Home Sweet Home

For affluent Victorians, cleanliness was next to godliness. But ideas of hygiene change, and it is Queen Victoria herself who is credited with the pronouncement that she bathed once a month — whether or not she needed it. This sentiment,

accurate or not, does, however, highlight the puritanical 19th-century attitude that bathing was strictly a private and necessary function, a cleansing operation largely devoid of pleasure. In fact, to take pleasure from your bath was regarded as sinful.

In contrast, the ancient Greeks and Romans were great believers in the benefits of the shared bath and mineral spa, for relaxation, socializing, and for the exchange of political ideas and gossip. But the undoubted benefits of the bath were not just for mere mortals: in the bas-relief below, Hera, queen of the Olympian gods, wife and sister of Zeus, steps with due modesty from her bath as her two hand maidens arrange her robe.

The word spa comes to us from the Belgium resort town of that name, which was discovered to have healing mineral waters in the 14th century: Many European countries boasted at least one important spa town, and as late as the 17th century, mixed bathing was common at Bath, a city in England famous for its healing mineral waters and first established as a spa by the Romans in AD44.

Despite the widespread introduction of piped water to the home at the beginning of the 20th century, the Western bathroom remained a closeted and private place. In the East, however, bathing had retained its strong tradition as a social activity where water not only cleansed the body but also refreshed the soul. In Japan, the therapeutic qualities of the numerous natural volcanic springs, combining relaxation with spiritual rejuvenation, have always been regarded as one of life’s pleasures — a source of benefit and enjoyment. While public baths and spas may have waned in popularity, the traditions of communal bathing have been maintained in the modern Japanese home.

Influences from California, Scandinavia, and Japan have begun to change the Western attitude to the bath and have reintroduced concepts of pleasure, health, and relaxation. Though health centres are often better equipped to cater in this regard, bathing provisions in the home can still be made far more imaginative and flexible. Many individuals now want the options of home hot tubs, whirlpools, saunas, and spas, but it is essential that such bathroom extras are designed and sited with conservation in mind so that they do not become additional strains on already stretched water provision and energy resources.

Bathing spaces need to be organized so that they cater for relaxation and pleasure, as well as for hygiene. This combination has been achieved in the imaginative and elegant American bathroom, designed by Nelson Denny (right), which is flooded with light from a large semi-circular window. The sunken bath is, though, the focal point in the middle of the bathroom, and is ideal for long, relaxing soaks. And the shower curtain can be drawn around the bath to retain the heat.

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