A young TikTok couple has gone massively viral for hollowing out a gigantic 73-year-old spruce tree stump and turning it into an outdoor hot tub
tiktok.com/@jacobwitzling
- Former teacher Jacob Witzling and former model Sara Underwood are building unique outdoor structures and dwellings in the Pacific Northwest.
- While documenting their homesteading journey in the forest, a repurposed hot tub has enraptured TikTok.
- The tub is 30 inches deep and was apparently fashioned from a 73-year-old spruce tree stump.
Four years ago, influencer couple Jacob Witzling and Sara Underwood announced that they were building Cabinland, a collective of cabins and structures located on a 15-acre swath of land they own in the Pacific Northwest.
According to their TikToks and YouTube videos documenting their journey, the couple set out to construct eight to 10 "wonderland artisan cabins" so that they could homestead in the rainforest — and potentially rent out the structures one day.
Though long in the making, one project in particular has stoked massive interest on TikTok: a whimsically-inviting outdoor hot tub made of a repurposed 73-year-old spruce tree stump. A video Witzling shared on Tuesday compelled 4.6 million views — however videos that date back months from when they began the project have captivated tens of millions of viewers.
Witzling announced the project on TikTok in October, which has received 30.2 million views. In the initial video, he shared the tree had not been chopped down but "came down during a winter of record rainfall." In a second video, shared later that month and with 20.2 million views, he counted the tree's rings in response to angry commenters who were convinced that the tree was much older.
"It was laying in our neighbor's yard for over year until we asked a friend if he could get us a chunk of it," Witzling said.
On Underwood's channel, she documented how they hollowed out the stump with a chainsaw, sanded down the surface, installed a propane water heater , and then built a ladder for easy entry and exit.
The finished "Stump Tub," as they called it, was unveiled in December, and showed the couple enjoying a dreamy soak in the rain.
In a subsequent video from January that has amassed 10.4 million views, he shared how the tub fills and drains. Witzling said water enters the tub at 120 degrees, and it takes 20 minutes to fill the 30-inch-deep basin. After they're done, they attach a garden hose to the end of a drain pipe and use the remaining water for trees and ferns across the property.
Fans who have been following their journey are absolutely dazzled by the creation. Comments like "[you're] living my dream," have flooded their videos. Others are simply inspired. "Well, now I need a stump tub," wrote a top comment on the tub's debut video.
While it may be their most enrapturing creation to date, it's not the only one by the couple that has gone massively viral.
Witzling's channel is predominantly dedicated to wood-chopping, and his collection of homemade axes — including those with multiple blades, ones that can be strapped to his arm, or even tiny-sized axes to scrap the sap out of pinecones — have accrued tens of millions of views.
And, of course, Cabinland itself, which looks like something straight out of a Tolkien novel, is captivating enough. So far, the couple has built a handful of structures to date, including a cabin in their truck's cargo bed, a sauna, and huts to house water equipment and Underwood's clothing stash.
The couple's main house is called the "Castle Cabin," comprising three conjoined structures. It took two years to build, they said, and features a grass roof that has a built-in sprinkler system.
A second Cabinland in the desert is also in the works, which the couple announced in April last year. Underwood has been documenting that effort on her TikTok channel as well.
Insider has reached out to Witzling and Underwood for comment and to learn more about their projects.