Meet Tereasa Surratt, the creative powerhouse behind Camp Wandawega, a renowned vintage summer camp retreat located in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. With a background in advertising and a keen eye for design, Tereasa transformed Camp Wandawega's historic property into a nostalgic haven that celebrates the simplicity and the charm of simple living.

Her unique vision has attracted visitors from around the world, seeking creative, authentic experiences at camp. Tereasa is always conceptualizing and executing new projects and collaborations, within the camp property and beyond! She's dedicated to preserving the history and legacy of both Camp Wandawega and other historic sites.

We can't wait for you to learn more about our friend Tereasa!

Hi Tereasa! What excited you and sparked your creativity and curiosity as a child?
I grew up sandwiched between soybeans, horses and hog lots. So nature was my only available muse.

I'm one of five kids and we were raised like feral cats - taking off on our dirt bikes at sunrise and exploring abandoned farmsteads. My dad let us drive trucks around our horse corral ‘as soon as you’re old enough to reach the gas’. I was ten. It was bliss, and in retrospect, dangerous as hell.  

My mom was a sign painter who taught me how to hand letter when I was 13. She was a gleaner and a thrifter. She outfitted our home from church basement sales and swap meets with weathered things that carried their stories.

My dad was a mechanic, resurrecting rusted cars into hot rods. He was a mason and builder. I think that’s how I learned at a young age to find beauty in the forgotten - from falling-in cabins to abandoned vintage cars.

Camp Wandawega has such a rich and colorful history. Would you mind sharing a few highlights and favorite fun facts?
Here's a fun fact: In the 1940’s, the owner Anna Peck was arrested for running a ‘house of ill repute’ aka: a brothel. At camp. Really.

Our podcast “American Getaway” tells it better than I can. ‘The story of Camp Wandawega - once a brothel and speakeasy before later transforming into a family resort, a Catholic retreat center, and a summer camp’

Camp Wandawega is ever evolving. What does it currently encompass for you? 
We like to think of camp as a creative lab. A place to make stuff. Sometimes it’s a line of canned goods with the local farmers. Other times it's a collaboration with Crate & Barrel. And sometimes it’s macGyvering an aesthetic way to camouflage a PVC drainage pipe. 

It was a side hustle for years while I worked in the ad world, until I finally outgrew my day job. (I left a year and a half ago after a 25 year stint. Since leaving, it has been like drinking from a firehose.)

How are you spending your time when you’re there?
My business card says ‘founder and janitor’. That’s a pretty accurate description. You’ll usually find me up in the Department of Objects sifting through antique trunks for props for a photoshoot, hitting up the Elkhorn flea market, or driving the backroads scouting for our next cabin location.

You have created such a detailed and vast world with Camp Wandawega, will you walk us through the different projects underneath the Camp Wandawega umbrella?
Most folks know us as a historic camp ground and lodge. But our business is sort of a 3-legged stool:

- Product lines and licensing with national retailers. From bedding to tableware, camping gear to motorcycles- whatever looks like fun.

- Host creative retreats and events for folks such as Studio Gang Architects, Shinola, and Anthropologie.

- Airbnb rentals

You have designed and partnered on so many thoughtful and unique Camp Wandawega products over the years! How do you tie in the history of camp with all of your product collaborations?
We try to stay true to our roots. Our motto for years has been: Not New. Not Improved. Since 1925. But the truth is that we’re always evolving…

We’re fiercely loyal to authenticity. It’s why you’ll only see brush strokes in our signage vs modern vinyl. 

We have a house rule that we embrace on the daily: It doesn’t cross the threshold if it’s newer than 1970. It can’t apply to things like wiring, but if you pull open the sports equipment shed and find yourself playing with an antique wooden racket, we think we’re doing something right.

We love the community you have built through collaborating and sharing your space with other creatives and artists! What’s coming up that you’re excited about?
We just launched our Artist in Residence program, so we’re looking for new folks to host next season. We’ve got a capsule collection of camping and recreational gear coming out with a Midwestern brand this fall. We’re in R&D phase now for our 2025 bedding line…. and million other smaller projects.

I wake up at 3:30 every morning because I’m so excited to make all the things.

What are you planning for your Camp Wandawega Outpost at The Center of Order and Experimentation?
We’re creating an immersive experience pop-up shop in the back quarters of COE. Bringing camp to the city with an 8 foot grizzly bear, some of our favorite product collab lines, and a bit of vintage. We can’t wait. (Also, COE is literally one block from our Chicago home, so we’re stoked.)

To launch the shop, we're partnering up with our friends at Accidentally Wes Anderson for a Halloween costume party and pop-up opening.

When you visit other hospitality venues (hotels, vacation rentals, creative retreats) what are you looking for? 
I guess I’m not looking as much as I just want to take it in as a holistic experience.

I gravitate towards the places that have a narrative. A history. Any place or space that you can feel, see, touch, hear. That it has been curated over many decades, by many hands. I love the places that feel like a culmination of stories.

My favorite venues show their layers. Old postcards mixed with new. Embracing imperfections is what makes places unique, and I think, more memorable. 

What touches delight you and make you feel welcome?
Honestly, anything that doesn’t feel like it’s pulled from a trend-based Pinterest board. The rooms that have layers of stories and texture (it could be anything — is the welcome book an antique photo album?) 

Anything that shows evidence of the people who put their heart into it for passion vs profit. I’m always drawn to the baseboards and windows in old hotels. The kind with a hundred layers of paint. It’s those coats that reveal and intrigue me the most. Whether that's a place, a space, or a person. 






What has inspired you lately?
We just got back from a trip to New York where we were hitting up The Shopkeepers map of Williamsburg. I’m currently obsessed with storefronts. The ones on the side streets. The boarded up ones that you just know are hiding tin ceilings and beat up wooden floors. I always return to M.Crow. Tyler is the most prolific artist of our generation. His range of creativity knows no bounds. Visiting BDDW is a masterclass is how to be limitless with creativity and craft. 

If you’re hanging out in Chicago, where can people find you?
At our neighborhood COE, of course! 

Lula, Big Delicious Planet, so many of the Land and Sea Department spots... But really, we’re at home most of the time. Our friend Jeanne of Studio Gang architects took our scrappy budget and converted an 1880s horse stable and into our forever home. It’s hard to leave. 

We do have a little ‘creative commune’ up around Lake Wandawega now. Many of our Chicago creative community have plucked up second homes around us.

What are you currently loving at Martha Mae?
I'm obsessed with the Botanical Watercolor Workshop you all hosted at Roof Crop.

If I had to pick a favorite product, it's the Studio Tools Collection made in collaboration with Julia Finlayson of Grandmont Street.




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