All posts related to the Gardens & Grounds
Category: Gardens & Grounds
Project Update, Fall 2020
I hope this message finds you in good health as we close out a most unusual year. We missed being able to host in-person concerts, lectures and special events. Park visitors told me, however, that they appreciate being able to...
5 Questions: Q&A with Jeff Frank
Jeff Frank is a lead designer with Corbin Design in Traverse City, Mich. The company’s motto is “People get lost. We fix that.” Cantigny engaged Corbin to develop a wayfinding strategy and signage system for the park. Some of the...
Idea Garden Goes With the Flow
Cantigny’s beloved Idea Garden, “the gardener’s garden,” is on target to reopen late next spring, and park visitors will notice some big changes. Among them: a waterfall, running stream, boulders and footbridge. The new water elements occupy the eastern half...
5 Questions: Q&A with Will Buhlig
The Wheaton landmark known as the Robert R. McCormick House is perhaps Cantigny’s most iconic feature. Other than a few of the estate’s massive oak trees, it’s also the oldest. The historic home dates to 1896 and the days of...
Eight Times Better
Another Cantigny “garden room” has reopened following extensive renovation. This month we welcome back the Octagon Garden, a space named for its geometric shape and cherished for its ever-changing seasonal beauty. The garden has always had eight sides, but it...
5 Questions: Q&A with Matt Langan
Matt Langan is in his twelfth year with the Boston office of Sasaki Associates, a planning and design firm with international operations. In 2014, Cantigny retained Sasaki to develop a property “master plan” that became Project New Leaf. As a...
A Rocky Debut
Cantigny Park visitors will soon experience a garden within the gardens that is entirely new: a Rock Garden unlike any other in the Midwest. Located just east of the Visitors Center and south of the new Fountain Garden, the Rock...
5 Questions: Q&A with Chris Pieters
It would be easy to bestow pity upon Chris Pieters, not that he’d ever want it. He joined Cantigny as food and beverage director in May 2017, just as Project New Leaf was getting under way. The project has made...
Project Update, Summer 2020
Summer at the park is not what we pictured just a few months ago. COVID-19 has changed our daily operations in so many ways. We’re happy to be open again on a limited basis but we miss not being able...
Aqua Show!
Throughout Project New Leaf, one of the most anticipated elements has been the new fountain, the crown jewel and centerpiece of the gardens located east of the Cantigny Visitors Center. The Fountain Garden is also among the first Phase II...