Wandawega Blog Archive
Were on a social distancing vacation a couple hours from Chicago:we headed to Michigan & rented a Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece (Its a 3 bdrm Airbnb thats only $430 a night)Its so gorgeous here that guests from 13 countries have made the pilgrimage to stay Here are our top 10 reccos for when you book this place too:1. STAY search Frank Lloyd Wright Eppstein House Airbnb Galesburg, MI 2. TASTE 100+ local restaurants deliver to the door here3. READ the houses extensive art & architecture library4. HIKE The 25m of wooded trails in Al Sabo Preserve5. EXPLORE The home sits among 4 other FLW homes. (In 1947, a group of scientists built a community of them)6. SHOP the Burgess Antique Center in the 100+ year-old seed co. bldg (its 22,000 sq ft so plenty of room for social distancing)7. VISIT historic old Milham Park (parts actually still looks like this 50s postcard )8. LISTEN to the houses rad library of vinyl in the cozy music room, with a fire.9. SUPPORT (David serves on the Board for the @flwtrust) so we try to see, stay in & support as many of Wrights homes as we can.10. ??? Today is our last day here! Any reccos for the area? Ideas welcome.Today, we woke up & sat in the great room with a dramatic wall of glass- made a pot of coffee in the vintage set, watched the sunrise over epic rolling hills this house is cut into- flip through albums of the history of this home- to learn about the family who dreamt it into being with Frank. Every textile, desk lamp & painting is period transports you back 70yrsIt’s places like this that remind us of the very real therapy & power to be found in architecture. In a world quickly filling up with pop-up glamping resorts, its places like this (that were designed for the ages) that are worthy of our bucket lists. Worthy of supporting the families who are pouring their hearts, years & lives into restoring history for us all.Please visit flwright.org Their mission:to engage, educate and inspire the public through the architecture, design and legacy of Frank Lloyd Wright. Shockingly, openings still available.Check this time capsule story in @dwellmagazine
Saints & Sinners. next slide Back during prohibition when Wandawega ran as a speakeasy (even pre dating our Supper Club days) photos werent allowed here.Not only was the liquor served illegal at the time, the ladies kept their jobs because they knew how to be discreet.Well never know who visited this place back then (except perhaps Americas most wanted, gangster Roger Touhy, who was arrested by the local police when they picked him up down the street on his way back to Chicago.) And then the Bishop when he came to bless the property when the Catholic Church bought it in 1961.We’ve always loved the photo walls of guests who visited the old supper clubs- so weve since started our own Guest Log book (a few clips of some of our favorite past guests).And weve been dreaming of the day that we can do a supper club pop up here again for guests.We still have all the original tables, chairs and dishes from the third photo, taken here in the 40s.We also still have an attic full of lazy susans for those epic relish trays just waiting to serve up saints and sinners once again.
Sweater weather is my fav time of year. Time to burn some leaves while its still nice out. Someone who always gets it right and inspired us if one of our favorite guests @lizmariegalvan and her beautiful family …. when they spent some time with us in the lakeview cabin. If you dont know Liz… be prepared to lose yourself for the next hour +in her feed – its so gorgeous I cant even begin to describe it. The home she has created, her business, book, brand… life . #goalsFeatured here:Our lakeview cabin (3rd shot)AFrame Cabin (2nd pic)Sterlingworth cabin (1st image)
SIPPL’S MAPLE SYRUP…custom canned for Camp!
It’s here! Our Camp Wandawega Maple Syrup, from the sugar maples of Wisconsin, (canned just a few hours north of camp at a family owned sugar bush in Burnamwood, Wisconsin pop. 800). Finding these original lithographed cans was fun! The design dates back to 1951 (when canning syrup was a new method)… some of our design inspiration shown below. In an effort to promote it to farmers, Quebec’s Ministry of Agriculture held a province-wide call for packaging designs. This winning entry went into production and has been lithographed ever since. Production today is streamlined with state-of-the-art tubing systems, jars, bottles…
Updated! Wow did these sell out fast JUST RESTOCKED another dozen this morning (our in-house private stash) and next shipment of 50 arrive mid week. Its here! Newest collab camp store addition Our Camp Wandawega Maple Syrup, from the sugar maples of Wisconsin- canned just a few hours north of camp at a family owned sugar bush in Birnamwood, Wisconsin pop. 800. Finding these original lithographed cans…. (and a sugar house to import them and then custom small batch cans for us) took us months of tracking syrup industry suppliers & equipment manufacturers all over Canada & the US. Lithographed Syrup cans are an art from a bygone era (some of our favs slide 6)The design dates back to 1951 (when canning syrup was a new method). In an effort to promote it to farmers, Quebecs Ministry of Agriculture held a province-wide call for packaging designs. This winning entry went into production and has been lithographed ever since. Production today is streamlined with state-of-the-art tubing systems, jars, bottles and tins – we worked with our small, family-owned partner to get the original canning machine so we could use these old school cans, and the original method. Each of our cans are lidded by hand, just like they where in the beginning. We fell in love with the detail: The can was originally designed to leave a blank spot where producers can affix their own distribution labelwhich is exactly what we did. Ours label tells the backstory: Sippl’s Amber Maple syrup, specially canned for Camp Wandawega. The can is still proudly French Canadian, but the contents are Wisconsin liquid gold. Our favorite details: With every can, we include our camp church key opener, and a cap to seal it after cracking it open. (Save the can, we’re now using them now at camp for everything from silverware caddies to planters)DETAILS:* Lithographed tin, made by the same Quebec company since 1951* Customized with our camp prohibition tax seal & stamped.* Linen bag (with some camp swag, last shot)* Leather tie camp souvenir church key opener* 18oz. of Amber Grade liquid gold canned for Camp Wandawega by Sippl’s SugarbushPhotos 1,2,9 @nathanmichael
Giving away the details (For those hunting for the devil hiding in the details. We made these for you.)They just arrived and because we love sharing new things in the camp store, were gonna pick a handful of comments left here and wrap these babies up in some camp swag to send to their new homes. Many folks are surprised to hear that Bandanas were popular advertising giveaways for industrial companies starting as far back as the 1920s. (Zoom into the 9th shot here for some of our favorite examples). So to honor this (and our roots running back to 1925) we created our version to be as authentic as possible to that era and purpose. We asked our friend Jon Oye to illustrate each camp building in the old pen line style of the period.Just like this place – there are little surprises tucked into the design…hiding in all of the little corners. You cant see them right away- and most folks may never find them. Some may never look. But we know theyre there, and we love to surprise people. Next time youre here, look in the back of your rooms bottom dresser drawer. Or the top shelf of your closet. We like to find those souls as curious as we are, people who like to hunt. Because devils (and angels) are always hidden the details.DETAILS: +18×18 inches with finish whip stitch edging +Printed in water based inks (OG method vs modern silkscreening)+You pick navy or red+Comes gift boxed, and bagged in linen pouch +100% cotton, pre-washed for soft texture (Update : The 12 winners from the calendar giveaway last week have been picked! They are getting boxed up this weekend : ) wrapping presents and shipping them to strangers is our new favorite thing.
Its a happy week here at camp! We just got a couple surprise features that popped up in the new Departures Gift Guide and the @crateandkids Catalog. Thanks @departuresmag for supporting small family rural businesses.
Calling all saints and sinners!Your vice has arrived.(The box just hit our doorstep)There has been a long tradition of gambling here at Camp Wandawega,dating back to our rathskellar during prohibition. So we thought it was about time that we made it official and got our own deck of cards. (These are inspired by the Sportmans sets from the 1920s).The faces are the first advertising photo of camp, taken from the lake in 1925, when the Wandawega Hotel first opened its doors to saints and sinners. The Joker card features our own camp Mascot, Frankie. Enjoy responsibly. (we just added them to the campstore this morning)DETAILS:+ Standard 52-card deck with linen finish, + Each box sealed with luck (and Wisconsin Gamers gold seal)* Illustrations by @marina.kozak & Jon Oye
