Open to the public from February through December, Cantigny comprises expansive formal and informal gardens, a historic Georgian-style brick house, a military museum, a visitor center with cafe, a picnic grove with pavilion, an outdoor playground, hiking paths and a 27-hole golf course with driving range, pro-shop and restaurant.

The visitor center also includes an interpretive wall exhibit, an in-ground scaled model of the 500-acre property, the Medill cafe, and Le Jardin, a caterer-ready facility for lectures, events and rentals.

Among the site's signature events are a summertime Jazz and Wine Festival, Fall Fest in October, and Christmas at Cantigny from late November to early January.

[citation needed] The land was acquired by Joseph Medill as a country estate, which he called Red Oaks, in the late 1800s.

The museum's "Date with History" series features guest speakers on subjects of interest to the general public and military historians in particular.

[citation needed] The museum is also home to the McCormick Research Center, for use by authors, scholars, teachers and students.

[citation needed] The original design of the gardens was the work of German-American landscape architect Franz Lipp.

Mid- to late April is the peak of spring floral color with magnolias, viburnums and tulips[citation needed].

Peak fall foliage color is usually around the second to fourth week of October and varies each year depending on the weather regime.

[citation needed]Cantigny Golf Club, owned by the Chicago-based Robert R. McCormick Foundation and managed by KemperSports (Northbrook, Ill.), celebrated 25 years in 2014.

[citation needed] The McCormick House and adjacent East Lawn Terraces were used for filming a scene in A League of Their Own (1992).