Testimonials

My dream was to one day have a Japanese soaking tub so when my husband and I decided to build our own house with a Japanese aesthetic, I was so pleased to find your website with my dream tub! A true work of art.
We had many delays and my poor tub sat on the back porch of our rental for almost 3 years.
I would proudly show it off to my friends and would take it into the house during the very cold winter nights.
Now it has a proper home in our master bath and every time I bathe I feel like I am in heaven. There is nothing like being embraced by water up above the shoulders and breathing the other worldly aroma of the wood. The worries of the day disparate as I am transported to a timeless place of peace.
Thank you for building it with such loving care and attention.

R.R.
robinolivereich.com
https://www.instagram.com/orangegreyhound/

What a lovely comment we have received!
And soooo beautiful photos! Thank you R. san!
We are glad the long odissey of R.`s ofuro blossomed into an happy end and also the fact that if properly wrapped to prevent dehidration, also a kadomaru bathtub can remain in perfect conditions after 3 years of storage!

And I think the orange/gold of the sawara tub is strikingly beautiful coordinated with the antrax of the tiles and the fresh green of the outdoors.
Dear R.: I must say we are very envious of your new house!

Sending in a photo of our sweet and compact tub. We love it and use it multiple times a week!
T from Seattle

another picture kindly participated by a client and friend!
in the title, I tried to play around with the title of a famous movie…
It is a kind of corny sense of humor.
Japanese would call it “dajare” or oyaji-gag (middle age father`s gag)
Is this a sign I am getting older?

Hi Iacopo,
I hope you’re well.
I’ve only just seen the ofuro-jiman contest email you sent earlier this week so I’m probably too late, but I thought I’d send you some photos of our ofuro anyway, in case you’d like to post them on Bartok’s instagram account?

As you may recall, we extended our house in London and created a new Japanese style wet room on the ground floor, complete with one of Bartok’s sawara ofuro and hinoki stool and bucket. I spend most Sunday evenings soaking in the wonderful ofuro! The view from the ofuro of a maple tree through the timber slatted screen helps me feel a little closer to Japan!
Best regards,
S.T.

Photo credits: Agnese Sanvito @agnesesanvito

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An early bird testimonial from Switzerland for our “ofuro jiman” contest!
There is no comment but the pristine conditions of the 9-year-old ofuro do not need further comments!

Thank you and … enjoy the hot water!

Thank you Iacopo-san for all your hard work! We have finally finished our bathroom remodel and here are pictures of the finished product. Thank you for the wonderful #ofuro !!
MM from Oregon, USA

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well, there is no special relationship between our lovely Australian client and Cicero.
But when I saw this photo, I could not help remembering the quotation: “si apud …OFURUM… hortulum habes, nihil deerit”

Which roughly translates in: “if you have a small garden near your ofuro, you do not need anything else”

And I am sure that Cicero would have loved the natural greens and browns of this space!

(PS: actually, Cicero was talking about a library and not an ofuro (;^_^…)

I am very grateful to Iacopo and the craftsmen at Bartok Design for helping me to realize a dream I have had for many years. I bought my ofuro 18 months ago from the outlet corner.

Since it was delivered to our home in Canberra Australia, we have built a new home in Victoria county. I was able to design my new bathroom specifically for my ofuro, with an opening door so that I can recycle the clean water onto the garden.

The photo shows the door opening onto what will be my small Japanese-style garden courtyard, opening onto the rest of the garden.
In hindsight, it may have been better to wait until our plans for the new house were at least finalized to buy the ofuro, but we were not planning to move when I bought it.
It has been a wonderful blessing to have over the last very stressful 18 months. It has survived being wrapped in plastic, put in storage, and being left in my mother’s garden (full of water)  for several months. After a good clean and sanding it has come up very well and I’m sure I will enjoy it for many more years,
A.

one of the first entries to our “ofuro-jiman contest” !
This is an absolutely amazing space!
it surpasses the rosiest hopes !!
and I can imagine that also the window filled with green is considered as one of the artworks of the collection..!

Hi Iacopo,
It took longer than expected to install our ofuro but we are very happy with the result. As artists, we are surrounded by paintings and sculptures but the tub room is the envy of our friends.
Congratulations to your craftsmen for their high standards. 
Hope you like the photo.
Regards,
D&B

another early bird from the “ofuro-jiman contest” !
and another space full of charm, of purity and love.
I especially like the harmony/contrast with the belgian ancient building`s inner courtyard!
And here helow id the kind message from the clients:

Thanks to Iacopo’s professionalism, friendliness and helpfulness and the skill of his craftsmen, we finally realised a dream. Relaxing the mind and regenerating the body after the hard work of the day is a wonderful experience: we made it a special observation point from which to contemplate our tea garden in Brussels.
どうもありがとうございました。

E&C

We just received photos from a client of their beautiful new bathroom!

” the tub is the centrepiece of the master bathroom
its so beautiful!”

from S.T. (Singapore)

It must be amazing to soak in aromatic water while looking at the night lights of the metropolis!

and here below are some photos of the site before installation.
when our client was writing us:

Please see attached. Am so excited to receive my tub tomorrow 🙂

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We love when our clients make us participate to the installation process and of course can assist by phone or zoom the plumber and answer their questions ＼(^o^)／

We just received photos from a client of their beautiful new bathroom!

How lovely! The orange of the sawara wood goes very well with the dark tiles!
Very stylish and homey at the same time.
I see the ofuro is close to the shower. Be sure to rinse the wood after a shower to wash off the splashes of soapy water.

Apparently they first installed the shower and passed the sanitary inspection. Afterwards they just placed the ofuro which is actually for soaking so it is technically not a sanitary equipment. Very smart!

Have a nice bath!

Hi I promised you images I’ve been slow getting around to them. The tub is perfect I love it!!

T&B from Oregon

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