Lake Geneva, carved in layers of birch

Every depth a real step in the wood, not a print.

Regular price $ 188.00

Ships next business day
Free US shipping
14-day returns
Arrives ready to hang

“Beautiful piece, expertly crafted. Packed well and arrived in perfect condition.”

Mark S., Hudson, OH. Verified buyer

Geneva Lake in layered Baltic birch, 13.5 by 31 inches: the long spring-fed basin, the estate shorelines, and the deep water that made this Wisconsin's grand old resort lake, cut one contour per layer.

Details
Dimensions
13.5 × 31 in
Material
Baltic birch, hand-stained water
Build
Up to 12 laser-cut birch layers
Detail
Carved bathymetric relief, laser-etched labels
Soundings
NOAA nautical survey data
About this piece

After the Chicago fire of 1871, the city's wealthiest families came north and built their summer palaces here, and the lake has carried that Gilded Age bearing ever since. A public footpath circles the entire 21-mile shoreline, crossing every estate lawn on the water, a right-of-way older than the mansions themselves. In Williams Bay, Yerkes Observatory turned its great refractor on the sky for over a century. The lake itself drops to roughly 135 feet, and on the chart that deep central trough runs the length of the birch stack while the mail-boat route traces the shoreline layer above it.

Each contour is laser-cut and stacked by hand, names engraved, acrylic glass over the relief, solid Baltic birch frame.

Shore path walkers, mail boat jumpers, and every family with a pier number instead of an address: your stretch is engraved here.

Lake Geneva, Williams Bay, and Fontana anchor the shoreline, with Big Foot Beach along the east end. Madison's lakes are an hour north on the Mendota and Monona chart.

  • 13.5 × 31 in
  • Solid Baltic birch frame
  • Acrylic glass front, ready to hang
  • Free next-business-day shipping on orders placed by 2 PM EST
  • 14-day returns
Shipping and returns

Orders placed by 2 PM EST ship the next business day, free anywhere in the US, with tracking.

14-day returns if the size or frame is not right for the room.

Going on someone else’s wall? It ships packed and ready to wrap. Add a gift note in your cart.

Run a finger across it. You can feel the water get deeper.

Not a print

Run a finger across it. You can feel the water get deeper.

Up to 12 sheets of Baltic birch, each one laser-cut to a real depth contour from NOAA survey data, stained darker as the water gets deeper, then stacked by hand. Deep water falls away layer after layer; the shallows sit close to the surface, just like the real thing.

12
layers of birch at most, cut one depth band at a time
NOAA
sounding data behind every contour
Etched
names and depths burned into the grain, not printed

How the water becomes wood

6 steps, no shortcuts 6 steps. Swipe →
01
Survey
Real bathymetric sounding data sets every contour line before a single cut is made.
02
Cut
Each depth band is laser-cut from its own sheet of Baltic birch, up to 12 layers deep.
03
Stain
Water layers are stained by hand, reading darker the deeper the water runs.
04
Stack
The sheets are registered and stacked in sequence, and the bed's true shape rises out of the wood.
05
Etch
Depths and place names are burned into the grain itself, never printed on it.
06
Frame
A solid Baltic birch frame and acrylic glass finish the piece, ready to hang.
Anyone who grew up on this water has a spot on this chart.

Anyone who grew up on this water has a spot on this chart.

The dock, the crossing, the stretch of shoreline that meant summer. Most people find theirs in the first minute. Every shoreline, island and depth contour of Lake Geneva is cut, layered and etched from real survey data.

Built for the wall it ends up on.

Built for the wall it ends up on.

A solid birch frame, an acrylic front that keeps dust off the layers without the glare of glass, and hanging hardware already on the back, so it goes up the day it arrives.

From the people who hung one

6 reviews, 4.8 average

Plus 3,400+ reviews across our other charts, 5.0 average.

Questions people ask before they buy

Straight answers to the things that stop an order.

When will it arrive?

Orders placed by 2 PM EST ship the next business day, free anywhere in the US. You get a tracking number as soon as it leaves.

Which size should I choose?

The larger size is the one most people hang in a living room, over a sofa, console or mantel; it reads clearly from across the room. The smaller size suits a hallway, office, bathroom or boat. Both carry the same detail.

How is it packed? Will it survive shipping?

Each piece ships framed, with the acrylic front already in place, in a box built for it. "Packed well and arrived in perfect condition" is the most common thing reviewers say about delivery.

What if it is not right?

14-day returns. If the frame color is wrong for the room or the size is not what you pictured, send it back.

Is this a print?

No. The water is up to 12 physical layers of birch, each laser-cut to a real depth contour and stacked by hand. The names and depths are burned into the wood. You can feel every step.

Do you have my lake?

195+ lakes, bays and coastlines. Use the map below to find yours, or search it. Each of the Great Lakes, for example, is also available on its own chart at closer scale.

Not your lake?

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