Camp Rosemary: Celebrating the Life, Legacy, and Collection of Posy Krehbiel

 

 

I was blessed to have Posy as my aunt. Anyone who had the opportunity to spend time with Posy was drawn in by her warmth, her energy and her sense of humor. And of course, her laugh! She was a friend and supporter to so many people and so many causes. She made you feel special and appreciated if maybe you were having a day when those things weren’t coming so easily. She always made time for you. We miss her.

 

I had the joy to watch her develop the house and garden she bought with my Uncle John on Rosemary Road in Lake Forest over the 30 some years that they owned it. Slowly, at first, and then with accelerating gusto, she created what has been fairly described as one of the finest private gardens in North America. The garden was this incredible oasis of calm and beauty. I have passed many an hour laying on the grass, under the large hickory staring up at the sky.

 

Inside, the house reflected Posy – beautiful, relaxed, elegant, comfortable. Working with Colefax & Fowler, Posy brought the house back to life, and full of life it was. She filled the house with beautiful objects from her travels and her collecting – she was a great patron of Chicago area antiques shops and dealers. She loved to discover beautiful objects hidden away and bring them home.

 

As my cousins, Posy’s children, had their own children, the house became a meeting ground for families in the summer – and thus developed the name Camp Rosemary. A lot of petting zoo animals came through that yard! I had the pleasure of living there one summer with my own family ‘at the camp’ – a testament to Posy’s generosity which kept the house open to so many.

 

Enjoy the catalog, full of enchanting pictures, of this most special place. And as we say, bid early and often!