SIMPLY RESTORED

A best-in-class experience arrives on the North Shore.

66 2025 Mothers Day Deep Cleanse Facial Female Woman 1665 Retouched — Deep Cleanse Facial

For more than two decades, Woodhouse Spa has stood for one simple idea: that a spa visit should feel less like an appointment, and more like being cared for. In October, owners Jenny and Brian Kerns brought that idea to the North Shore and nestled the 9,500-square foot sanctuary at Renaissance Place—right in the heart of downtown Highland Park.

Built from the ground up, the spa is custom designed from the studs out. Fourteen private treatment rooms host massage, facial, and body treatments alongside a soaking tub, luxury changing lounges, and a quiet room for the parts of a visit most spas overlook: the before and after. Warm wood, cool stones, and low light set the ambient tone, and custom furniture completes the look— one that evokes serious relaxation.

Woodhouse specializes in combination treatments. Start with a body treatment featuring microcurrent sculpting and Maya Chia’s cold-pressed botanical oils to support circulation and tone. Pair it with a facial treatment built on SkinCeuticals and Babor and delivered with Hydrafacial, using state-of-the-art steam and microdermabrasion technology. Top off your journey with their Japanese-inspired Head Spa scalp and hair ritual, the closest thing to an hour outside your own head.

Technology and equipment aside, it’s the hands that use them that mean more. Woodhouse Spa opened with a founding team of experienced, Illinois-licensed therapists and estheticians—professionals with reputations of their own, who came not to follow a standard, but to define one. The team is given the time each treatment truly requires, allowing each guest the complete relaxing experience they deserve—and making it one they won’t forget.

The calming ambiance begins the moment you arrive.

“A concierge greets you by name and gently eases you in with a warm oshibori towel steeped in aromatherapy, a cup of Harney & Sons tea, and a soft velvet robe waiting in the changing lounge,” shares Brian. “Then, you head to the quiet room where a seat is already prepared with a blanket and a lavender neck wrap.”

Woodhouse Spa therapists take special care to talk to each guest before any treatment begins—never in the middle of it. And whenever there’s a pause between treatments, the concierge ensures guests are comfortable with a beverage or snack.

Whether a guest indulges in one treatment or a full day of relaxation, Brian shares the ultimate goal for their team is simple, “We want our guests to be able to describe their experience with one word: restored. Not pampered, not treated, simply restored.”