Sundara Inn & Spa in Wisconsin, US, is set to launch a residential spa community, with the first eight Lifestyle Villas scheduled to be available in mid-December.

The 1,700sq ft (160sq m) villas – which can sleep up to eight people – will be nestled in the 26-acre pine forest that encircles Sundara and offer views of the adjacent golf course and the spa’s waterfalls and infinity pool.

Each side-by-side villa shares a private treatment room for two – the Spa Bathhouse – and an open-air garden with a hot soaking tub.

Villa owners and guests will meet with spa therapists and counsellors to determine the treatments that will best address their needs. Ayurvedic-inspired treatments have been developed exclusively for the villas.

Sundara chief executive, Kelli Trumble, said of the venture: “In Sundara’s 26 suites, guest entries in suite journals were eloquent in a desire to literally live at the spa.

“Our mission is wellness in all we do, so the Spa Lifestyle Villas were the next natural evolution for us.”

In a recent survey by spa marketing company Spa Finder, 61 per cent of respondents said they would be interested in living in a community built around a spa facility and 18 per cent said a spa was a ‘decisive’ buying requirement.

The starting price for the Sundara villas is US$750,000 (£425,000, 625,000 euro), with four already sold. Eight more properties are planned for 2006. Details: www.sundaraspa.com