The history of the cabana, which is becoming one of the most popular backyard structures, is closely related to one of our all-time favorite forms of recreation - swimming. As far back as anyone can trace, people have used lakes, rivers, creeks, and ponds for swimming, as well as bathing. The first known organized swimming events date back to 2500 B.C., in Egypt; but it wasn't until the first century B.C. that the Romans invented the first swimming pools.

Back then, the pools were used largely for bathing, which was one of the most important rituals in Roman society. Although we consider it personal and private, for the Romans, bathing was a communal activity that took place chiefly in public bathhouses. Even people who were wealthy enough to have baths in their own homes often preferred the bathhouses, as they were popular places to socialize, conduct business, and exchange gossip.

Even the most common bathhouses, called thermae, were luxurious, having vaulted ceilings, well-lighted rooms, colorful mosaics and paintings, and silver faucets. For the elite, however, there were more elaborate ones, made from marble, and accented with expensive gilding.

Many of the larger bathhouses also had sports and recreational facilities, and even libraries and lecture halls. The dressing rooms featured niches and cabinets for storing people's clothes while they bathed. As time went on, more outdoor swimming pools were built, independent of the bathhouses, strictly for recreation. Since there was no place outside for people to change into their swimming attire, they started building little huts to use as dressing rooms.

The Latin word for hut was capanna, from which the Spanish word, cabana, was derived. In English, the word is cabana, which is defined as "a shelter resembling a cabin, usually with an open side facing a beach or swimming pool."

Since their introduction, years ago, cabanas have come to achieve worldwide renown, dotting the beaches in every resort area, and lining the outskirts of every public pool. The swimming pool, as we know, sky-rocketed to fame as one of the most popular inventions in history, and was quickly elevated from the ranks of public domain, to being a status symbol in millions of backyards around the world.

Although, for many years, the cabana simply rode the waves of the swimming pool's popularity, it is now enjoying a surge of notoriety, as people everywhere are discovering that it can stand on its own. With its new looks and tons of sophisticated features available, including skylights, cupolas, screened windows, ceiling fans, electricity, and plumbing, this former little shanty is in vogue as a guesthouse, cottage, and summerhouse, and is itself nearing status symbol status, even when there's not a pool in sight!