The quest to look hotter is reshaping America's homes

Bill McCullough for BIAfter a long day selling multimillion-dollar condos in downtown Miami, Maile Aguila retreats to her five-acre farm about 30 miles south. The place is a far cry from the city's soaring high-rises, where uber-rich buyers enjoy access to perks like indoor lap pools, private padel courts, and spacious balconies overlooking the water. Tucked inside a barn on Aguila's property, though, is an amenity that would feel right at home in any penthouse: her prized infrared sauna.

Aguila, 71, has lived on the property for decades, but she awoke to the wonders of the sauna a couple of months ago at an event hosted by Biohack Miami. "When you walk out of there, you feel brand new," says Aguila. Several evenings a week, she cranks up Bad Bunny or Marc Anthony and sinks into the hot glow for 20 minutes.

Then she enjoys the best sleep she's had in years.Our twin obsessions with longevity and looksmaxxing — hacking our way to healthier lives and looking hotter while doing it — are reshaping not just bodies but homes, turning spare rooms and garages into dens of tech-enabled optimization rather than lo-fi leisure. The McMansion era had its man caves and home movie theaters; the pandemic sent everyone scrambling to set up a home office or a makeshift gym.

The biggest flex these days is a cold plunge, red-light therapy room, or sauna.These modern luxury markers aren't solely for the superrich. It's never been cheaper to bring the spa home: the model Aguila bought fits two people and costs less than $5,000.

I also spoke with a 27-year-old Austin couple who transformed an empty covered patio into what they've playfully dubbed a "wellness hut," complete with sauna and cold plunge, for less than $8,000 — a fraction of the cost of a typical kitchen renovation.Of course, the wealthy are all in on this stuff, too. During a recent trip to Miami, I watched health-conscious patrons curl up in hyperbaric oxygen chambers and chatted with condo developers at the bleeding edge of t