The backyard “spa building” trend is back and Bezos’ UFO sauna shows how far it’s going

Backyard wellness buildings are no longer just sheds with a plug‑in hot tub. You are watching a full architectural category emerge, where small “spa houses” promise daily escape without leaving home, and where the most extreme example might be a spaceship‑shaped pod parked beside a cactus garden in Beverly Hills. The backyard spa building trend is back in force, and Jeff Bezos’ much discussed UFO sauna shows how far the arms race in private relaxation is now willing to go.

From patio upgrade to standalone spa building

You used to think of outdoor improvements as a nicer grill or a bigger deck, but the bar has moved to dedicated wellness structures that feel closer to boutique hotels than DIY projects. Designers describe homeowners using earthy color palettes, strategic landscaping, and natural materials to turn backyards into immersive retreats, with small buildings that frame views and carve out quiet zones away from the main house. Through that lens, a freestanding spa pavilion is less a luxury add‑on and more the organizing anchor for a yard that is meant to function like a private resort.

That shift is visible in how you are encouraged to plan outdoor space, with guidance that emphasizes layering textures, planting for privacy, and using stone, wood, and greenery to create a high end feel around a compact structure rather than scattering furniture across open lawn. When you read that Through earthy color palettes and careful layout, you can transform even a modest yard into a sanctuary, it becomes clear why a fully enclosed spa building has become the new status symbol: it gives all that design work a purpose and a protected core.

Why Bezos’ “Mysterious UFO” became the ultimate backyard flex

Into this landscape of increasingly ambitious spa buildings drops the most headline‑grabbing example yet, a gleaming pod that neighbors first mistook for a visiting spacecraft. At Jeff Bezos’ $165 m Beverly Hills estate, aerial photos revealed what was quickly dubbed a Mysterious UFO, a circular structure perched near a cactus garden that looked more like a landed capsule than a garden shed. The intrigue only grew as observers noted that the object sat apart from the main residence, in the exact kind of tucked away location you might choose for a sauna or meditation room.

Reporting has since undercut the alien fantasies and suggested that the Mysterious UFO at Jeff Bezos’ $165 million Beverly Hills home is probably just a sauna, a compact wellness building that happens to be wrapped in futuristic cladding instead of cedar. The structure sits close to a studio and desert landscaping, a placement that reinforces its role as a retreat rather than a showpiece for the street, even if the design has become a global talking point. When you see a backyard spa interpreted as a spaceship, and still described as “just a sauna,” you get a sense of how far the aesthetic envelope has been pushed at the top of the market, as captured in coverage that notes the Mysterious UFO at Jeff Bezos’ $165 million Beverly Hills home and its likely purpose.

How the pandemic era turned you into a home resort manager

The appetite for such extravagant spa buildings did not appear in a vacuum. After years of travel disruption and remote work, you have been nudged to treat your property as a long term base rather than a temporary stop between trips, and that mindset has redirected discretionary budgets into backyards. Instead of chasing new destinations, homeowners are being told to keep investing in their current living spaces, indoors and out, and to think of wellness amenities as permanent infrastructure rather than seasonal toys.

That is why guidance on backyard design now frames a hot tub or sauna as a core amenity, not a splurge, and encourages you to see a dedicated spa building as a way to extend the usable season, protect equipment, and carve out a quiet zone away from household noise. Instead of pouring money into flights and hotels, you are urged to channel it into a backyard hot tub that sits at the heart of a small structure, with insulation, lighting, and storage that make it feel like a true room. The logic is explicit in advice that notes that Instead of moving, you are likely to keep upgrading your existing home, and that But the real standout amenity is often the backyard hot tub, a point underscored in discussions of Instead and But the backyard hot tub as the centerpiece of outdoor investment.

Eco‑minded design is reshaping what a spa building looks like

As you consider adding a spa structure, you are also being pushed to think about its environmental footprint, from the energy that heats the water to the materials that wrap the walls. The latest guidance on pools and spas frames eco friendly as the new baseline, with efficient pumps, smart controls, and better insulation presented as non negotiable features rather than upgrades. That expectation naturally extends to the building that houses your sauna or hot tub, which is now expected to work as a tight, well insulated envelope that keeps heat in and operating costs down.

Designers are also steering you toward finishes and systems that support an environmentally responsible backyard oasis, whether that means solar‑ready roofs on small spa pavilions, permeable paths leading to the door, or drought tolerant planting that softens the structure without demanding constant irrigation. When you read that Eco friendly is the new standard for Top Pool and Spa Trends for 2025, and that What is In and What is Out increasingly hinges on sustainability, it becomes clear that your spa building is part of a larger environmental story, not a separate indulgence. Those priorities are spelled out in advice on Top Pool and Spa Trends for what is In and what is Out, which treats an eco conscious backyard oasis as the goal.

Color, texture, and the new spa aesthetic

Even if you are not commissioning a spaceship, you are being invited to think more boldly about how your spa building looks and feels. The latest hot tub and spa design advice leans into Modern Color Palettes that are Sleek, Sophisticated, and Timeless, encouraging you to move beyond bright plastics toward muted tones that blend with stone, wood, and planting. That shift in color is paired with a focus on tactile materials, from ribbed cladding to smooth concrete, that make a small structure feel like a carefully curated object rather than an afterthought.

The goal is to create a space that feels organic and inviting, even when the forms are sharp or futuristic, a balance that helps explain why a UFO‑like pod can still read as part of a garden rather than an intrusion. You are nudged to coordinate the interior of your spa building with the exterior deck, using consistent palettes and finishes so the transition from house to yard to sauna feels seamless. That approach is captured in guidance that says Mar is the moment to Let yourself explore Modern Color Palettes that are Sleek, Sophisticated, and Timeless, and to aim for a spa environment that feels organic and inviting, as outlined in the breakdown of Modern Color Palettes, Sleek, Sophisticated, Timeless trends.

Inside the Beverly Hills mega‑compound that made UFO saunas a meme

To understand why Bezos’ pod landed with such impact, you have to zoom out to the larger project it belongs to. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez have been assembling and reshaping a Beverly Hills megamansion, a compound that layers traditional luxury amenities with more eccentric touches. Within that context, a UFO inspired space capsule in the yard reads as one more expression of a broader design brief that mixes classic comfort with theatrical gestures.

Reporting on the estate notes that Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez are close to finishing a property that includes a UFO inspired space capsule and a roster of luxury amenities, with the capsule itself described as flexible enough to serve as a lounge, a meditation room, or even a dining pod. When you place the likely sauna pod alongside that description, it becomes easier to see it as part of a continuum rather than an outlier, a wellness building that borrows the language of space travel to signal just how far private comfort can go. Those details are laid out in coverage of how Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez have completed their megamansion with a UFO inspired space capsule and other amenities.

From UFO pods to “normal” luxury: where you fit on the spectrum

Most homeowners will never park a spaceship in the yard, but the same instincts that produced that pod are shaping more attainable projects. You are being encouraged to think of your backyard as a layered experience, with a primary house, secondary structures, and focal points that draw you outside in different seasons. In that hierarchy, a spa building becomes the emotional center, a place you visit to reset, whether it is wrapped in glass, timber, or something more experimental.

Even the language around Bezos’ project reflects this spectrum, with one report describing a futuristic, UFO like building near the cactus garden as among the most striking additions to the property. The same coverage notes that Jef Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s $175 million compound uses the pod to punctuate a landscape of terraces and gardens, a reminder that your own spa building can be both a functional room and a sculptural object. By studying how UFO like design at Jef Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s $175 million estate commands attention, you can calibrate how bold or discreet you want your own project to be.

Sauna technology is catching up with the architecture

The architecture of spa buildings is only half the story, because the technology inside has quietly evolved to match the dramatic exteriors. Contemporary sauna trends highlight how controls, heaters, and lighting have become more precise and customizable, letting you fine tune temperature, humidity, and ambiance from a phone or a discreet panel. That functionality makes it easier to justify a dedicated building, since you can treat it as a daily ritual rather than a special occasion, stepping into a perfectly prepared environment whenever you have a spare half hour.

Designers are also rethinking layouts, adding windows, benches at multiple heights, and integrated sound to create experiences that feel more like boutique spa suites than rustic cabins. The result is a category of saunas that can credibly inhabit a sculptural pod or a minimalist cube without feeling like a mismatch between inside and out. If you watch a breakdown of 8 Luxury Sauna Trends taking off in 2025, you see how Feb is framed as a moment when saunas that have been around for centuries are finally evolving in both functionality and aesthetics, a shift captured in the overview of 8 Luxury Sauna Trends that emphasizes how far the technology has come.

What Bezos’ spaceship means for your next backyard project

So where does all this leave you, if you are simply trying to decide whether a spa building belongs in your own plans. The Bezos example is extreme, but it crystallizes several forces that now shape even modest projects: the expectation that your yard should function as a wellness retreat, the pressure to make eco conscious choices, and the invitation to treat small structures as design statements. You do not need a UFO to participate in that shift, but you do need to think of your spa building as a carefully considered part of the overall composition, not an afterthought tacked onto a corner.

The coverage of Bezos’ yard even hints at how such a structure can be read from the outside, with one account describing The Spaceship and noting that the Spaceship Like Structure May Be a Sauna, while another calls it a UFO shaped structure believed to be a wellness amenity. Those phrases underscore how a single building can carry multiple narratives at once, from health to spectacle, depending on who is looking. As you sketch your own plans, it is worth remembering that your spa building will send a message, whether it is a low slung timber room or something more theatrical, a point driven home in reports that Jeff Bezos Puts Mysterious Spaceship Like Structure outside his $175 million home and that The Spaceship Like Structure May Be a Sauna, with one account describing a UFO shaped structure that is believed to be a sauna in Bezos’s yard.

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*This article was developed with AI-powered tools and has been carefully reviewed by our editors.