over town
Most of Chanhassen's lakes sit in the north half of the city. Lake Minnewashta, Lake Lucy, Lake Ann and Lotus Lake are all north of Highway 5, with Lake Susan and Lake Riley to the south. A sauna on a lake lot usually wants to face the water. That is also where shoreland rules come into play, so the placement conversation starts with the city before it starts with us.
Most Chanhassen yards are not on a lake. They are subdivision lots with a fenced back yard and a neighbor on each side, and some are walkouts where the yard sits a full story below the street. None of that rules out a sauna. It does decide which model fits and how the building gets from the street to the pad, which is why we walk the yard before we recommend anything.
Trees, fences and the drop toward the Minnesota River
Access is the part people forget. On a lake lot the usual questions are mature trees and how close the house sits to the lot line. In a subdivision it is the fence, the gate width and whether the grade lets us reach the back yard at all.
At the south end of the city the ground falls toward Bluff Creek and the Minnesota River, and a slope there can limit where a level pad makes sense. We would rather find that out standing in your yard than on delivery day.
Which sauna fits a Chanhassen lot
For a typical Chanhassen subdivision lot, the 8x12 Tuli is the model most people choose. The 6x8 Kota fits where the yard is tight or the flat spot is small, and the 8x16 Superior suits a lake lot that hosts a bigger group. Our Chanhassen build was a Custom, sized around one family.
More on how we build them: custom outdoor saunas. What they cost: pricing.
Delivery and site prep in Chanhassen
Your sauna arrives finished, so the site has to be ready first: a level pad where it will sit and a clear route to reach it. An electric heater needs power at the pad, and we coordinate that with your electrician ahead of delivery. We look at access during the site visit and plan the set around it.
Before you settle on a spot, ask the Planning Division in Chanhassen's Community Development Department how a detached sauna is handled on your lot, and whether shoreland rules apply if you are near a lake. If your neighborhood has an association, check its covenants too.
We can also handle the site work: the gravel pad or piers, the electrical trench and hookup, and building on site where a finished sauna will not fit through. The full rundown is on our site work, delivery and installation page.
Around Chanhassen
- Lake Minnewashta
- Lotus Lake
- Lake Ann
- Lake Lucy
- Lake Susan
- Lake Riley
- Carver Beach
- Greenwood Shores
A build in Chanhassen
Questions from Chanhassen
Saunas in Chanhassen, answered
Have you built a sauna in Chanhassen?
Yes. We built a custom outdoor sauna for a family in Chanhassen with a 7x10 hot room, cedar on every interior surface and an IKI Pillar heater on WiFi controls. It has vertical board siding, a glass-panel cedar door and an oversized window facing the back yard. The photos are on our projects page.
Can I put a sauna near the water on Lake Minnewashta or Lotus Lake?
Possibly, and the city is the one to answer that. Lake lots in Chanhassen can fall under shoreland rules that affect how close a building sits to the water. Call the Planning Division with your address before you pick a spot. Once you know where a building is allowed, we design the sauna and its window around that location.
My Chanhassen neighborhood has an HOA. Is a backyard sauna still possible?
Often it is, but read your covenants first. Some associations review detached buildings for size, siding or placement, and each one is different. Ask your association what it needs to see before you order. We can give you the dimensions and exterior details of the model you are considering, so the review is based on the real building.
Do people in Chanhassen really use an outdoor sauna in January?
They do. A hot sauna feels best when the yard is frozen. Put it close enough to the house that the path is easy to shovel. With an electric heater on WiFi controls, like the one on our Chanhassen build, you can start it from inside and walk out when the room is hot.
Nearby
We also build for Chaska, Victoria, Eden Prairie and Minnetonka. See everywhere we work, or the project map.