Our story

3 generations of sauna traditions

The founder of HUUM, Siim Nellis, is actually the third one in his family to produce sauna stoves. His grandfather was a skilled oven-builder with a lot of experience in building sauna stoves and his father is also active in sauna stove production. Siim continues to carry on these traditions, connecting the Estonian sauna building knowledge with modern design and innovative technology.

How the first design sauna stove was born

Sauna stoves have been developed in countries with long sauna traditions without necessarily paying much attention to design. In the search for a more contemporary and efficient design for sauna stoves Siim Nellis turned to the Estonian Academy of Arts in 2011. The product design students of the academy proposed different designs, among which one design stood out. It was inspired by a water drop and had a hemispheric shape. In 2012 the stove was developed for production and it became known as DROP. Unlike other sauna stoves before, DROP had a unique round shape, well-optimized use of metal and an increased stone capacity, which allowed the electric stove to produce a mild steam similar to wood-burning sauna stoves.

In 2015 DROP sauna stove won the prestigious Red Dot Award: Product Design, one of the most important international awards for exceptionally good design. DROP sauna stove was acknowledged for a well-implemented design solution.