An emotional sense of place.
Every lake house has a story. This is how you put it on the wall.
The CGH Lake Series is a deeply-engraved hardwood portrait, personalized with your family name and the scene that defines your lake house. Made by hand in Ripon, Wisconsin.
Starting at $375.
What you’re getting
Solid American Hardwood. Walnut, maple, cherry, or white oak. No pine, no MDF, no plywood, no shortcuts.
Deep engraving, not laser etched. Scenes are carved into the wood, creating depth, shadow, and dimension that a laser simply cannot produce.
Five shapes. Seven scenes. Four wood species. Five font selections. Your family name (and whatever is meaningful to YOU). Every portrait is configured to your order and made by hand, one at a time.
Ships in 2–3 weeks. Ready to hang. Hardware included.
These renderings are AI-generated to illustrate the range of shapes, species, scenes, and lettering styles available. The real thing looks even better.
Design Your Portrait
Takes about 2 minutes. Every portrait is made to order and ships in 2–3 weeks.
The CGH Lake Scene Portrait (24″ x 16″) is engraved in your choice of hardwood; walnut, cherry, maple, or white oak, and personalized with your family name, your lake, and the year it all started (or whatever is meaningful to YOU). Every piece is made to order, one at a time, in Ripon, Wisconsin.
What our Clients say…
“This property has been in my family since the 1950s. I was a baby in 1964 when my parents first brought me up to this beautiful part of Wisconsin, along the Wisconsin River. To say that memories have been made here would be a vast understatement. I hope to be able to pass this cabin on to loved ones at some point, and when I do, this portrait will still be on the wall.”
Tom B., Wisconsin
My personal lake story…
Two Sisters Lake, 1962
In 1957, 7 years before I was born, my grandparents bought a piece of property on Two Sisters Lake, near Lake Tomahawk, WI. Dodge and Emma, along with my grandpa’s sister and brother-in-law (Gertie & Stanley Jahr) pooled their resources, making this investment together. Stanley had a background as a construction foreman and Dodge was one of those guys who could do anything. They both also had that relentless German work ethic. That work ethic and their skillsets, along with the dynamic efforts of Emma and Gertie were the only things that made this venture possible. None of them were wealthy.
They bought a used mobile home and then, after a couple of years, built another stand-alone building with another kitchen, bathroom, and one HUGE room, making it ideal for extended family. Two Sisters would become our summer playground into the mid-80s.
Looking at an aerial view on Google Maps, it’s easy to see how the lake got its name: it’s basically two lakes, side by side, with a channel between them. Their lot was right on that channel between each of the lakes.
My mom was 13 years old in 1957 and my oldest cousins were born that year. My parents started taking me up to the lake when I was a baby. In fact, one of my first memories was getting badly bitten by mosquitoes while we were up there.
I tear up when I recall all of the memories we made on and around that lake. I learned how to swim on that lake. I’ll never forget being about 6 years old when I came face-to-face with a musky. I learned how to fish. Attempted water skiing. Learned how to row a boat, then later I learned how to start and operate an outboard. The lake isn’t that big, but not having to row was appreciated.
As I get older and my memories become just a little hazy, it’s amazing how much I remember about going “up north”. The seemingly endless drive up there through towns like Tigerton, Clintonville, Wittenberg, Antigo. The smells, the fish fries, the laughter. The sand on our feet (and everywhere else). Contests! We were so competitive; card and board games. Who could swim across the channel the fastest? Who would catch the most fish? The biggest fish? Who could hold their breath under water the longest? Who could run up the hill the fastest?
“Going to town” was a big thrill for us, even though we were Milwaukee kids. This was in the late 60s/ early 70s. Going “Up North” back then was like taking a time machine backwards, by what felt like decades. While we loved being at the cottage, we also loved going to Lake Tomahawk to get supplies. Or even better, to Minocqua. In Minocqua, we could get breakfast at Paul Bunyan’s see the Min-Aqua-Bats ski show, go horseback riding, and see all of the animals at Jim Peck’s.
My grandma Emma knew how to keep us interested. She’d take us “picking” at the blueberry patch where we’d end up with more berries in our bellies (and our faces) than in the bucket. She’d take us to the “dump” at dusk where we almost always would see at least one black bear.
A few years ago, our family was in the area, vacationing in St. Germain . I took my mom and my nieces to see the cottage. The Niesls and Jahrs sold it in the 80s, so there’s another family there now. We parked the car up by the road and walked down the very steep drive. The original mobile home was replaced by a newer home, but the stand-alone building was still there.
With nobody there at the time, we peeked into the windows. I know…maybe a bit invasive. It was pretty emotional for me to see cabinets in the kitchen that my grandpa had made some 50 years earlier. Note: I said made. He didn’t install them, he MADE them.
When I restarted CGH Woodcrafters, I designed the Lake Portraits, knowing that Wisconsin had over 15,000 lakes (take THAT Minnesota). I most definitely wasn’t the only one with a set of core memories that involved lakes.
I KNOW how you feel about your lake house. That’s what I wanted to tap into.
The portrait builder above gives you 700 possible combinations- by my count, anyway. It’s dead-simple to design a portrait that fits you. I built it to help you commemorate whatever your lake means to you. I can’t wait to make yours.
Todd Rathkamp
Ripon, WI