Who We Are
Vermont Sauna is a husband-and-wife team, Ian and Jenna Compton, based in Huntington, Vermont.
Our sauna journey started in 2021 when we bought a piece of land in Huntington with big dreams of building a home together. But before we broke ground on the house, we built a sauna.
We knew the process of building a home would be demanding—full of decisions, challenges, and long days. We wanted to create a space where we could step away, slow down, and reconnect with each other and nature.
While some people are surprised that we built a sauna before our home, we later learned that in rural Finland, this is actually tradition. The sauna comes first—a place to restore, reflect, and ground yourself before everything else takes shape.
Now, we’re grateful to share our passion for saunas with the clients we build for.
More about Ian
Ian was a professional freestyle skier from ages 18 to 28, spending much of that decade traveling and making films with friends. While it was a life full of adventure and freedom, years of high-impact skiing eventually took a toll on his body, and his back ultimately signaled it was time to slow down.
During that slower chapter—filled with reflection and time spent at his family camp in Greensboro, Vermont—Ian began to reconnect with a quieter curiosity: woodworking.
It started simply. After cutting down a tree and being captivated by the grain and figure of the wood, he picked up a few basic tools and began making small objects—spatulas, spoons, and cutting boards. What began as a grounding hobby slowly grew into a passion, leading him into the building industry, where he has now spent over 10 years developing his craft.
Along the way, Ian began to develop his own design sensibility, much of it influenced by his grandfather, Danforth Compton, who built the family camp he had been living in. His grandfather was an early developer of modern architecture, and that legacy continues to shape Ian’s approach to building today—simple, thoughtful, and grounded in natural materials.
Click below to see more of Ian’s new construction builds, renovations and fine woodworking.
More about Jenna
Jenna began working with Ian in 2022 after doing a variety of different jobs in Vermont including hard cider making, tending perennials at a nursery, instructing yoga and teaching high school science. Each chapter had its charm, but none quite clicked in a lasting way. Then she met Ian, and things fell into place. They bonded over a shared love of wellness, working with their hands, and the ongoing pursuit of a more intentional and meaningful life. Creating small structures that support health, longevity, and connection for like-minded people became the natural intersection of everything she cares about.
Jenna also owns a solar array installation company, where she works as a subcontractor through our friends at Flynn Hill Contracting. Together, they travel throughout New England helping homeowners make their homes more sustainable.