From Bethesda Magazine: Hot, cold therapy aims to bring relief to all ages

A North Bethesda couple opened their SweatHouz franchise in Pike & Rose in 2025

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April 14, 2026 3:00 p.m. | Updated: April 14, 2026 1:11 p.m.

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Kevin and Brenna Dorsey were already fans of saunas and cold plunges when they learned about SweatHouz, a company headquartered in Atlanta that offers cold and heat therapy in spa-like spaces. The couple loved SweatHouz’s model of contrast therapy in private rooms and opened a franchise in April 2025 in North Bethesda. Their Pike & Rose location has 11 suites: 10 are outfitted with a cold plunge tub, an infrared sauna (light waves heat the body directly and at a lower temperature than a traditional sauna) and a vitamin C shower, and one suite offers those plus a Spectra red light therapy bed. Visitors can decide how to break up their 60-minute session. “What we recommend is 30 to 45 minutes infrared sauna, three to five minutes in the cold plunge,” Brenna says. “The infrared sauna is very different than a traditional sauna that you may use at your gym. … [It can be] more tolerable.” 

The Dorseys, who live with their two young daughters and infant son in North Bethesda, grew up in Maryland. Brenna graduated from Clarksburg High School and Kevin lived in Prince George’s County. They met in geography class at the University of Maryland, where Kevin played football for four years. After brief stays with the NFL’s Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots, he took a job with the federal government, where he still works. 

“From years banging into another human being constantly, you have residual pain. Sometimes you just wake up being like, ‘Hey, I don’t know why my knee hurts, but my knee hurts today,’ ” says Kevin, who has personally seen the benefits of contrast therapy. “I got to a point where that stopped occurring, and now it doesn’t happen at all.”  

Customers range from teens to older adults. “We have parents that bring their 14-year-olds that are playing club lacrosse and need their recovery. We have members that are in their 70s that come in for inflammation benefits for arthritis, or for Lyme disease detox,” Brenna says. Some customers don’t have a fitness routine. “They’re just here for the mental health benefits.”  

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The Dorseys hope to open more SweatHouz locations in the county in coming years. 

Brenna Dorsey, 32 

• Always cold, looking for a way to warm up 
• Ideal vacation: “Always a beach” 
• First tried infrared sauna after the birth of her first daughter 
• Loves infrared sauna treatment (140 to 170 degrees) 

Kevin Dorsey, 36 

• Doesn’t mind the cold and seeks out ways to cool off 
• Ideal vacation: “Skiing” 
• First tried cold plunge as a high school football player 
• Loves cold plunges (around 50 degrees) 

This appears in the March/April 2026 issue of Bethesda Magazine.

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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine