| Page 3 of 3 < |
The (Every) Day Spa
The "dream bathroom" in Paul and Kerry Villella's Fairfax home, where bathing is a whole-family affair, goes way beyond a large whirlpool tub to include a shower with four shower heads, three body sprays and floor-to-ceiling clear glass.
(Photos By James M. Thresher -- The Washington Post)
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
"You can probably spend forty to fifty thousand dollars for a tricked-out bathroom," said Lori Carroll, an interior designer in Tucson, where spas have proliferated.
Firestone, the California designer, estimated that in the high-end new-construction market, homeowners have to spend $400 to $500 a square foot on average. If you're building a spa with expensive tiles and fixtures, you can expect to spend twice that, she said.
Brian Bailey, a real estate investor, said his master bathroom probably added $50,000 to the price tag of his $1.3 million home. But it is worth it, he said, to boost the value of his property.
"When you live in a million-dollar community, most of these houses have so much space. You try to find other things in it to go outside the norm," he said. "You're trying to do different things to bring the value of your home up."
Bailey and his wife, Mary, wanted to build more than just a home on the Bowie land they bought in 2004. They wanted a retreat modeled after the spas they had visited on vacations, he said.
So they decked out their master bathroom with an oversize tub and a separate shower with two shower heads, a bench and body sprays.
Then they turned a 400-square-foot room on the lower level into a massage room with two massage tables, two changing rooms, a wet bar, and a closet for towels and robes.
"It's kind of like going on vacation without having the expense of leaving your own home," Bailey said.
Robert Kutner, an architect and builder in Lutherville, near Baltimore, recently built an even grander master bedroom and bathroom suite in Towson. The bathroom had an elaborate shower and whirlpool. "I think people like the sauna. They like the steam. Their time is an issue; they work from home. They'd like to get their steam shower without leaving the house," he said.
But the most expensive feature was a lap pool off the master bedroom.
"It's very much like the presidential suite of a five-star hotel," he said. The project cost $500,000.
In-home massage rooms are becoming more common in large houses, especially in California, where many design trends begin. Model homes in the Washington area are showing them, too.
Aubry, the New York designer, said she has noticed that demand for massage tables has grown, so much so that she is designing them now.
Brian Bailey and his wife pay a massage therapist to come to their home on a regular basis. Mary gets a massage at least twice a month. Brian opts for once a month. Sometimes they get them at the same time. Twice a year, Mary hosts spa day for the members of her female entrepreneurs network. She also hires a manicurist and pedicurist and is working on lining up someone to do in-home facials. She has invited the businesswomen over next month for a lecture on health and fitness.
"We can have those services in our home without having to schedule it," Brian Bailey said. "There could be 20 people in line to get to the masseuse."
