Our Story

Where it began

Near Wild Saunas began the way so many good things do: by accident, outdoors, and with people who didn’t realise they were about to fall in love with something for life.

Back in 2023, Joe, Alex, and Brad found themselves on a school family camping trip. It was the kind of weekend you hope for, fresh air, muddy boots, tired kids, simple meals, and the steady calm that comes from being properly outside. And then… there was a sauna.

They’d each been to saunas before, here and there, but nothing that truly stayed with them. This one was different. It wasn’t just warm, it was alive. The heat wrapped around them in the softest way, the steam rose perfectly, and the whole experience had that rare, almost magical balance that’s hard to describe unless you’ve felt it: deep comfort, deep quiet, and deep joy.

Three people sitting on a boat on a body of water with trees and partly cloudy sky in the background, one of them holding a plastic shopping bag.

The LDSC

For Brad, the pull ran even deeper. With strong links to Finland through family and friendships, and through his work as an architect, he’d spent the past decade travelling there regularly. His admiration for Finnish design, especially the work of Alvar Aalto, had taken him back again and again. Over time, Finland gave him more than inspiration; it gave him a real understanding of sauna culture, and what makes it so powerful when it’s done properly. The rhythm, the simplicity, the respect for materials, and the soul of it all: löyly, the living spirit of the steam.

As their obsession grew, Joe, Alex, and Brad made it official, forming the Limpsfield Dads Sauna Club (LDSC). What started as a shared interest quickly became a shared mission. They began travelling abroad — mainly to Finland — chasing the kind of sauna experience they knew was possible, and returning home with their heads full of ideas and their standards permanently raised.

A small black modern cabin with a wooden deck and walkway, surrounded by tall grass and trees, under a partly cloudy sky.
Five men sitting on a wooden dock by a frozen lake, wearing winter hats and towels, enjoying a winter swim on a sunny day.

The long search

After that trip, they started searching for saunas closer to home. They found some brilliant places - beautiful views, lovely facilities, great hosts - but still, something was missing. Time and time again, they couldn’t find the complete experience: the perfect combination of environment, build quality, and that unmistakable Finnish magic… exceptional löyly.

Two men with a blue convertible car on a grassy field, one lying on the car's hood and another standing nearby, with outdoor equipment on the ground and trees in the background.

The Realisation

After years of travelling for sauna, they finally realised the truth:

If they wanted the sauna they were looking for… they were going to have to build it themselves.

That realisation became the spark for Near Wild Saunas — a place rooted in nature, crafted with care, and built around the things that matter most: authentic heat, beautiful surroundings, thoughtful design, and true Finnish löyly.

Near Wild Saunas exists for one reason: to bring everything the trio love about real Finnish sauna culture to the UK — and to share it properly, so that more people can step out into the air afterwards feeling exactly the way they did on that camping trip in 2023… like something has changed for the better.

 

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