It’s so easy to look to celebrities for the latest fads and trends, from fashion to home design. Often, the items beloved by boldfaced names are either out of reach for the everyday person or, honestly, kind of weird. But there are those occasional exceptions that we mere mortals can incorporate into our own non-famous lives. The latest one is now taking over the real estate market.
Celebrities from Kylie Jenner to Gwyneth Paltrow to Christina Hall to Brooke Shields are enamored of cold plunge tubs or pools, which keep popping up as an ultra-luxurious (if freezing) way to improve your overall health. Now, it seems, more and more people looking into these ice-cold spa treatments for themselves. So much so, in fact, that there has been a 130% increase in cold plunge pools mentioned in listings on Zillow according to Zillow’s home trend expert, Amanda Pendleton. With these icy tubs becoming ever more popular in spas, bathhouses, and gyms, it was only a matter of time before at-home options became a sought-after home amenity. It feels like they’re everywhere these days, but Pendleton says that, according to Zillow data, the top three cities in the United States with cold plunge pools or tubs most frequently listed are:
- Stamford, CT
- Las Vegas, NV
- Los Angeles, CA
Most often, it’s homes listed as luxury properties that come with built-in cold plunge tubs, but that doesn’t mean you need a mansion to own one. While most of the pools in home listings have been installed—meaning they’re wired and plumbed fixtures that can’t be moved, and which can cost around $30,000 to install—there are some (technically) portable cold tubs you can find and order online to use in your home without having hire a plumber, like this one from .Club.
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What Are The Health Benefits of Cold Plunge Pools?
Experts agree that regular cold plunges can improve your health, but only up to a point. You shouldn’t stay in a vat of freezing water for more than three minutes unless you want to risk immersion hypothermia, warns Anne Orzechowski, an advanced practice nurse at OSF HealthCare. But, she says, if you perform regular quick cold plunges, they can increase your white blood cell count, which boosts your immune system, increase your endorphins—the natural hormones in your body that improve mood and lower stress—and decrease triglycerides, a type of fat stored in your body.
And according to the product description from .Club, regular dips can improve your ability to sleep deeply and reduce chronic pain. Athletes hop into ice baths to reduce inflammation, but you don’t have to have gotten a football injury to enjoy the anti-inflammatory effects. Even besides those benefits, jumping into a cold plunge pool is a great way to wake yourself up in the morning. And if you’re not interested in shelling out $3,000+ for your portable cold tub or ten times that to add a permanent one to your home? Take the plunge at one of these gyms across the country that has a tub for this purpose.
Assistant Editor
Meghan is the assistant editor at House Beautiful where she writes about interior design, pop culture, and furniture.