The Longe Series 2: Banya in the Woods

Banya Series No. 2 — A wood-fired banya afternoon on a private estate in Woodside The first afternoon under the redwoods ended the way banya always does: people who arrived as strangers lingered by the fire long after the last round. So we're lighting it again. Banya is the Eastern European bathhouse ritual, four centuries old and almost unchanged. There's wood-fired steam and a rhythmic massage with bundles of leafy birch branches called venik. Then cold water, then rest, then again. It sounds intense. It feels like the deepest exhale of your year. The setting is a private estate in Woodside, an hour from San Francisco and a world away from it. It has a wood-fired banya, a wood-fired barrel sauna, two cold plunges, an open fireplace, herbal tea, and long unhurried conversation between rounds. The point of banya was never just the heat. For four hundred years it has been the room where strangers become friends, and that's what we're building The Longe around. The afternoon — Welcome tea under the redwoods — Guided banya rounds with venik steam; first-timers looked after — Cold plunge, at your own pace — Fire, tea, and the banya table — An update on The Longe, the longevity bathhouse we're building in San Francisco, and how to be part of it first Good to know Small group, by ticket only. No experience needed. Bring a swimsuit; everything else is taken care of. The exact address arrives with your confirmation. Came to the first one? Bring someone who hasn't. Come as a stranger. Leave a friend.