Mellington Cartwright

My happy place is working at the intersection of architecture, wellness, and human-centered design.

I’ve worn many hats: artist, arborist, goldsmith, mother, landscape architect, balneologist, gemologist, rural land developer, and hotel operator. For the past decade, I’ve focused on designing Euro-centric, body-positive sauna experiences through systems thinking and spatial design—exploring how to cultivate a clothing-optional spa culture in a country with little tradition around communal bathing.

My roots are in fine arts and crafts. I trained as a goldsmith, creating custom jewelry for clients across Europe and the U.S. That work taught me how materials interact with the human body—insight that continues to inform both my consulting and my bathhouse design today.

I’m also a co-founder of Pocket Camp, a 32-acre forest retreat and experimental community on Heybrook Ridge in Washington. What started as a vision for shared land and infrastructure has become a living collaboration with the landscape—teaching me that wellness isn’t a polished product, but an ongoing, adaptive process shaped by place, people, and care.

Now based in Seattle, I’m preparing to launch my second bathing project_:_ Steam Gardens. A social sauna space rooted in the Cartwright Method—a strategic, sensory, and cultural framework for creating transformational wellness spaces.