The Little Sauna that Could

Anne and Nick Fenton could have continued living in the little Capitol Hill apartment in Seattle that they had shared for two decades. But as the pace of urban density increased, exploratory trips to sunny and quiet locations within easy driving distance from Seattle became the norm rather than the exception. 

During a weekend trip to Yakima in central Washington state, Anne and Nick discovered the nearby small town of Tieton and realized that they were really seeking more than just a temporary change of scenery. They were immediately drawn to the climate of the wide-open rural landscape, the upbeat, “can-do” spirit of other pioneering creatives in the town, and the opportunity to eventually work on a 1940’s motel renovation project that would transform their lives in unexpected ways.

In the interview below, Anne and Nick share the behind-the-scenes dreams, thoughts, and experiences that inspired them to pull up stakes from their long-time Seattle residence and open the door to new horizons.

Our Intrepid Adventurers

Discovering Tieton

Sandra
Tell me a bit about how you discovered Tieton and how you decided to buy the El Nido cabin property. What attracted you to this idea and when did you buy?

Anne
I'd never been to the Yakima area. And I thought, well, it's sunny there this weekend and it's not anywhere else! So we came out and went hiking in Cowiche Canyon, went to a brewery and a couple of funny little dive bars, and said, “This is great!” I heard about El Nido while searching for hotels. I thought, “Oh those cabins would be my dream project— to work on a place like that where we could also be in an ex-urban environment.”

Nick
And a different climate was crucial…

Anne
The cabin owners were looking to sell the place, and we had no business even thinking about it, right? But it was seller financing, so we went and talked with them. I finally realized I was working a lot for no money as an artist, so I might as well work a lot for no money as a motelier and get to have a place in the country, too! We were lucky enough to be able to borrow money from friends and family for the down payment, and in 2019 we wrote up a sales agreement.

Nick
In two weeks, it will be our six-year anniversary of owning El Nido.

Anne
I think we only visited Tieton once in the summer to stay at El Nido overnight while we were thinking about our purchase idea. Fernando’s restaurant was having a party on the sidewalk that night. We thought, “This is amazing! There’s something going on here all the time!” We stayed up late and…

Sandra
Was it the street dance?

Nick
Yeah, and there were dancing horses too…

Anne
We were up until 11 or 12 that night, dancing in the street, and drinking beer at Fernando’s…

Nick
They had a great DJ. And pupusas! [a type of Salvadoran street food] 

A Dream Opportunity

Sandra
The El Nido Cabins seem perfect for your active, positive-spirited personalities. Was it an easy decision to buy the property?

Nick
Yeah, absolutely.

Anne
We were both thinking “Yeah!” But It was probably three months of me figuring out if we would ever be able to make enough money to pay people back. There's always a last minute: “Do we want to commit to this?” Because we were thinking: “This is so much money,” “I have no idea if there's a septic system,” and “What is this little town?”…

Nick
There were a lot of unknowns, and we put a lot of trust in the people we knew here.

Anne
At one point we thought, “Okay, what if we don't do it?” But that option was so boring! We didn’t want to continue without doing something creative and fun. Yeah, what do I do, go back to doing what I’ve always done, instead of this new project that we've been thinking about for three months?!

Nick
Even before we got married, we thought about doing something like this on the east side of the mountains.

Anne
Knowing that we couldn't finance an option outside of the city by ourselves, we considered different formats: Should we work on some sort of commercial vacation rental, or a fractional membership in one big house, with several members all buying in? But those ideas didn't pencil out, and we decided not to put our energy into trying to make that happen.

Several years later, El Nido came out of the blue. The physical scale of the cabin buildings is just easier. I mean, I can get on the roof! Just knowing that everything related to the cabins is kind of little (like the small water heaters) is reassuring. 

Nick
And it’s all manageable. I think one thing to note is that when we initially bought the cabin property, I didn't think we would be spending as much time here as we have. Now Anne’s here the vast majority of the time, and I’m out here more than half time. But I would rather be out here all the time. We love it here, and honestly I love it more and more every day! And the older I get, the more I don't have any desire to be in the city.

Sauna Inspiration Strikes

Sandra
After your initial purchase, what was the inspiration for building the sauna, and what was the timeline for prepping and building on site?

Anne
It was a priority that we wanted to get to right away, but it took five years to actually get it going.

Nick
We actually moved the original building to our property around April of 2023.

Anne
I did propose having that building show up on our property, because the other part of it is going to be a composting toilet to support camping and then we'll have an outdoor shower and an outdoor kitchen sink. Getting electrical over there and just figuring out how to design the whole thing was a huge amount of research, planning, and sticker shock.

Sandra
Who did most of that research?

Anne
It was me. Most of the work that I do at El Nido is poring over manuals and how-to’s just so I have the information to approach people who can actually do those things.

Nick
I did other work. I cleared out all of that area, including about 40 little elm trees.

Anne
I don't understand how people build houses. There's just so many steps.

Sandra
Yeah, and to think that for such a small building, it's still a big deal.

Backgrounds and Skills

Sandra
What are your backgrounds, and how have your existing skills been applied to the cabin adventure here in Tieton? You have some business background, don't you, Nick?

Nick
Yeah, certainly. But I would say nothing as far as the manual labor side of things. Anne has an art background, so does stuff with her hands, and I never did. But I have worked for quite a long time as the manager for an entire business in Seattle, and still do that work.

Anne
My background is visual art and photography, video, and doing a lot of production-based work. I’ve always enjoyed work that's creative problem solving, like physically making something happen in the world that you need to have but doesn't yet exist. Here at the cabins, I oversee a lot of the project management, along with day to day communication with guests. But at times I hit a wall in my brain and wonder “What decision should I make here?” It has taken a lot of time to develop workable standards about how we approach different situations and guest needs. 

In the meantime I especially love when I finally get to make purely aesthetic decisions, like making curtains…!

Sandra
Well, when you have a new business it often takes a while to reach some stabilization. I’m sure that your clientele at the cabins appreciates what you have created.

Nick
Yes, big time.

Anne
It's really satisfying to find solutions that are functional. That's super fun. In previous jobs, I've also done a lot of copywriting, grant writing, and putting together marketing materials. I'm trying to be super true and authentic to what this place is. It's not any more than what it is. That way, we are only attracting people that are are wanting the same things and aren't expecting much more…

Sandra
They're not looking for a golf course…

Nick
Exactly, not even a microwave. 

Anne
The people that find us, they want an old world, simple aesthetic and that's what we're trying to highlight, that's what's unique about this place.

Hobbies and Interests

Sandra
Anne and Nick, you mentioned your job backgrounds already. What are your hobbies and interests outside your roles as cabin and sauna owners and managers? 

Anne
I don't have hobbies anymore. I don't even have an art brain anymore. I can't think of anything that I'm not using directly for some aspect of this business right now.

Nick
Personally, I like music. Music is really big. I collect records. I still do that. I still DJ. I like to play golf. I like reading a lot. [Nick is also a docent at the elk feeding station outside Tieton.] And both of us like being outside, swimming in the summer, hiking, whatnot. You know, we spend the vast majority of our time outside, doing something from breakfast until dinner or afternoon. Even when it's winter, we're outside working on stuff. There’s always something to be done. It takes a lot of time, but it's fun. The word hobby, I haven't thought about that word in a while. I was trying to think of…I mean, Anne, you love dancing!

Anne
I love music and dancing. I’ve also been trying to read once in a while. And I also love being outdoors. 

Nick
In the summer we both want to be in the river the whole time. We want to be hiking around, moving around somewhere outside, traveling, eating delicious food. Especially in the spring, summer, and early fall months, there is so much work that needs to be done on the property that there isn't a lot of leisure time. We work until pretty much sundown, and then it's happy hour and friends usually come over. We're hosting nearly every single weekend.

Anne
There's so much: cooking with friends, cleaning up after everything, starting the fires, doing all the yard work, doing all the normal operational stuff.

Nick
There’s always something. Everyone just needs to make time to do it. It's a good way to just end the day sometimes, you know? Wind down.

Winding Down

With the completion of The Little Sauna that Could, Anne and Nick continue to live their dream, as they bring energy, creativity, and hospitality not only to the cabins, but to the entire Tieton community as well. We are so fortunate to have them here!

The people that find us, they want an old world, simple aesthetic and that's what we're trying to highlight, that's what's unique to this place.
     — Anne Fenton

I would rather be out here all the time. We love it here, and honestly, I love it more and more every day.
     — Nick Fenton

Welcome to El Nido, six low-key 1940s cabin units in the high country, on four tree-lined acres of native plants and wildlife. Surrounded by working orchards, two blocks from Tieton town square.

Located just east of the Cascades from Seattle and Portland, El Nido is a rural getaway, a central location for outdoor recreation, and convenient to events at Mighty Tieton Warehouse.