Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh Jones.
Hi Josh, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
The driving force behind starting Halcyon House was to gather a variety of holistic care practitioners who have honed their modalities to create a holistic wellness hub that focuses on all aspects of personal wellness, for both practitioner and client. We ask ourselves: “How would your ideal practice look? How can we make the most positive impact on your clients? How can working together across modalities and experiences get better results for people?” As a worker-owned cooperative, one of our goals is agency in the workplace – to have a say in the direction of the business, how we provide care, who joins, everything.
In May of 2024, the founding members of Halcyon House began renovations to our current space with the goal of using materials as sustainably sourced as possible and paying tribute to the historic nature of our downtown Duluth, MN location. Our treatment rooms are heavily insulated to provide a peaceful environment, and the walls were built using a traditional lime plaster method. To reduce the use of sand in our plaster, we sourced locally grown hemp which give the walls a softly textured hand-built appearance. Instead of buying paint, we mixed our own limewash. The whole remodel was very low or zero VOC including the oil finish on the maple floor.
The front of the space is dedicated to social wellness and where we have classes, workshops, community sound baths, art shows, and gongfu tea sessions with our guests.
The art we feature and sell from local artists changes the feel of the space regularly.
Halcyon House opened our doors in January of 2025 for massage therapy. Adding to that shortly after was acupuncture, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and sound meditation.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As a new business as well as a new cooperative, it has been a huge learning experience to all involved. However, we have had great mentorship from MCCD out of Minneapolis who support cooperatives throughout Minnesota.
From licensing, permitting, banking, and raising funds, operating as a cooperative has brought more challenges than a sole proprietorship as many organisations have no experience with cooperatives. In addition raising funds is somewhat different since no owner has a majority stake in the business and using personal property as collateral for loans goes against the ethos of cooperative organisation.
Our original plan when starting was to have a fully operational tea house as a way to offer a calming space at a lower price point than massage, acupuncture, etc. As we opened the wellness side of the business, heavy tariffs on the tea we planned to import shut down trade and inflated the costs to build our kitchen and import tea. It caused us to pause that side of the business and focus on the wellness studio.
As you know, we’re big fans of Halcyon House. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We are an employee-owned and operated cooperative in the historic Electric Fetus building in Downtown Duluth, MN! We consider the Michigan Street entrance as our main entrance to provide ADA access. It is centrally located, a short walk to jump in Lake Superior (for the brave), and right off the Lakewalk.
We offer a variety of holistic wellness services which is helpful in communication between practitioners and is convenient for our clients. We have already had several clients report finally being able to feel relief from pain or other symptoms after almost giving up on the idea that it is possible. Our therapists are highly specialised and are encouraged to fine tune their practices in wherever their passions and interests are. In this way, we feel the client is in the best hands and our practitioners feel supported and intellectually and professionally satisfied.
Halcyon House was designed to be relaxing and healthy, beautiful and functional. People report feeling instantly at ease when they walk through the door. Our goal was to create a space that was easy on any nervous system and didn’t feel too clinical, and that is the feedback we are receiving from our guests.
We are currently offering: Physical Therapy with a focus on Craniosacral Therapy and Somatic Re-patterning; Acupuncture and holistic micro-needling; Massage Therapy with a focus on myofascial re-patterning, Craniosacral Therapy, and Zen Shiatsu; Occupational Therapy with a focus on nervous system regulatiotn and support and pediatric Craniosacral Therapy; and Sound Meditation sessions with crystal sound bowls.
We are seeking nutritionists, herbalists, lymph drainage specialists and Thai massage specialists to join our team.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
There are a few things that drew us to Duluth:
The access to outdoor activities – such a variety of activities are very accessible. In every neighborhood it’s easy to hop on a trail and feel connected to nature. We like how wild it is! Duluth is very captivating with Lake Superior being a force of profound beauty, recreation, and healing energy.
On the downside, wealth inequality is quite visible in some areas of the city. A history of booms and busts have left some areas behind and a low population density forces a dependence on autos. Rents are unsustainably high compared to wages, which sometimes feel artificially suppressed.
Pricing:
- 60 minute massage $115
- Follow-up acupuncture $90
- Individual Physical Therapy $115
- Individual Occupational Therapy $115
- 60 minute couples/group sound bath $100
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.halcyonhouseduluth.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/halcyonhouseduluth
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61563953811186#
