New Freestanding Tubs
To Tip Your Toes Into

Lately, tub manufacturers have been testing the waters with stand-alone basins.

The newest designs are larger and more design-oriented than the claw-footed models of Victorian times. Some are hand-hewn in the mold of slippers, boulders or eggs, out of materials including copper, cast iron and concrete. At April's Kitchen/Bath Industry Show in Chicago, Sonoma Cast Stone introduced the $12,500 Ofuro. The 870-pound, bowl-shaped soaker is made from pre-cast stainless concrete, a material that has been used in kitchen countertops. Waterworks of Danbury, Conn., has a total of seven detached tubs; two years ago, it had two. Its new acrylic-based .25 tub, for $8,500, resembles an egg cut in half lengthwise, while the $29,000 Clothilde is made from hand-hammered copper and can accommodate 80 gallons of water. Stone Forest's Natural bathtub is chiseled out of boulders, at about $15,000 each. The maker, based in Santa Fe, N.M., says it features "anomalies" like minor pitting.

The Spa Look

Makers say the designs appeal to homeowners who want to add a spa-like feel to their bathrooms. Just as hotels have installed tubs in the middle of guest rooms, some buyers are using them for art as much as -- if not more than -- a place to bathe. Steve Rosenblatt, president of Sonoma Cast Stone, says some of the company's tubs end up in living rooms.

Suzanne Brangham's new gray-beige concrete tub, at a cost of $12,000, is in her master bathroom, but she usually prefers to shower. "I take only five baths a year, so it had to look more like sculpture than a bath," says the real-estate developer in Sonoma, Calif.

The new designs come after a dip in spending on bathroom remodeling. Consumers spent $7.7 billion redoing their bathrooms last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, down from $9.1 billion in 2004. Freestanding tubs are a small but pricey piece of the market. Last year, homeowners spent an average $400 on a new, non-whirlpool tub, according to the Home Improvement Research Institute.

There is one challenge: the installation. Fittings, including a drain and faucet handles, are usually extra, and can cost over $3,000. To avoid unsightly plumbing, the pipes must be run underneath the floor. Because many of the new standalone tubs are big and heavy, getting them into place may require some advance planning.

Interior designer Despina Souhlas recently worked with a client to get a 1,800-pound stone tub into a 1890s row house in Chicago. The homeowner first had to reinforce the wooden joists underneath the tub to hold its weight. (Water can add 500 pounds more to a larger tub.) Then the tub had to be lifted up to the second floor with a crane, which required six movers. "It was a nightmare," she says.

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