The sauna, in its primitive or original form, is a small room with some water thrown on hot rocks. This evolved into the smoke sauna or savusauna. It was a small shed with a massive fireplace and no chimney. After the fire has died, the smoke was released through a small hatch on the wall. The benches were then scrubbed due to the soot from the smoke. The fireplace radiated plenty of heat for many hours. Smoke saunas are almost non-existent these days, as they tend to burn down easily. The few surviving smoke saunas have usually been converted to stove top saunas.

Our savusauna on th Wirtanen Farmstead is very unique and quite rare. It is a fine example of a traditional Finnish smoke sauna, a type that is rare today, even in Finland. After the smoke holes near the roof are opened to let the smoke out, a smokey odor remains when the water is poured on the hot rocks. This has no effect on the clenliness of the bath and was preferred by the early Finnish settlers. One room is used for bathing and the other for dressing. Both were lit by a kerosene lamp in the dressing room. The sauna is all log with a tin roof.

The restoration of the savusuna will be the next project for the Friends of the Wirtanen Pioneer Farm. We feel it is a very valuable peice of history and we do not wish to see further deterioration of such a rare building. Much of our restoration has been done by Edmunds and Company; the proposed cost of such as restoration has been quoted at $13,500.00. We hope with your help we can accomplish this in the very near future.