Our Story
Home Sauna is more than a sauna company.
It’s a creative practice.
It’s where design, construction, and craft come together to create spaces that people can feel—not just use. For me, this business is a way to channel something I’ve always had, but often questioned—creativity. The kind that doesn’t shout. The kind that quietly builds, experiments, and refines over time.
Where it started
I started as a builder. Homes, decks, fences—learning the fundamentals of how things go together. But over time, what interested me most wasn’t just the build… it was the people at the end of it.
What do they want to feel in a space?
How do they use it?
What textures, colours, smells, and views matter to them?
That shift led to The Sauna Project—and that’s where things really clicked. Saunas became a way to connect design with experience. Not just how something looks, but how it lives. Each one we built taught us something new. Each one had its own character—like trees in a forest. Similar roots, completely different expression.
How we build
When an idea hits the workshop floor, it doesn’t arrive as a perfect set of plans. More often, it’s a whiteboard, a conversation, and a craftsperson ready to interpret it. That’s how we like it.
Whether it’s me, Gary, or Andy—we take a brief and give it room to breathe. To evolve. To become something better than what was first imagined. We push materials. We test ideas. We build our own details when they don’t exist yet. Not for the sake of being different—but because that’s how you create something worth standing behind.
What inspires the work
A lot of what we do is shaped by simple things:
Clean lines
Honest materials
Timber grain telling its own story
Light, views, and connection to the outside
There’s inspiration from New Zealand and beyond, but it always comes back to this: Build something that feels right in its environment—and even better to be inside.
Why I do this
At one level, this is a business. There’s a transaction, and there needs to be. But that’s not the driver. This is about creating something real. Having a reason to get up and build. And being part of something people genuinely enjoy. That’s a privilege I don’t take lightly.
Why saunas?
Honestly, saunas weren’t always part of my life. Like a lot of Kiwis, my early experiences were pretty average—quick visits to overheated rooms that didn’t mean much. That changed in my late 20s while living and working at Aro Ha Wellness Retreat. That’s where I properly experienced sauna culture:
Heat and intensity, balanced with calm
Time without phones
Shared moments with other people
Connection to nature
That experience led directly to The Sauna Project—bringing saunas to beaches, lakes, and communities across New Zealand. Making something that was once niche… accessible, social, and alive.
Over time, something else became clear: People didn’t just want to visit a sauna. They wanted one of their own.
That’s where Home Sauna began.
Home Sauna is an extension of everything I care about:
Creativity
Craft
Connection
Quality
People
It’s for the person who wants something considered. Something personal. Something that feels like theirs. Not mass-produced. Not over-designed. Just thoughtful, well-made, and real.
A bit about me
My name’s Luke Mexted. I’m the owner, designer, builder, workshop sweeper, problem solver—and also a husband and a dad. Home Sauna is an extension of how I like to live and work. It’s not just about the product. It’s about the people involved in it—clients, team, suppliers—and how we all grow through the process.
The bigger picture
At the end of the day, we build saunas. But underneath that, there’s something else.
A slower way of living.
A space to connect.
A place to reset.
If we get that right—then we’ve done our job.
